Adding a few visually dominant plants can make a drab garden dynamic.

Have you ever planned a brilliant border on paper, only to have it prove to be a design disaster in real life? When I planted my first large border, I thought I had the perfect design. I combined new plants I had selected based on catalog descriptions with existing plants moved from trial beds in the garden. The color scheme was precisely organized and the bloom seasons carefully considered. Yet, after two years, my color-coordinated but unsatisfying 100-by-16-foot border barely reached four feet in height at the peak of the growing season. It lacked focal points: bold plants that would contribute height, form, and solidity among the delicate beauties already in place.

It was easy to see that I needed taller plants in the center of my freestanding border. A friend with an eye for garden design suggested I also add an occasional lofty grower near the edges to break the static effect of planting in rows according to height. Despite knowing that my garden lacked pizzazz, it took me another year or two of planting to grasp what had been missing in my design. Asters and other perennials with tiny leaves and flowers had been included in my original plan to contrast their diminutive foliage with the larger leaves of plants such as hardy geraniums and variegated obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana ‘Variegata’). What was missing were plants bearing leaves six inches or longer with simple, clear outlines. I needed bold foliage to provide a visual resting place for eyes fatigued by the relentless details of fluffy flowers and fussy foliage. After several years of experimenting, I have now identified a gallery of dramatic plants that make my borders as exciting as I had originally hoped they would be.

Semihardy Subtropicals

My North Carolina garden is in the warmer half of USDA Zone 7 (AHS Zone 7), so I can grow bold subtropicals such as cannas and ginger lilies with impunity. North of Zone 7, these plants must be treated as expensive annuals or dug and wintered over in the same manner as dahlias. Without a long, sultry growing season, however, they may not achieve the grand stature they do in southern gardens.

Cannas were the first bold-foliage plants to grace my borders, and I admit I felt pretty brazen planting my first canna, ‘Bengal Tiger’ (sometimes listed, incorrectly, as ‘Pretoria’). A sought-after plant just a few years ago because of its sunny yellow-and-green-striped foliage edged with a fine tracery of burgundy, ‘Bengal Tiger’ is now fairly easy to find. I placed mine in the midst of a nice but not very compelling composition, and the change was immediately satisfying. The canna’s foot-long leaves contrasted dramatically with the slim blades of six-foot-tall maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’), which I had added for its height and graceful, fountainlike form. Prairie coneflower (Ratabida pinnata) complemented the canna’s colors with its airy, swept-back, clear yellow petals. And the smoky pink petals and burnished orange cones of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) echoed the outrageous orange flowers and pink stems of ‘Bengal Tiger’.  In effect, ‘Bengal Tiger’ became the whisky in the punch, taking this section of my border from polite and proper to impassioned and energized.

Cheered on by my initial success with cannas, I now include several in my garden’s design. A recent introduction, Canna ‘Phaison’ (trademarked Tropicana), elicits either delight or dismay from visitors as they take in its shocking foliage—striped dark purple and rich coral-red with tinges of steely blue and bright green—and its huge orange flowers. It is hard to imagine a gaudier plant, or one that will develop a more loyal following among gardeners who like color. I firmly believe that summer is meant to be celebrated in all its garish splendor and so took ‘Phaison’ into my garden on first sight. My favorite companion thus far for this brazen beauty is a shrubby willow (Salix purpurea ‘Pendula’). In contrast to the density and firm verticality of the canna, ‘Pendula’ is a flighty wild child. She flings her slender purple stems and narrow, blue-gray leaves out in all directions, as if unable to choose which way to go first. Slightly less ostentatious plants that go well with this compelling combination include the tender purple-leaved fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’), blackberry lily (Belamcanda chinensis), and globe amaranth (Gomphrena ‘Strawberry Fields’), which produces fire-engine red, cloverlike blooms from summer to frost.

For those who dislike the frantic foliage and jumbo flowers of ‘Bengal Tiger’ and ‘Phaison’, I recommend several small-flowered cannas. Canna indica has tiny, pale salmon-orange flowers held above tightly wrapped, upright, green or dark purple leaves. Highly fashionable Canna glauca ‘Panache’ bears slender, salmon-pink flowers and long, narrow green leaves. Be forewarned: ‘Panache’ forms runners that will weave throughout your border.

