New foliage plants

New foliage plants offer another way to build a garden, using leaves to carry the planting through the spaces between flowering moments. This season’s selection includes plants chosen for colour, pattern, scale and texture, from broad architectural leaves to finely divided foliage, silver tones, deep greens and darker shades. Some make themselves known immediately, while others become more valuable as surrounding flowers pass and the structure of the planting becomes clearer.

Leaf shape and habit often matter more here than bloom time. Ornamental foliage plants can soften the edge of a path, hold a shaded border together or introduce contrast between larger flowering perennials. Variegated leaves can lift darker corners, bronze and purple foliage can deepen a planting scheme, while grasses and finer-leaved plants add movement without relying on flower colour. Match each plant to the light and moisture available, then consider how its foliage will sit alongside neighbouring forms rather than choosing it in isolation.

The strongest foliage planting builds over time. A new hosta, fern, heuchera, grass or other foliage plant may begin as one detail in the border, then gradually become part of the framework that connects the rest of the garden. Use this collection to introduce a new leaf colour, fill a gap in shade or bring more contrast into an established scheme. The result is planting that holds together for longer than the flowering season alone.