Foliage
The Foliage Garden: When Leaves Do the Work
Flowers come and go; leaves carry the garden all season. The best plants for color and texture from foliage alone.
Flowers are fleeting, but leaves are there from spring to frost, which is why the best gardens are built on foliage first and flowers second. A planting that contrasts leaf shapes, textures, and colors looks rich and finished even when nothing is in bloom, and it makes the flowers that do appear look even better.
Think in contrasts: big leaves against fine ones, spiky against round, dark against silver. Below are the plants that earn their place on foliage alone, for both sun and shade.
Foliage stars for shade
Shade is the foliage gardener's playground, where leaf color and texture matter far more than flowers. These are the workhorses.
Heuchera
Mounds of ruffled leaves in caramel, plum, lime, and silver that hold their color all season.
Hosta 'Francee'
Bold, heart-shaped leaves edged in crisp white, the workhorse that brightens any shady bed.
Athyrium niponicum
Frosted silver and burgundy fronds that shimmer in low light and pair with almost anything.
Hakonechloa macra
A cascading mound of arching blades that brings movement and a soft, flowing texture to shade.
Brunnera macrophylla
Large, silver-veined heart-shaped leaves that light up a shady corner long after the spring flowers fade.
Athyrium filix-femina
Lacy, finely cut fronds that add a soft, woodland texture and thrive in moist shade.
Silver and blue foliage for sun
In sun, silver and blue-gray leaves cool a planting down and set off hot colors beautifully.
Stachys byzantina
Soft, woolly silver leaves you cannot help but touch, a perfect front-of-border edge.
Jacobaea maritima
Lacy, near-white silver foliage that flatters any color and never needs deadheading.
Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star'
A low evergreen mound of silver-blue needles that holds its color right through winter.
Helictotrichon sempervirens
A neat fountain of steel-blue blades that adds cool color and fine texture year-round.
Bold and dramatic foliage
For a real statement, reach for big leaves and deep colors that anchor a planting and stop the eye.
Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'
Rounded leaves in deep wine-purple on a big shrub, smoldering at the back of a border.
Physocarpus opulifolius 'Monlo'
Near-black foliage on an easy, tough shrub, the perfect dark foil for hot or pink flowers.
Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic'
Enormous, dramatic near-black leaves that bring instant tropical drama to a pot or bed.
Coleus scutellarioides
Leaves in every color and pattern imaginable, the fastest way to add bold foliage color, sun or shade.
Foliage is the backbone
Flowers are the highlights, but foliage is the structure that holds a garden together all season. Plant for leaf contrast first, big against fine, dark against silver, round against spiky, and the whole thing will look considered even between flushes of bloom.
What are the best foliage plants?
Hostas, heucheras (coral bells), ferns, and japanese forest grass for shade, silver lamb's ear and dusty miller for sun, and bold plants like smokebush, ninebark, and coleus for drama.
How do I use foliage in garden design?
Contrast leaf shape, size, texture, and color: pair big leaves with fine ones, dark with silver, spiky with round. Strong foliage keeps a planting looking good even when nothing is in flower.
What plants have colorful leaves?
Coral bells, coleus, and caladiums come in many colors, smokebush and ninebark offer deep purple, hostas range from blue to gold, and lamb's ear and dusty miller bring silver.
Design a garden with these plants
Open BloomsEye Studio with this guide's plants ready to drop onto a plan, then watch the whole bed bloom across the year.