Before and after the wild color of Spring, green is the color we depend on in the garden.

“Now every field is clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves; now the woods put forth their blossoms, and the year assumes its gay attire.”
–  Virgil

Sue’s Review:  Fine Foliage: Elegant Plant Combinations for Garden and Container

A dramatic foliage border  gives your  garden a lush layered look that doesn’t depend on flowers for effect. Choose the right blend of leaf shape, color and texture and you can make sure each plant will stand out on its own.  Jazz up your ‘mostly green’ theme with colorful variegated plants or those with bronze, chartreuse or purple.

Turn to Fine Foliage, to try out the textures, colors and shapes of the plants before you start, insuring your success as a garden designer.  How fun it is to bring these combinations to your own garden and see them work as brilliantly! Some combos are for containers and some for wide borders offering every gardener options to try out.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a gardening book that reads like a cookbook? One that you show you in color what plants look great together?   That’s what Fine Foliage does.  On each page there’s a ‘recipe’, complete with a beautiful color photo, over 60 combinations of green, a color standby all the gardening year.

The book is divided into two sections, sun and shade, and each page has a combo to try out in the garden or in containers.  From trees to shrubs, perennials and low growers, you’ll never believe the number of different colors of green until you see them for yourself.

Here’s one, “Berry-licious”, using two varieties of Heucheras, plus a Quicksilver Hebe. Fabulous! Other names for the combos are equally delicious, “Lemon and Lime,” “Succulent Buffet” and “Strawberries and Chocolate.”  Yum!

Berry-licious!

The authors, Karen Chapman and Christina Salwitz, explain on each beautiful page, these three things:

• Why This Works
• Meet the Players, the plants in the grouping
• Planting information like site, season, soil and zone

This 160 page picture book is a small size, but packed with inspiration for every gardener, ideal as a gift, to read at your bedside or in the garden as you relax and plan for future plantings. That’s what I’ll do this afternoon…  ~~ Sue

Click book for info:

Fine Foliage: Elegant Plant Combinations for Garden and Container  $12.94

About the Authors:

Karen Chapman and Christina Salwitz live in the Seattle area with their respective families. Karen Chapman is a garden coach, horticulturist and owner of Le Jardinet, a garden and container design company. Christina Salwitz specializes in garden and container design as The Personal Garden Coach. Both are members of the Garden Writers Association.

About the Book:

Fine Foliage: Elegant Plant Combinations for Garden and Container
ISBN- 13: 978-0-9855622-2-9
$16.95 US/$18.50 CAN
Hardcover, 160 pages

Disclaimer:  I was sent this book at no charge to look over, but am not paid to write this review. ~~ Sue Langley