At more than $50 per plant, Canna ‘Stuttgart’ seemed destined to remain on my wish list for several more years, but a friend recently sent me a root. Its tricolored leaves feature bold blocks of pale green, blue-green, and creamy white; small, peach-colored flowers are a late-season highlight. In hot climates, ‘Stuttgart’ does best where light afternoon shade prevents scorching of the white sections of each leaf.

Ginger Lilies

With their chunky stalks and lush leaves, ginger lilies (Hedychium spp.), like cannas, add a delightfully tropical texture to the border. Butterfly ginger (Hedychium coronarium) sends up five-foot-tall stems clothed in glossy, lime-green leaves. From these stems emerge cones of white, butterfly-shaped flowers that open every evening from August until frost. Even if butterfly ginger were not so attractive, I would still grow it for its fragrance, a sumptuously sweet perfume that wafts through the garden on an evening breeze. But its bold leaves are a designer’s delight. In my garden, it contrasts perfectly with the lacy, maplelike leaves of Vitex negundo ‘Heterophylla’. Each summer afternoon, the vitex—pruned annually to maintain its eight-foot height—casts its delicate shadows onto the broad surfaces of the ginger lily’s leaves. Other choice companions for butterfly ginger include the white-fruited Asian beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma ‘Albifructus’), pink-flowered bush clovers (Lespedeza spp.), and tender rosebud sage (Saliva involucrata ‘Bethellii’), which bears hot pink flowers on five-foot stems.

Another excellent ginger lily is Hedychium coccineum ‘Aurantiacum’. Its leaves are narrower than those of butterfly ginger, but they are still large enough to provide a strong contrast to more delicate foliage. While butterfly ginger opens just a few flowers each day, ‘Aurantiacum’ explodes into full bloom in August and produces several flushes of flowers before frost. In addition to using ‘Aurantiacum’ in the perennial bed, I pair it with the wine-red fountain grass (Pennisetum ‘Burgundy Giant’) and colorful coleus in terra-cotta containers.

Hardier Perennials

While my garden happily hosts plants hardy to Zone 7, what is a northern gardener to do? Relax, there are a number of hardy perennials that can make great centerpieces for gardeners in cooler areas of the country. My favorite is Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum), hardy from Zone 4 to 8. In my garden I have a low-growing selection of unknown origin that produces expansive, deep green leaves in whorls around dark burgundy stems. While regular Joe-Pye towers over the garden at seven  to 12 feet tall, this “dwarf” form tops out at a mere six feet. E. fistulosum and its more compact cultivar, ‘Gateway’, would create a similar effect. Joe-Pye’s midsummer domes of thready, smoky pink flowers are complemented by the arching, airy inflorescences of Panicum virgatum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’. I also include a spectacular elephant ear (Colocasia ‘Black Magic’), which has two-foot-long, dusky black-purple leaves borne on black-cherry stems. The colocasia is hardy only to Zone 7, but further north an ornamental rhubarb (Rheum spp.)—or even an edible cultivar like red-stemmed ‘Valentine’—would make a good substitute. Tender Salvia vanhouttii—bearing brilliant red tubular flowers that weep from burgundy bracts and dainty pointed leaves that emphasize the strength of the Joe-Pye weed’s form—completes the picture.

Joe-Pye weed is native to my area, as is another local resident I recommend: pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). I know what you’re thinking: “Is she crazy?” After all, this is a plant commonly seen along roadsides and in abandoned fields. But consider it just for a second. The strapping, six-inch green leaves on ruby stems are gorgeous, and the clusters of berries, changing to the color of port wine, glow irresistibly in the  slanting rays of late summer’s sun. In the last days before frost, ripe with fruit and overhanging a clump of pale pink Dendranthema ‘Venus’, there is hardly a more beautiful plant than purple pokeweed. If wine and rubies aren’t in your color scheme, there is a selection called ‘Xanthocarpa’ that has green stems and yellow berries. Just make sure to clip the berry clusters before they drop or are eaten by birds and scattered so they don’t seed throughout your garden.

Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) is another underused dramatic plant hardy in Zone 4 to 9. Simple, rich green leaves up to a foot long clasp the stems in opposite pairs to form a central cup that catches and holds rainwater for birds and butterflies. Cup plant thrives in poor soils and may become lanky in rich soils; most of the plants I’ve seen have been six to eight feet in height, but it can reach 10 feet. In summer, cup plant bears bright yellow daisies that resemble small sunflowers. Later, the seedheads provide the additional benefit of attracting goldfinches and other birds. Match cup plant with other less formal natives that don’t require rich soils or lots of attention, such as asters, goldenrods (Solidago spp.), beebalms (Monarda spp.), and grasses.

Although most asters are narrow-leaved, Tatarian aster (Aster tataricus) produces broad paddle-shaped leaves with ruffled edges. Tatarian aster makes a fine patch of foot-tall foliage from which rise five-to-seven-foot-tall stems bearing pale purple blossoms that open in early autumn. The cultivar ‘Jindai’, with sturdy five-foot stems, makes an excellent screen for obscuring the spent remains of summer’s past glories.

Another sun-loving plant with paddle-shaped leaves is giant coneflower (Rudbeckia maxima). Its powdery blue-gray foliage, the size and shape of good old southern collard greens, is wax-coated to preserve moisture in the heat of its native Texas. In early summer, six-foot spikes of brilliant golden flowers with swept-back petals and protruding brown cones rocket forth from its 18-inch-tall basal rosette of leaves. I use the early summer bloom of Rudbeckia maxima as a screen in front of Canna ‘Wyoming’ and love the contrast of the canna’s rich purple leaves and tangerine-orange flowers with the cooler colors of the rudbeckia.

For the Smaller Garden

These huge plants are all well and good, but what if your garden is just too small to host a five-to-eight-foot-tall giant? First of all, be sure that it is too small. Often, a tiny space will look larger with the addition of a lofty plant or two. Bold plants create the impression of a bigger space because the viewer doesn’t feel like Gulliver amongst the Lilliputian vegetation. Also, since tiny gardens often tightly embrace the gardener’s dwelling, a few grandiose plants can bring the garden closer to scale with the adjacent buildings. In my large garden, low-growing bold-leaved plants bring foliar contrast down to ground level, but if your garden—or your temperament—doesn’t allow for giant elephant ears or jumbo Joe-Pye weed, consider the visually simple lines of the following smaller plants.

At only two feet high, pineapple lily (Eucomis comosa) still provides a strong presence with its soft, sword-shaped, olive-green leaves. In midsummer, a sturdy flower shoot emerges from the center of each foliage rosette, bearing many outfacing, starry blossoms and crowned—as its common name suggests—with a terminal tuft of leaves. Even better is Eucomis ‘Sparkling Burgundy’, introduced by Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery in North Carolina. This selection has wine-colored leaves and pink-tinged blooms. In my garden, ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ provides a powerful form and color contrast to delicate pink Salvia coccinea ‘Bicolor’ and white-flowered Gaura lindheimeri. Pineapple lily is hardy to Zone 7, but the small bulbs can be easily dug and overwintered.

In a shady area, a similar sword-like texture can be had from aspidistras and rohdeas. Aspidistra elatior, cast-iron plant, has historically been used as an indoor plant because of its tolerance for poor lighting, but in Zone 7 to 10 it can be grown in the garden. The best cultivar I’ve seen is ‘Asahi’, the leaves of which are frosted creamy white on the upper third. Cultivars of Rohdea japonica are similar enough in appearance to aspidistras that I occasionally have trouble remembering which is which, and they have the advantage of being hardy in Zone 6 to 10. Plant Delights has recently introduced a long list of evergreen rohdeas, many of which are spotted, splashed, or streaked with white or cream.

My garden is in full sun, but an herbaceous perennial I greatly admire for shady gardens is spiny bear’s-breeches (Acanthus spinosus). Its boldly architectural, foot-long  leaves are armed with fierce-looking but relatively soft spines. A mature clump grows to three or four feet in height before blooming in late spring here in North Carolina. White or mauve flowers are enclosed by hooded purple bracts and arranged in spires up each stalk. Although bear’s-breeches are actually native to Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, its slightly sinister look makes me think of medieval British castles and hooded highwaymen. Spiny bear’s-breeches is hardy to Zone 5 and has the advantage of tolerating hot, humid summers, which distress its better-known cousin, common bear’s-breeches (Acanthus mollis). If you can accommodate its preference for cool summers and Zone 7 winters, Acanthus mollis provides broad, rounded leaves to two feet long and half as wide.

