There are many ways to add life to a dull garden. One is to add plants with different foliage textures; another is to add plants with unique colors or bold-shaped foliage. Sometimes all it takes is a few well-placed plants that have completely different foliage from the rest of your garden to make a dramatic impact on the look of your garden.

If your have a morning/sun, afternoon/shade or full shade location, consider plants such as acanthus with its large oak-shaped leaves and spikes of lilac flowers or alchemilla (lady's mantle) with its wavy foliage and yellow flowers. You might try the glossy-leafed bergenia with pink-red flowers or caladium, which comes in a multitude of different foliage patterns, or ligularia with its large-toothed foliage and spikes of lemony yellow flowers. If you are looking for something really different, consider the eye-catching marbled foliage of brunnera and hosta or the unique shiny fan-shaped leaves of fatsia (Japanese aralia).

For sunny locations consider plants like the smoke bush (cotinus) with its burgundy purple foliage and wispy white blooms, 'Gilt Edged' elaeagnus with silvery gold and green foliage, the burgundy foliage of physocarpus (ninebark) or the unusual black foliage of 'Black Lace' sambucus. For something even more dramatic try a few burgundy or variegated foliage canna lilies, New Zealand flax or variegated weigela. For more height you can always plant a Southern magnolia (soulangeana).

Click here to get an idea of some the great plants we stock with bold foliage. A few placed in just the right strategic location will make the entire garden stand out and come alive!

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Gardeners who love spring-blooming azaleas can now enjoy an explosion of blooms from spring through fall with the new Encore Azaleas. These patented new varieties begin their show in the spring and follow that up with an encore of blooms in summer and again in fall before the curtains drop to close the show with the onset of cold weather. And the best part of all is that this blooming process is repeated every year.

This new line of evergreen azaleas was developed by a breeder in Louisiana. These plants are the product of breeding traditional spring-blooming varieties with a rare Taiwanese summer-blooming azalea. The plants are similar to traditional azaleas and grow 3-5' high and wide. Giving them proper planting, watering and care will help them thrive in their new home. Simply follow a few guidelines and your plants will reward you with buckets of blooms.

Encore Azaleas perform well in full sun in most locations but prefer a little filtered afternoon shade in hot areas. A minimum of four to six hours of direct sunlight per day is required for proper blooms. The soil around the plants should be kept consistently moist but not wet, especially those planted in full sun exposures.

Make sure to amend the soil with peat moss or an acid-based planting mix like Whitney Farm's Azalea and Camellia Planting Mix mixed 50/50 with the native soil. A 2" layer of mulch around the base of the plant will help hold in moisture, and protect the roots from sun. As with all azaleas, we recommend feeding every two months with cottonseed meal or an acid fertilizer such as Whitney Farm's Azalea & Camellia Fertilizer. Do not fertilize from September until spring blooms are finished.

Encore Azaleas require very little pruning to maintain their shape. The spent flowers will "clean off" naturally and don't require dead-heading. If you need to prune for size control, do so immediately after the spring blooms have finished. Light pruning of more established plants will stimulate growth and flowering.

There are many great color flavors in this exciting new line of azaleas. We invite you to click on the gallery link below for a taste of all the color combinations. Stop by and pick up a few of these beautiful plants today!

Are you considering a new landscape for next year? If you're tired of your old garden look or have a brand new yard that needs landscaping, consider our team for all of your design and installation needs.

Green Arrow Nursery Consultants are experts in landscape design. We know which plants grow well in our area, and our design team is knowledgeable in all of the latest plant introductions and landscape techniques.

We work with you to design and create a look that is unique for you and truly reflects your needs and desires. But many people make the mistake of contacting us in late spring when we are already booked up for most of the year. It takes time to design a landscape plan for your home, and we invite you to plan ahead and let us design your landscape plan now so we can add you to our work schedule.

Give us a call today at (818)894-8306. We're here to make sure all of your garden dreams come true!

William Cowper once wrote the now famous words, "Variety is the spice of life." This couldn't be truer in the garden. Nothing spices up a garden like plants with variegated foliage. Use too many and they'll make you dizzy. But placed in the background or strategically planted in the midst of the garden, variegated foliage can bring out the best in all of your plants.

Variegated plants come in a myriad of shapes and shades. From bold to subtle, there's something for every gardener's personal tastes. Nothing steals the show like a variegated tree. It can be the centerpiece to build your entire garden around.

Many variegated plants make excellent hedges. Instead of hiding in the background, they provide a great starting point to planning a garden. Consider variegated English boxwood, silverberry, euonymus, variegated English holly, variegated kohuhu, variegated mock orange, dappled willow or weigela. Many of these plants also look wonderful when planted individually to bring out a corner or become a focal point on a mound or garden island.

If a hedge is not your cup of tea but you still want to hide some of your fence line, a variegated bower vine or variegated potato vine will do an excellent job. For bursts of color and interest throughout your garden, consider variegated varieties of abelias, daylilies, licorice plants, phlox, mock orange, sage, stonecrop, weigela, New Zealand flax and ornamental grasses.

If your garden has shaded areas, don't worry. There are many great selections for areas with less sunlight. Many popular variegated plants prefer shade or partial shade.

No matter what your garden setting is, variegated plants not only look great but also add interest. We have a large selection of plants with unique foliage and variegated colors. Stop by soon and see the beauty of these plants in person. You wont be able to resist them!

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Answer:

It can if you have bad drainage or have plants close to a downspout. Most neighborhood properties are designed to allow water to drain away from the home, and if you have any type of slope at all your plants should be okay, barring a 30 day torrent of water. However, plants next to downspouts can suffer, so it is wise to add a downspout extension to steer water away from prized plants in areas where water might collect.

If you still face a bad drainage situation, consider re-landscaping that area with bog-loving plants. If you hate bog-loving plants, you could always sell your home. After all, what good is a home if you can't plant your favorite plants around it?

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