A Garden Full of Fancy Foliage

I never get tired of foliage. It carries the garden through the season, providing structure, form and texture. And, done right, color. Colorful foliage is just the ticket for creating vibrant scenes that please from early spring to latest fall, and, if you use evergreens, all year long. As an aficionado of foliage-especially leaves in hues of blue, chartruese, gold, burgundy, silver and cream, which I found in abundance in Les and Monique Anthony's electric borders. They're the kinds of gardeners who never met a plant they didn't like-as long as it had colorful foliage, so the place is a treasury of unusual woody plants, and plenty of perennials too.

This winding path isn't long, but that doesn't mean it's not rewarding. And, a cool design element. Happening on this garden is but the first in a series of surprises. It's located in a staid suburban development and to say it stands out from its neighbors is, well, an understatement. The whole development was, not so very long ago, a cow pasture, which may explain why things just seem to grow like topsy in the Anthony's borders.

Anyway, the surprises really start once you get out back, where the garden begins in earnest.

Happily there are places where you can just grab a chair and soak it all in.

Even the containers provide hits of bright, eye-grabbing color. These bright blue pots make a catchy counterpoint for the chartreuse, silver and burgundy leaves that enliven this scene. But why take my word for it? If you're around the Connecticut area, see for yourself. The Anthony's Wallingford garden is a new addition to the Garden Conservancy's Open Days program, and will be open July 12. For more info, go here.