We all know that the Dublin climate isn't perfect. Flowers can get beaten down by rain or wind some years. The relatively mild winters, though, allow us to grow some tropical looking plants. These can bring a 'jungle' look to your garden, and this is something that we love.
Flowers are beautiful and joyful. They are full of life, perfume and colour. They signify the hope of spring and the warm days of summer. Leaves can conjur up different emotions: foliage is lush, verdant, exciting. Leaves can stir up images of tropical forests, green oases. Leaves are more stable than flowers. They last longer. They can screen you from others and provide hideaways for birds and animals. 'Autumn colour' heralds the end of summer and the wrapping up on the year's growth. It can be one of the most beautiful times of the year.
For years, when designing gardens we have loved to sneak in a few exciting or unusual foliage plants into the planting scheme. There are plants with big, glossy green leaves such as Tetrapanax 'Rex' or Schefflera taiwaniana. There are plants with 'crazy' leaves such as Pseudopanax 'Moa's Toes', plants with blue-grey leaves such as Eucalyptus or Melianthus major, plants with fabulous autumn colour such as Cotinus, various Acers (Japanese maples) and many of the Virginia creepers and Boston ivies (Parthenocissus species). There are many bamboo species that can add to the general 'leafiness' of a space, bringing the rustle of moving leaves and a range of colours through their varying stems. Here are a few highlights that we have in stock at the moment.
- Acacia dealbata and Acacia longifolia
- Acer japonicum (various varieties)
- Choisya 'Sundance'
- Cotinus 'Grace'
- Dicksonia antartica
- Eucryphia 'Nymansay'
- Euonymus alatus 'Compactus'
- Fargesia 'Asian Wonder'
- Ginkgo biloba
- Ficus 'Ronde de Bordeaux' and 'Brown Turkey'
- Hydrangea seemanii
- Mahonia 'Soft Caress'
- Phyllostachys nigra
- Pittosporum 'Green Elf', 'Irene Patterson', 'Midget', 'Silver Queen'
- Pittosporum tobira 'Nana'
- Pseudopanax 'Moa's Toes'
- Schefflera taiwaniana