Hi GPODers!
Yesterday we enjoyed the colorful array of mid-spring flowers in Carla Zambelli Mudry’s woodland garden (if you missed that post, check it out here: Part 1). Today we’re back in Malvern, Pennsylvania, to see the new foliage that has emerged since the start of the growing season. While flowers often steal the spotlight—particularly in early spring when bulbs and flowering woodies reign supreme—Carla’s foliage proves it can be just as colorful and exciting.
Greetings from mid-spring in my garden! This is the time of year when it feels like something new is happening every hour of the day. It’s a busy time of planting and early weeding (which I hate) and feeding plants like my roses. The birdsong is a joy every day. My favorite birds, which are the bluebirds and Carolina wrens, are back and nesting, and I am waiting for the ever-sociable catbirds to make their appearance. Happy gardening!
Hostas are an easy way to bring color to your shade beds, but they can be even more fun in a cool container! A concrete swan makes a lovely home for this brightly variegated variety.
Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum, Zones 3–8) have pretty white flowers, but I think the carpet they can create with their umbrella-like foliage is just as captivating. Carla’s mayapple colony is shimmering and shining in the sunrays flooding out between trees.
And this sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum, Zones 4–8) will soon be covered in lovely clusters of bright white flowers but is already providing interest with its bursts of bloom-like foliage. As a bonus, you don’t need to wait for the flowers to enjoy this plant’s unique fragrance. When crushed, the leaves also produce a lovely scent, which is why this plant is often used commercially in perfumes and potpourri.
Perennials are providing lots of foliage interest for Carla this spring, but it’s her Japanese maple collection that really sings. ‘Orange Dream’ (Acer palmatum ‘Orange Dream’, Zones 6–9) might as well be cascading blooms over bright green fern fronds.
Clusters of serrated leaves glow with varied shades of green, orange, and red that also provide unparalleled texture. Just about anyone can find the room to squeeze this beauty as a small focal-point tree into their garden.
The deep red of ‘Crimson Prince’ (Acer palmatum ‘Crimson Prince’, Zones 5–9) provides great contrast for many of the lighter and brighter colors of the season. It also does a little bit of double duty with its tiny red flowers.
Of course, I had to sneak one spring flower into this post. This double daffodil is absolutely darling but even more interesting when paired with the dark burgundy laceleaf maple behind.
A final video shows how all this fresh and colorful foliage looks mixed together in Carla’s woodland wonderland. What a magical moment when winter’s sea of brown transforms into a lively canopy of green.
Spring fever is reaching its peak, and the only cure is more garden photos! Whether it’s your 1st time submitting or your 15th, we would love to see your spring garden on the blog this year. Follow the directions below to submit photos via email, or send me a DM on Instagram: @agirlherdogandtheroad.
We want to see YOUR garden!
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, send 5–10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
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