Fade to Green

The red winter tones of Euphorbia 'Red Wing' change to a dark olive when spring arrives.

It has been an ongoing challenge for me to find plants with dark colored foliage. What I’m looking for are plants with color to their foliage (such as red or purple) throughout the growing season, and, if I could wish for more, retain some color throughout the winter as well. That’s a high bill to fill. What I find, more than not, is that the plant with the promised red foliage, comes out colorful, but then fades to a muddy green, or even plain green. Sometimes the plants retain a bit of the color.

The plants that I see around town that retain color are the purple-leafed plum and the Japanese barberry. These are plants that are used over and over again, and quite frankly, I’m tired of seeing them. But they are used for a reason: they are two of very few plants that retain a dark color through the heat of summer. For it is the heat and the bright sunshine here in Albuquerque that burns the color right out of plants. Penstemon ‘Husker Red’ turns green in my garden, after emerging in the spring a nice purple-red. The grass Panicum ‘Shenandoah’ promised brilliant red color by fall, but mine stayed green, fading to brown. Even the Royal Purple smokebush leaves fade to a dull green with only a few leaves retaining a bit of purple edges, until I moved it to partial shade. I see good color in the plants of some gardens, and I wonder how they manage that. Sedum ‘Vera Jameson’ has those great purple toned leaves in the nursery, but in my yard either burns in the sun or fades to green. Maybe I’m not watering enough. I expect that to be the answer in the smokebush and the sedum, since my friend Ted in Veguita says that his “Vera” does great, and the yards where I’ve seen colorful smokebush have appeared well irrigated. Euphorbia x martinii 'Cherokee' known for purple color was being sold by a local nursery this past summer, and when I first saw it, it was a luscious dark purple. A month later at the nursery, the purple had diminished to irregular streaks. The ruby colored Eucomis ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ is barely red tinged in this climate.

In my garden, I'm still looking for great plants thatt that will retain its vibrant color through the summer in the sunny border. Salvia officinalis 'Purpurascens' holds some purple color in the newest leaves. I’ve seen Heuchera ‘Palace Purple’ retain color in shaded areas where the plants don’t burn and are kept well irrigated. I’ve heard that Penstemon ‘Husker Red’ doesn’t hold its color because it is grown from inferior seedlings rather than cutting grown from the original richly colored plant. I’ll keep my eye out for better plants. Japanese blood grass (Imperata cylindrica) performs well at UNM, with red tipped leaves that usually turn solidly glowing red by fall (though last year they didn’t). I’ve seen a neighbor’s amaranth hold on to some leafy color in summer, but most of the color was from the seed heads (though that’s something). I've yet to plant cannas, but they just seem wrong in my garden. I may someday resort to a purple leafed Japanese barberry, which is not supposed to be invasive in this climate.

Right now I’ve given up on the idea of rich red or purple foliage in the garden. I guess I’ll stick with silver foliage and red flowers, but I’m keeping my eyes open.