Time again for Garden Bloggers Foliage Day (GBFD), hosted by Christina at Garden of the Hesperides.

When I showed a tour of the garden several days ago, I saved one section along the Southern Path to feature for foliage day.  On both sides of the walkway silvery Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s Ear) and further back, gray-green Lychnis coronaria (Rose Campion), add enchantment to this border. Both are full of buds. [Note: In an earlier version I had mislabeled the Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s Ear) as Lychnis coronaria (Rose campion).]

Further down the path toward the main garden, spears of Baptisia ‘Purple Smoke’ are making ready to bloom. I like the soft green leaves.

More soft green in this border comes from the tender young foliage of Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage) and from a mound of Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ (Wormwood).

I spotted a down-the-street neighbor working in her yard Saturday. She remembered I had inquired about getting some of her Chrysanthemum ‘Sheffield Pink’ (Hardy Chrysanthemum) when she was ready to divide them. The next day I discovered a nice clump of them in a pot on my porch.

After errands yesterday morning I visited the nursery at Southern States (along with half of Chapel Hill! It was very busy.) Everyone is excited to be out planting this time of year. I found another gardenia to try and planted it along the back fence. This is Gardenia jasminoides ‘Frost Proof’ (Gardenia ‘Frost Proof’).

Also I brought home a few new plants with colorful and textured foliage.

This one with silvery foliage is Arctotis hybrid ‘Orange’ (Orange African Daisy). I bought it to accompany some small orange zinnias.

The others I bought to insert into some bare spot around the garden—one Alternanthera ‘Red Threads’ and two Amaranto tricolor ’True Yellow’ (Joseph’s coat). After I got home I became nervous when reading about them online. They seem to be rather reliable spreaders.

Should I keep them in pots or try them in ground?

I often wonder what gardening would be like if I were not always trying to pull out some things that have become too aggressive. I have never been intrigued much by time travel but a time machine would come in handy to eliminate certain plants.

Visit Christina at Garden of the Hesperides for a look around her garden in Italy and find links to foliage posts from many parts of the world.