Fab Foliage Friday: Field Trip

TGIFFF! To celebrate, we're off on a field trip to the gardens of John Marchacos in Berlin, CT. I often proselytize about building gardens from the leaves out, about creating textures and contrasts with foliage. John-who's an epimedium enthusiast (guess who E. 'Marchacos Sprite' is named for), and lover of woodland ephemerals-lives it. He gardens in the shade, so the effects he creates are far different from the combinations I pursue in my sunnier spot. But let's not muck things up with a bunch of verbiage. Instead, just look at the pix.

This is one sweet knot garden.

I've always liked this walkway.

But, lest you thin it's ALL about leaves, John has a few flowers too. He's one of the few Deutzia connoisseurs I know (not that they're bad, it's just that few gardeners seem to know more than one or two varieties). Here's a shot of 'Pink-A-Boo' in bloom. Silly name, super plant.