Evergreen plants, with foliage in varying shapes, sizes, shades and textures, form the backbone of the garden throughout the year, acting as a foil for those plants which come and go. Over winter they can be relied upon to provide that living-look as surrounding herbaceous perennials retreat below ground to wait out the worst of the weather until spring.
Ever-grey plants, also with a year round presence, provide the perfect contrast to the many shades of green in the drier areas like the Gravel Garden. The silvered foliage of plants such as pseudodictamnus (ballota) and santolina are particularly effective at this.
Throughout the year, the permanent presence of evergreens offer birds and insects a home and protection from predators.
1. Bergenia- all too often consigned to a shady corner, bergenia in our experience, give of their best when in an open sunny spot. Choose cultivars which colour well in winter and they will become an essential evergreen feature for the colder months.
2. Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii- makes a dramatic feature plant in the dry garden. Long stiff stems clothed in blue-grey foliage form a great clump, handsome all the year round. Height and spread: 1.2m x 90cm
3. Cistus- with a native range across the Mediterranean, these are ideal plants for our Gravel Garden. They make a variety of rounded, to spreading evergreen shapes, a perfect contrast to strong verticals, or the exuberance of some herbaceous perennials.
4. Cynara cardunculus- magnificent feature plant. Great arching silver-grey leaves, boldly cut, form a great mound above which stout stems carry large, luminous-blue to purple thistle-shaped heads. Height and spread: 1.8m x 1.2m
5. Pseudodictamnus mediterraneus- one of the loveliest greys. From a woody base spring long curving stems of round leaves clothed in grey-white felt. The drier the better. Height and spread: 80cm x 70cm
6. Santolina chamaecyparissus- forms round dense bushes of silver-grey closely feathered foliage. Small yellow button flowers in summer. Height and spread: 60cm x 80cm
7. Stachys byzantina 'Silver Carpet’- this non-flowering form spends its energy creating carpets of velvet-textured, silver-grey lamb's ears, ideal edging for a sunny border. Undoubtedly the most silver form. Height and spread: 15cm x 60cm
8. Salvia rosmarinus (rosemary)- upright evergreen sub-shrub with aromatic, narrow, dark green leaves. Flowers are borne mainly in spring and summer and are highly attractive to pollinators.
9. Thymus- sun loving and needing a sharply drained soil, they provide evergreen, prostrate ground cover. The straggly, spreading growth of most species helps to conserve water and to provide a refuge for beneficial insect predators such as ground-beetles.
10. Verbascum bombyciferum- huge rosettes of grey-white felted leaves are produced in the first followed by a tall stem supporting a candelabra head of yellow flowers in the second year. Height and spread: 2m x 60cm
Comments