Androsace vitaliana

One of the interesting things about this time of year is that plants with interesting foliage come to the fore.  In particular green becomes a precious commodity as the leaves fall and flowers fade.  Some of the plants that maintain continuing interest in December are featured in this post.  I had to return to the pictures of this plant in flower back in April to see that it is an Androsace vitaliana.  I had previously mislabeled it as a Saxifrage.  The silvered green and the reddish undercurrent make a particularly lovely combination for the large trough.

As I step out of the back door each day the Mossy Saxifrage greets me with its lush, feathered green stems.

Saxifraga exarata ssp. moschata

And as you go out the front door a long lived epimedium stays green long past expectations.

Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’

In the front rock garden there is a patch of sedum that has four season interest.

Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’

It’s very hardy and would like to consider moving into the lawn…

In the backyard another four-season contributor is the lovely Blue Waterfall campanula.

Campanula poscharskyana ‘Blue Waterfall’

In the springtime this will triple in size with a spread of blue flowers.

Nearby the marginally hardy hybrid corydalis ‘Blackberry Wine’ has fine green foliage.

Corydalis solida Blackberry Wine

In walking around I noticed a couple of signs of spring (even in December).  There are buds showing on all of the Adonis plantings.

Adonis amurensis ‘Fukujukai’ in bud

And more surprisingly I see buds on the Hepaticas as well.

Hepatica nobilis in bud

Let me close with one more example of lovely foliage, this time from the Alpine bed.

Anemone multifida ‘rubrum’

This was grown from seed obtained from the NARGS seed exchange last Spring.  It flowered in its first season and is spreading in a nice clump of red-tinged green leaves.