Having surprises in the garden is a delightful experience that brings joy, and excitement. These unexpected elements can elevate your gardening journey and make it even more rewarding.
Plants can add an interesting element of surprise, creating a sense of wonder, and anticipation, and dazzling visitors to your garden. Here's how:
Blooming Surprises - Imagine walking through your garden and suddenly stumbling upon a burst of vibrant colors and intoxicating scents from unexpected blooms. By incorporating plants with different flowering seasons or varieties that bloom intermittently, you can create an ever-changing display of beauty throughout the year. From early spring bulbs to late summer perennials, these surprises will keep your garden alive with color and fragrance.
Unusual Foliage - Some plants boast unique foliage that can catch the eye and add an element of surprise to your garden. Consider plants with variegated leaves, striking patterns, or unusual textures. For example, the Japanese Painted Fern (Athyrium niponicum) showcases silver-green fronds with contrasting burgundy veins, while the Elephant's Ear (Colocasia) flaunts large, tropical-looking leaves that make a bold statement.
Hidden Treasures - Incorporate plants that hide delightful surprises within their growth habit. For instance, certain species of ferns unfurl their fronds in a gradual and mesmerizing manner, revealing delicate leaf structures. Similarly, some flowering vines like morning glories or clematis open up their blossoms in the morning and close them at night, providing a daily enchantment for keen observers.
Attracting Wildlife - Plants that attract wildlife can bring unexpected visitors to your garden, adding an element of surprise and liveliness. By selecting flowers that attract butterflies or hummingbirds, you may witness these fascinating creatures fluttering around your garden, bringing joy and awe to both young and old alike.
Seasonal Transformations - Embrace the changing seasons by incorporating plants that undergo dramatic transformations throughout the year. For example, deciduous trees offer stunning displays of autumn foliage before shedding their leaves, revealing intricate branch structures that create a different kind of beauty during the winter months.
Here are five plants that can add dazzle and surprise to your garden:
FlameThrower™ Adobo Pink Coleus – This new coleus with its unique multi-color and shaped leaves adds texture to the garden. It is a low-maintenance and high-impact plant. They look great in containers or try using it on a landscaping project. The plant has jagged pink leaves with a dark burgundy edge. Its compact habit makes this a striking, textural coleus. The stunning colors and patterns thrive in full sun and shade.
Flashpoint Kniphofia - Flashpoint Kniphofia, also known as Red Hot Poker or Torch Lily, is a striking perennial plant known for its distinctive flower spikes and architectural form. The Flashpoint variety is particularly prized for its intense coloration, featuring flower spikes that transition from chartreuse yellow buds at the top to creamy white at the base over grass-like foliage. These torch-like blooms typically appear in late spring to early summer, creating a dramatic focal point in gardens and landscapes. This hardy and adaptable plant thrives in hardiness zones 5-9. Flashpoint Kniphofia can grow to heights of 3-4 feet, with flower spikes extending up to 5 feet tall. This impressive stature makes it an ideal choice for back borders, mixed perennial beds, or as a standalone specimen plant. Its nectar-rich flowers are also known to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, adding wildlife interest to the garden.
Porcelain Blue Corydalis - Porcelain Blue Corydalis is a stunning perennial plant that is native to the mountainous regions of western China. This delicate beauty has gained popularity among gardeners for its enchanting blue flowers and fern-like foliage. Its most striking feature is the clusters of tubular, aqua-blue flowers that bloom profusely from late spring to early summer. They look great when used in borders, containers, or a mass landscape planting. Hardiness zones 5-9.
Redemption™ Colocasia – Redemption Colocasia is particularly noteworthy for its unique coloration. The leaves feature a jet-black hue with a contrasting hot pink center and veins, creating a visually stunning effect. This dramatic color combination sets it apart from other Colocasia varieties and makes it a focal point in any planting arrangement. When fully mature, Redemption Colocasia can reach heights of 3-4 feet, with leaves spanning up to 3-4 feet in length. This impressive size makes it an excellent choice for creating privacy screens, adding texture to borders, or serving as a centerpiece in container gardens. Hardiness zones 7-11.
Taiga Clematis – Taiga Clematis is an award-winning plant known for its abundance of blooms. The plant produces bi-color showy flowers that come in blue-purple with green-white tipped petals. These flowers add a pop of color and visual interest to your garden, creating a focal point that will surely catch the eye of anyone who passes by. Taiga Clematis offers versatility in its growth habit. It can be trained to climb trellises, fences, or walls, adding vertical interest to your garden. The plant can be left to sprawl along the ground as a ground cover or used in containers for a cascading effect. This flexibility allows you to incorporate the Taiga Clematis into various areas of your garden, making it a truly adaptable and multifunctional plant. Hardiness zones 6-9.
Photos Courtesy Of:
FlameThrower™ Adobo Pink Coleus – Ball Horticultural Company
Flashpoint Kniphofia – Proven Winners
Porcelain Blue Corydalis - PlantHaven International, planthaven.com
Redemption™ Colocasia – Southern Living Plants
Taiga Clematis – Shutterstock.com
