Plants that look good all year

 Today we will discover 10 plants that look good in the garden all year round.

A good garden looks good all year round, not just in spring or summer.

Most plants, such as roses, are at their peak during one season. But choose carefully and you’ll find a range of plants that offer more than one season of interest – not only flowers but autumn leaf colour and colourful berries, too, as well as an architectural form.

Of course, your year round stars will need some support from other plants – discover 12 plants for colour in every month

Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’

Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ bears pinky-violet coloured blossom on bare stems in spring, followed by beautiful, dark purple heart-shaped leaves in summer. In autumn, they turn yellow before falling. Many are multi-stemmed, so you can enjoy the shape of the plant during the winter months..

Crab apples

A crab apple, such as Malus x robusta ‘Red Sentinel’ can be fitted into even the smallest of gardens and has terrific wildlife value as well as ornamental appeal. In spring, the tree is laden with pink or white blossom, depending on the variety. In summer, beautiful crab apples cling to the tree. In autumn, the leaves turn a spectacular colour before falling.

Amelanchier lamarckii

Another great tree for a small garden, Amelanchier lamarckii bears small, white star-shaped flowers in spring, followed by black berries in summer and beautiful leaf colour in autumn.

Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum ‘Dart’s Red Robin’

This tiered shrub has white lacecap flowers in spring and summer, and attractive, crinkled foliage. The flowers are followed by red berries in summer, and beautiful changing foliage in autumn.

Blueberries

Blueberries not only taste great – they look great, too, for much of the year. In late spring, the plants are smothered in white, bell-shaped flowers, and are then covered in their blue fruits. The leaves turn fiery shades in autumn.

Hydrangea quercifolia

Hydrangea quercifolia (oak-leafed hydrangea) has extremely long-lasting, cone shaped flowers from midsummer well into autumn – they change colour (often from white to pink) as the season progresses. In autumn, their oak-shaped leaves turn a bronze, orange and reddish-purple before falling.

Witch hazel

Witch hazel (hamamelis), such as Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Aphrodite’ have scented flowers in late winter and early spring, when little else is in flower. In autumn, their leaves turn an intense red before falling.

Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’

Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ is grown for its bright red winter stems, which light up the garden in winter. But it looks good at other times of the year, too – it has variegated leaves that turn red in autumn, small white flowers in early summer and small, white berries to offer the garden too.

Fruit trees

Apples and pear trees are great all-rounders in the garden. They produce beautiful blossom in spring, followed by pretty fruits in summer and changing leaf colours in autumn. If you’re short on space, grow them as espaliers or step-overs and underplant with early spring bulbs such as crocus or narcissus.

Viburnum opulus

Viburnum opulus has white, lacecap flowers in late spring and early summer, followed by clusters of red berries in autumn. The leaves turn beautiful shades of red before falling in autumn.

Asplenium nidus

 Bird’s nest fern is an evergreen, epiphytic fern with a short rhizome and large leaves that can be 150cm long and 20cm wide

The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild as a local food source. It is commonly grown as an ornamental in the tropics.

Range

East tropical Africa, through tropical Asia to northern Australia and the Pacific Islands.

Habitat

An epiphytic plant, sometimes growing on rocks, at elevations from sea level to 1,200 meters

Cultivation Details

A plant of moist areas in the tropics.
Requires a shady position and humid conditions[

Edible Uses

Leaves – parboiled and eaten
Ash from the burnt leaves can be used as a salt substitute

Medicinal

The leaves are said to be contraceptive, depurative and sedative, It is used in the treatment of chest pains
It is used externally for the treatment of stings and bites

Propagation

Seed -Division.

Caladium bicolor

 Caladiums are tropical plants growing from tubers, most known for their colorful foliage, and used as a houseplant or summer bedding plant.

About This Plant

Any garden with a shady location has a perfect spot for caladiums. These tropical tubers, most of them varieties derived from Caladium bicolor, are grown for their dramatic summer foliage. They are naturals in beds with ferns or coleus, in pots to accent shady spots, or used as indoor houseplants.

Special Features

Caladium bicolor is widely available at garden centers and nurseries. The leaf shape is oval or like an arrowhead. There are a multiple hybrids available offering a range of leaf colors and patterns.

Tall varieties such as white ‘Candidum’ and pink ‘Carolyn Whorton’ put on a beautiful show, but since each tuber has only one to three active buds, the leaf count is low.

Lance-leaved types, including ‘Rosalie’ and ‘White Wing’, produce many more leaves from multiple buds, but the leaves are thinner and not as long.

