Jane Taylor: Foliage for Year Round Colour

Foliage is essential for creating year round colour in the garden. Evergreens provide the backbone of all planting design and seasonal foliage plants offer a myriad of colours to enhance every area of the garden. This book shows how to use the year round potential of foliage to beautiful effect.
An evergreen framework can be created from a diverse range of plants including dark clipped yew, glittering holly and wintergreen ferns. These form a background to the burgeoining new growth of spring, from the yellow leaves of oak to the crimson shoots of peonies. Then come the fully expanded leaves of summer - a foil to the profusion of flowers; many also have a starring role for both their colour and their form. As summer ripens into autumn the last flowers are outshone by an explosion of bonfire colours from the dying leaves of trees and shrubs. Winter brings the plants that deepen to mahogany or crimson, contrasting well with chilly blue- and grey-leaved plants and evergreens.