You can double your fun and triple the drama in your garden with variegated forms of plants you already know. When Mother Nature paints two colors on a single leaf, it's called variegation. Plant geeks love to breed new variegated forms from familiar all-green garden plants. They get to name them too, often after themselves in a subliminal desire for botanical immortality. What this means to you is that you can add pizzazz to your landscape without having to learn a thing. A variegated form is usually identical to its parent, differing only in color. A variegated leaf will keep its base color with the addition of white, cream or gold-colored accent. It's usually around the edges or margins of the leaf, leaving the center green. It can also be a big blotch of cream at the center, leaving the green edges intact. If the plant is a perennial with long strap-leaves, the variegation appears as stripes down its entire length. In your garden, pale-colored plants stand out strikingly against a dark background. Designers have mastered the art of using variegations to give that high-contrast professional touch to a landscape. Organizing your foliage plants to exploit the contrast between monochromatic green and a variegated plant turns an ordinary landscape into a real zinger. Not all plants have variegated forms, though, so it's best to inquire at the garden center -- they'll know. Variegation doubles your ability to choose plants. If you know the forest-green shrub, Japanese euonymus (Zone 5), you can use its variegated forms for a new effect without learning about a brand-new plant. This evergreen species also offers different kinds of variegation. The variety "Aureus" leaf is mostly gold and edged in emerald. The mint tone of "Albomarginatus" produces a slightly paler green leaf edged in creamy white. The very popular red twig dogwood, Cornus alba (Zone 2) is loved in winter for its bright scarlet bark. If you can grow this shrub with success, then it's a no-brainer to consider its variegated form, "Elegantissima." This form is identical to the species except for the striking creamy-edged leaves. Variegated dogwood is a standout in any garden against the non-variegated form or other dark plants. Rather than learning a new shrub to add interest to the garden, try a variegated dogwood instead. Soft herbaceous plants produce variegation as well. The common garden hosta (Zone 4) has produced dozens of variegated hybrids. Some leaves are edged in white while others have a blotch of white at the center. If you become familiar with a plain green hosta, you can double or triple your choices by exploring its variegated types. Combine masses of variegated plants together to make their effect stand out more boldly in beds and borders. One of the best places for variegated plants is in the shade garden. Green plants tend to be darker in the absence of sunlight, which can make these beds monochromatic. When you add brightly variegated perennials, shrubs or trees, the effect can create an illusion of sun dappling. For example, shade-loving Japanese pieris has a variegated form, Pieris japonica "Variegata" (Zone 6). Add it to a dark corner of the garden to create a strong focal point with a bonus of bright pink new growth. Before you go further afield to find new and unusual plants to spice up dull landscaping, stick with the old faithfuls you know and love. Chances are you'll find variegated forms that will add that zingy effect that is the mark of professional landscape designers. Best of all, you'll make a big visual improvement right now, with dozens of new alternatives to explore every time you visit the garden center. (Maureen Gilmer is a horticulturist and author of Water Works and 13 other books. E-mail her at mo@moplants.com. For more information, visit www.moplants.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)
RESOURCES :
Water Works: Creating A Splash in the Garden
Model: 0809297213
Author: Maureen Gilmer with Michael Glassman
(2002)
To order this title from Amazon.com, click here.
McGraw-Hill Companies
Website: www.mcgraw-hill.com
| 
)
)
)
)