Site Selection

Select a shady area that is moist, well drained, humus rich, and slightly acidic. Caladiums are popular grown around the bases of trees, but for this planting scheme to work, you will need to create a 5-inch-deep bed of rich soil so the tuberous roots will have adequate space and a fair chance at moisture.

Planting Instructions

In the warm, humid climates of zones 8 and 9, plant caladium tubers directly into the ground in spring. In most other areas, you’ll save several weeks of growing time by transplanting potted plants that are already up and growing.

To make watering and fertilizing easier, consider planting three tubers (or plants) in 6-inch pots and sink the pots up to their rims in the beds. The pots collect and hold water, stave off invasions from thirsty tree roots, and make it simple to lift and collect the tubers in fall.

Care

Because caladiums are basically all leaves, they thrive on regular fertilizer. To keep plenty of new leaves coming on, feed with a balanced soluble fertilizer such as 10-10-10 twice a month.

The great advantage of pot-grown caladiums is that you can move them about as needed to keep them warm. When nights become chilly in fall, bring them indoors and keep in a sunny window, until the leaves begin to wither. At that point, let them dry out completely. To save space, you can collect the tubers, shake off the soil, and stash them in old hosiery or a mesh bag for up to five months. As long as the tubers are stored above 60 F, they will be ready to replant the following spring.

Types of Marble Finishes

 As there are many choices for Marble , there are also several finish options to best suit each design preference and décor. From the high sheen new look of polished stone to the finish of tumbled and antique stone for the illusion of aged stone; Marble has many different natural stone finishes to fit your needs.

Polished:
A glossy surface finish that brings out the full color and character of the stone. This versatile treatment is usually best for countertops, walls and floor tiles as it adds a beautiful sheen.

Honed:
Honed is semi polished or matte finish, with polishing only to a certain level, shy of generating a gloss level on the surface of the stone. Once again, different stones will carry a different level of honing based on the mineral structure. It is a good choice for flooring, stair treads, thresholds and other high traffic areas which would wear out a polished finished.

Antiqued:
Acid washed to create the tumbling effect, then brushed to “smooth” the surface. This finish gives the illusion of reclaimed material with a rich history and character. A good application of this material is granite flooring in an entryway.

Satin:
Buffing heads run over the surface to create a smooth and subtle texture, similar to a honed surface, but slightly less uniform. The end texture has a slightly weathered texture.

Flamed:
A surface treatment applied by intense heat flaming, which creates a rough surface finish. Because this stone has a rough finish to it, the flamed stone is a good choice for outdoor use-such as a patio or walkway.

Tumbled:
A slightly rough texture that is achieved by tumbling small pieces of marble, limestone, and sometimes granite to achieve an archaic/worn appearance. This process of involves acidic based chemicals at the factory level and/or the use of a tumbling machine that “antiques” the stone to give the appearance of a weathered, antique look in the stone, with softened edges.

Cross Cut & Filled:
Cross Cut – The process of cutting the initial block of stone parallel to the natural bedding plane. The effect is a mottled or cloudlike appearance.
Filled – A trade expression used to indicate the filling of natural voids in stone units with cements or synthetic resins and similar materials.
* Abbreviations that some suppliers use to describe this type of cut are CCFH
(Cross Cut Filled & Honed) and CCFP (Cross Cut Filled & Polished.)

Regular Cut & Filled:
Regular Cut (vein-cut) – The process of cutting the initial block of stone perpendicular to the natural bedding plane.
Filled – A trade expression used to indicate the filling of natural voids in stone units with cements or synthetic resins and similar materials.
*Abbreviations that some suppliers use to describe this type of cut are RCFH
(Regular Cut Filled & Honed) and RCFP (Regular Cut Filled & Polished.)

What is hardscape?

 Hardscape refers to the hard landscape elements in any landscape projects , especially any masonry work or woodwork , It is also considered one  of the two major sub-categories of landscaping

Hardscape elements  include paved areas, driveways, retaining walls, gazebos , pergolas, stairs and walkways any other landscaping made up of hard wearing materials such as wood, stone, concrete etc.

Also from an urban planning designer perspective, Hardscape can include most water features such asfountains and even small pools that is because these elements require a barrier to retain the water, instead of letting it drain into the surrounding soil.

When thinking about how to far to go with your hardscape project, it’s wise to strike a good balance between the amount of hardscape and the amount of softscape

So , let’s see what are the main hardscape elements for any projects ,

 

• Stone retaining walls
• Concrete patios
• Brick patios
• Flagstone patios
• Tile patios
• Stone walkways
• Gravel paths
• Stone landscape steps
• Wrought-iron fence
•  Wooden fences
• Wooden decks
•  Wooden arbors
• Wooden gazebos
• Masonry and/or wooden pergolas

cheap modern landscaping ideas