Synopses & Reviews
Plant foliage brings drama and structure to the garden with color, shape, and texture all its own. Bright, cheerful flowers may have beauty-pageant appeal that gets noticed by passers-by, but where would all those pretty floral faces be without the stalwart presence of foliage? Every garden benefits from an inspired selection of plants chosen for the beauty of their leaves, and the harmony their presence brings to the entire landscape.
Organized by color and texture, each chapter in Nancy Ondra’s eye-opening new guide illustrates the features and requirements of dozens of plants, all chosen for the unique appeal of their leaves. Colors range from brilliant chartreuse to stunning silver to dusky, moody maroon. Surfaces can be rough or smooth, velvety or prickly, and edges can be scalloped, smooth, or saw-toothed.
With the stunning range of color and texture represented in Rob Cardillo’s rich photography, it’s easy to see how much season-long interest foliage can add to a garden. In addition to identifying and discussing beautiful plant possibilities, Ondra draws on her many years of gardening experience to present vivid plant combinations that work together to enhance and extend garden color. Knowing how and where to use foliage to complement flowers and grasses is as important as understanding the plants themselves.
Flowers come and go, weather can kill blooms prematurely or prevent them from ever appearing, but sturdy, reliable foliage can be the gardener’s salvation, year after year.
Review
"Nancy J. Ondra's new book ... is a great marriage of plant expertise, easy-to-understand prose and heart-stopping, gorgeous photographs by Rob Cardillo. As I flipped through the pages of my copy -- which I had waited for anxiously -- I realized that I would never look at foliage in the same way. "
Chicago Sun-Times
"Ondra [has] armed me with a wealth of information and stunning visuals, making it easy to step out of my comfort zone and take the garden to another dimension."
- Chicago Sun-Times
"Chock-full of color photographs, "Foliage" shows the palette of possibilities available."
Las Vegas Review-Journal
"Foliage is a must-have book for anyone who wants to expand their horticultural horizons!"
Synopsis
Velvety or rough, silver or chartreuse, saw-toothed or scalloped -- foliage can be the star of your garden. This comprehensive guide describes the features and requirements of dozens of leafy plants, each one perfect for mixing and matching with flowers and ornamental grasses in vivid home landscapes. Handsomely illustrated with hundreds of full-color photographs, Foliage will inspire you to look at leaves with fresh eyes. Winner of the 2008 American Horticultural Society Book Award.
Synopsis
Look to the leaf, artfully combined with other garden plants, to achieve textural depth and season-extending color not possible with flowers or grasses alone. A stunning array of shapes, sizes, textures, and colors awaits the gardener eager to experiment with foliage. Its variety and durability will bring out the best in your home landscape.
About the Author
Rob Cardillo has been photographing gardens, plants, and the people who tend them for more than 20 years. A former director of photography at
Organic GardeningNancy J. Ondra is a garden writer and editor who owned and operated a small rare-plant nursery for six years. She is the author or co-author of a dozen gardening books, including Foliage (winner of the 2008 Book Award from the American Horticultural Society), The Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer (winner of a 2006 Silver Award from the Garden Writers Association), The Perennial Care Manual, Fallscaping, and Grasses.
Table of Contents
1 Exploring Your Options
The Foliage Factor * Finding Exceptional Foliage Plants * Creating Exciting Combinations * Growing Great-Looking Foliage
2 Go for the Gold
Getting Started with Gold * Gold in the Garden * A Palette of Gold
3 Rousing Red to Basic Black
Getting Started with Dark Foliage * Dark Foliage in the Garden * A Palette of Red, Purple, and Black
4 Stunning Silver, Gray, and Blue
Getting Started with Silvers, Grays, and Blues * Silvers, Grays, and Blues in the Garden * A Palette of Silver, Gray, and Blue
5 Marvelous Multicolors
Getting Started with Multicolored Plants * Multicolored Plants in the Garden * The Variegated Palette