If you don’t have room for five-foot-tall Colocasia ‘Black Magic’, perhaps the smaller but equally attractive Colocasia esculenta ‘Illustris’ will fit your garden. ‘Illustris’ bears arrowhead-shaped, charcoal-black leaves with bright green veins. It grows to only 30 inches tall, making it an excellent contrast for yarrows, hardy geraniums, and other low-growers. ‘Illustris’ prospers in light shade as well as sun, especially in hot gardens, and prefers moist to boggy soils.

Arum italicum subsp. italicum (also listed as ‘Pictum’) provides a similar arrowhead leaf form for shady sites, but it emerges in autumn, filling the space left vacant by winter-dormant shade-lovers such as hostas. ‘Pictum’ produces some interesting seedling sports; my favorite is a new selection called ‘Legs’, which bears two-foot-long leaves with gleaming silver veins. The leaves stand nearly parallel to the ground and are larger and better variegated than other forms. Arum foliage is a blessing in the winter garden, and its short spikes of fat red berries strike a cheerful note in summer, long after the foliage has faded.

No matter the size of your own garden, incorporating bold plants into your design is the key to creating a vibrant, balanced masterpiece. As I’ve expanded my palette to include grand plants, my motto has been, “If in doubt, try it!” I recommend this spirit of adventure to gardeners everywhere who want to tackle the timid corners of their own designs.

Pam Baggett is proprietor of Singing Springs Nursery, 8802 Wilkerson Road, Cedar Grove, North Carolina, 27231; e-mail: nightair@mindspring.com. Catalog $3.

Other Bold Plants

Be willing to experiment and you’ll find dozens of plants whose foliage forces the viewer’s eye to stop and peruse its bold outline. Others I grow—or would consider growing if they were suitable in my region—include brightly striped New Zealand flax (Phormium spp.). These agave relatives from New Zealand have erect linear leaves in a variety of colors but are only hardy in Zones 9 and 10.

If you have a silver or blue color scheme, consider cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), sea hollies (Eryngium spp.), or Scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium). Cardoon is a sensational silvery addition to the border. Hardy to Zone 7, this giant artichoke relative grows four or five feet tall and, given a long-growing season, will produce deep purple thistlelike flowers in late summer. Sea hollies are branched, erect perennials distinguished by thistlelike flowers protected by collars of spiky bracts. Different species are suitable for a wide range of soil types and hardiness zones.

For dry climate gardeners, agave relatives such as yuccas (see The American Gardener November/December 1997), agaves, and dasylirions are perfect choices for a bold centerpiece. The erect, swordlike leaves of these natives of our Southwest and Central America offer a dramatic vertical element that makes a welcome change from the rounded form of other border plants. Hardiness varies from Zone 7 for some yuccas to Zone 10 and 11 for agaves and dasylirions.

Other worthy bold plants include castor bean (Ricinus communis), an erect, multistalked subtropical shrub grown as an annual north of Zone 9, and red hot poker (Kniphofia spp.), a perennial in the lily family famous for its spikes of tightly clustered red, orange, yellow, or multicolored tubular flowers.            —P.B.

Sources

FORESTFARM
990 Tetherow Road, Williams, OR 97544-9599.
(541) 846-7269. 
www.forestfarm.com. 
Catalog $4, or free if ordered online.

GLASSHOUSE WORKS
Church Street, Stewart, OH 45778-0097.
(740) 662-2142. 
www.glasshouseworks.com. 
Catalog $2.

GOODWIN CREEK GARDENS
P.O. Box 83, Williams, OR 97544.
(541) 846-7357. 
Catalog $2.

PLANT DELIGHTS NURSERY 
9241 Sauls Road, Raleigh, NC 27603.
(919) 772-4794. 
www.plantdelights.com. 
Catalog: Send 10 stamps or a box of chocolates.

WE-DU NURSERIES
Route 5, Box
724, Marion, NC 28752-9338.
(704) 738-8300. 
www.we-du.com. 
Catalog $2.

Article reprinted courtesy of Pam Baggett