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loom pink in June when I cut them back for new foliage growth as
a foil for daylilies in July. Autumn color is a spectacular flame blend.
I always have a few of these to mix with daylilies in the coral,
apricot and gold range, a simply spectacular combination. For a
gentler color approach, try S. ‘Golden Princess’ or other cultivars
with softer yellow foliage and paler pink flowers.
Spirea ‘Shoribana’ or ‘Shibori’ (spelling found both ways) has
lovely green foliage but blooms in a blend of pink, white, and rose
flowers from May to October if deadheaded. It stays under 3' for me
and is a great plant to place with pink and white daylilies. It also
looks great with white daylilies with rose or purple eyes, such as
Hemerocallis ‘Pandora’s Box’ (Talbott 1982).
A new spirea on the market is ‘Mellow Yellow’ – its willowy
leaves are a pale yellow in color and arch gracefully all season,
with delicate white spring flowers. The foliage keeps its color all
season, even in partial shade. I’ve planted Hemerocallis ‘Etched
Spirea ‘Mellow
Yellow’ with
Hemerocallis
‘Diabolique’ and
‘Etched Eyes’.
Eyes’ (Kaskel 1994) and H. ‘Brookwood Black Kitten’ (Leo Sharp
1995) in front of it for a bright color contrast.
Weigelas are a great old fashioned plant available in a wide variety
of foliage colors, but most are large enough to qualify as background
shrubs. The exception is a new dwarf version of ‘Wine and Roses’
called ‘Midnight Wine’. It stays around 2' and has lush wine colored
foliage with deep rose flowers in May and some rebloom in August
through September.
Euonymous fortuneii, not the flaming shrubs of fall, but the small
evergreen types that creep and crawl around the garden are an
extremely useful clan, but prone to spider mites if grown in too dry
or hot conditions. They will take partial shade, making them well
suited for growing under small trees and at the edge of shaded
beds. They keep their foliage year round, making them as useful as
a foil for daffodils in spring as they are for daylilies in summer. They
Above:
A nice compliment of
Lynn’s glistening,
bright blue, ceramic bird
bath in her spring
garden with Spirea
‘Goldflame’ .
Right:
Spirea ‘Magic Carpet’
with Coleus and
Hemerocallis ‘Two to
Tango’ and H. ‘Peach
Fairy’.
root where they touch the ground but are not invasive in my clay
soil; I just cut off the rooted pieces and plant them elsewhere.
Favorites include Euonymous ‘Emerald Gaiety’, a variegated green
and white, E. ‘Emerald and Gold’, a variegated green and gold,
‘Blondy’ and ‘Moonshadow’, both of which have a much higher
percentage of gold in the variegation, and ‘Harlequin’, which stays
very low and has a very sophisticated grayish green and white
variegation on a very small leaf. I particularly liked E. ‘Harlequin’
Left: Hemerocallis
‘Velvet Shadows’
contrasted against the
silvery foliage of
dwarf evergreen
Chamaecyparis
pisiferea ‘Snow’.
Right: Hemerocallis
‘Ribbon Candy’ rising
up between
Euonymous ‘Emerald
and Gold’.
Page 40 Fall 2005 - Winter 2006 AHS Region 2/Great Lakes Newsletter