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Ornamental perennials bring color to your garden for several months or even all year round. Whether for shady or sunny locations - the choice is huge.
While flowers often only open for a few weeks, ornamental leaves provide color and structure in the garden over a longer period of time. You can beautify both shady and sunny places with them.
The elven flower (Epimedium x perralchicum ‘Frohnleiten’) is an extremely robust and drought tolerant leaf ornament for partially shaded and shady garden areas. But not only that: In spring and early summer it presents a leaf shoot that need not shy away from comparison with classic ornamental perennials such as funkie or purple bells. The fine reddish leaf pattern changes into a uniform green over the course of the season, which garden enthusiasts can enjoy even in winter in mild weather. Another plus: The barberry plant is an excellent ground cover. A carpet made of elven flowers does not let the smallest bit of weeds through and knows how to hold its own even in the dry root area of birch trees.
Hosta are available in over 4,000 varieties and with countless leaf shapes and colors. The ornamental leaf shrubs are available in different sizes, from dwarf varieties that are only a few centimeters tall to stately specimens up to one meter in height such as the blue-leaf funkie (Hosta Sieboldiana). Popular varieties are, for example, ‘Golden Tiara’ with its light green, yellow-tinged leaves or the white-bordered Patriot ’funkie. Yellow-leaved and green-leaved hostas develop well in sunny places if the soil is sufficiently moist. The ornamental foliage perennials should not be too shady, otherwise their leaves will not turn color well.
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White-bordered funkie: eye-catcher in the shade
Because of its modesty and particularly beautiful leaf color, the white-bordered hosta should not be missing in any hosta collection. Learn moreWith their evergreen foliage, Bergenia is beautiful all year round and can withstand a surprising amount of drought. The perennials spread slowly through runners and are extremely robust. A special feature is the rust-red winter color, which is different depending on the variety. The leaves are most beautifully colored in sunny locations that are not too nutrient-rich. A recommended variety with a great leaf color is Bergenia ‘Autumn Blossom’. It also continues to bloom, which is an advantage especially for areas prone to late frost.
Ferns are also fascinating ornamental foliage plants. Their trademark are the leaf fronds, which artfully unfold in spring and thus bring a permanent, organizing structure to shady garden areas. Ferns are not only available in classic green, but also, depending on the variety, with reddish or grayish leaf tones. A particularly colorful representative is the Japanese ornamental fern (Atyrium niponicum ‘Metallicum’). He wears rust-red fronds with a gray-green hem.
The ornamental grasses also have numerous leaf beauties. The range of sedges (Carex) includes many varieties with a yellow or white border. The golden ribbon grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’), which is still not widely used in our country, has bright golden yellow overhanging leaves.It can be combined very well with hostas or bergenias.
Most ornamental foliage perennials prefer partially shaded to shady garden areas. But there are also ornamental perennials that feel comfortable in the sun with their attractive leaves. The purple bell (Heuchera) is particularly suitable for sunny to partially shaded places. It convinces with its neat leaf color in the colors green, cream, red or brown. The leaves are wavy or fringed. Purple bells are attractive all year round and can be combined well with flowering perennials.
Sage (Salvia), the name of which comes from "salvare" (Latin for "to heal"), contains many varieties with great foliage. In addition to the anti-inflammatory effect of the young, aromatic leaves, the colorful leaf variants bring variety to the herb or rock garden. Salvia officinalis ‘Berggarten’ shines with a relatively large silver leaf. A yellow-green variegated leaf bears Salvia officinalis ‘Icterina’.
There are new varieties of the blue pillow (Aubrieta) such as Aubrieta ‘Downer's Bont’, whose green leaves have a creamy white border. Another decorative leaf plant for sunny locations is the shrub wormwood (Artemisia arborescens ens Powis Castle ’). It impresses with its fine, silvery foliage, but winter protection is necessary in rough areas.
We present a selection of beautiful ornamental foliage perennials in the following picture gallery.
+11 Show all ornamental perennials (11) 
MSG / Christian Lang The Caucasus forget-me-not ‘Jack Frost’ (Brunnera macrophylla) has heart-shaped leaves with a silvery pattern. The ornamental leaf shrub feels at home on humus-rich soils under trees
MSG / Martin Staffler The bergenia ‘evening bells’ is particularly effective in larger groups. Their foliage turns an intense red in winter. It bears pink flowers in spring
Fotolia / palomita0306 Not only the blue flowers of the lungwort (Pulmonaria) are beautiful to look at. The spotted foliage of some varieties such as ‘Wuppertal’ or ‘Roy Davidson’ is also a special ornament. The leaves of the ‘Majeste’ variety are even silvery in color throughout
MSG / Uwe Messer The Rodgersie ‘Rotlaub’ (Rodgersia podophylla) reaches heights of growth of up to 100 centimeters. Its large leaves show a picturesque veining and emerge reddish. The ornamental leaf shrub prefers shady locations under woodland and slowly spreads with rhizomes
MSG / Alexandra Ichters The purple bell (Heuchera) offers an immense variety of varieties with a wide variety of leaf colors and drawings. The foliage is best colored in sunny to slightly shady locations
MSG / Alexandra Ichters The spice sage ‘Berggarten’ (Salvia officinalis) decorates the garden or the herb bed with relatively large silver leaves
MSG / Beate Leufen-Bohlsen The sage variety ‘Icterina’ (Salvia officinalis) is also a sun worshiper and has yellow-green variegated leaves
MSG / Manuela Romig-Korinski The shrub wormwood ‘Powis Castle’ (Artemisia arborescens) has finely pinnate, silvery foliage. The subshrub is suitable for drier locations in full sun and forms woody bushes up to one meter high. In winter you should protect it from frost with mulch and a cover made of fleece
MSG / Jens Schütte The leaves of the Sagae ’(hosta hybrid) hosta have a golden-yellow border. The ornamental leaf grows up to 75 centimeters high and is suitable for partially shaded places
MSG / Patrick Hahn The flowers of the elven flower ‘Frohnleiten’ (Epimedium x perralchicum) bloom in sulfur yellow from April to May. The evergreen leaf of the ornamental leaf shoots reddish
MSG / Bettina Banse The ivory thistle (Eryngium giganteum) grows up to 80 centimeters and blooms silver-gray from July to August. It needs full sun and tolerates drought
