7.31.2009

Fab Foliage Friday



OK, I like all the Nicotianas. For different reasons. Some I like for their fragrance, some for the color of their flowers. This one, tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca), earns my affection for the lovely blue gray of its foliage. I grow this South American native as an annual, but in some parts of the world this can top off at more than 20 feet. Hereabouts it rarely reaches a third that height. It does get some attractively dangling, yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers, but only rarely for me. The leaves are what this is all about--they can easily be big as your hand, and their color comes in handy for making neat foliar compositions and groupings. I often cut plants back to make them bushier.

3 comments:

Carol said...

It is certainly a beautiful color Steve... especially next to your black background color. I always mean to grow this plant or one like it that has the long pendant blooms hanging down. Lovely!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

I have a thing for that blue/gray foliage too. Having plants with that colour foliage means they are "drought" tolerant to a point .. helps me out a lot ! LOL
Joy

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Yes, the color! One of my favorites. Just yesterday, I was admiring a cabbage for this blue-green color.