Trimmed with Lace

16 years ago

I think many of us enjoy playing around with textures in the garden as much as we do colors. Thought it would be interesting to chat about that, particularly plants that add a LACY texture. In my garden I like to add a bit of 'lace' in areas where there are a lot of plants that are hard/structural to lighten the look. Do you guys like to use them the same way? What are some of your favorite lacy plants? Here are a few of mine:

For the shade garden ferns are obviously good to set off the broad foliage of hostas. Aconitums are a favorite for that reason too.

Pulsatilla, both foliage and seed heads.

Corydalis

Thalictrum

Betula pendula ÂTrostÂs DwarfÂ (European beech- this one looks a lot like a Japanese maple, what with the finely cut foliage)

Artemisia

Tiarella

And my bronze fennel is popping up from the seeds I planted. I put them behind a pink DA rose, hoping to come up with a nice backdrop for it.

Here is a picture of my Saxifraga urbium ÂAureopunctataÂ with blue oat grass and Tiarella in the background. Love the delicate sprays of flowers.

{{gwi:706018}}

And the Pink Cow Parsley (Chaerophyllum hirsutumÂRoseumÂ) looks similar to Queen AnneÂs Lace.

Would love to see pics of how you use this texture in your gardens as well!

CMK

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Comments (7)

lavender_lass
16 years ago
CMK- Great topic! I wish I knew of more lacy plants, but all I have so far is the dill in the veggie garden.

I guess alyssum looks a little like lace to me, especially the white ones, which may be why I love to plant it under just about everything :)
Prettypetals_GA_7-8
16 years ago
Hi, I have some yarrow that looks airy to me and I just love it. I planted a few last year and they returned bigger and more beautiful than the year before so I bought me another color called pomegranite and love it too. Your gardens are beautiful. Judy
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DYH
16 years ago
Yarrow
Japanese painted fern
ammi majus (false queen anne's lace)
cosmos foliage
nigella
California poppies

There are probably more that I'll remember later...
Cameron
sharoncl
16 years ago
aruncus aethusifolius! I have it tucked in all over the place (along with ferns) in my shade garden.
fringed leaf bleeding heart
pulsatilla

I see you grow corydalis... Do you grow corydalis cheilanthifolia (fernleaf corydalis)? What do you think of it?
christinmk z5b eastern WA
Original Author
16 years ago
-LL, I think dill is beautiful! I always let mine go to seed because I love the look of the flower.

-Judy, thank you very much ;-) I agree, yarrow is very lacy! I dug up all the invasive wild kind in the yard, but just couldn't bring myself to pull the lovely pink one!

-sharoncl, I love that A. aethusifolius too! This fall I plan to move it to another location, where it can be seen better. I do grow C. cheilanthifolia. I started it from winter sown seeds just last fall/winter, but it is already huge. Mine doesn't look quite like the pics shown online of Corydalis cheilanthifolia- this ones foliage isn't as deeply serrated and 'ferny'. Hopefully it will come into its own as it matures. I can go an get a pic of it in the morning if you are intersted...
CMK
sharoncl
16 years ago
Hi CMK
I'd love to see a picture of your C. cheilanthifolia. I've noticed that many of the photos online show a very frilled foliage and others are not so finely frilled, so I'm interested in seeing what they look like in the real world.
Thanks!
Sharon
christinmk z5b eastern WA
Original Author
16 years ago
-Cameron, glad you mentioned the nigella! I got some seed in a trade last fall and planted some out awhile back. Can't wait to see it in bloom.

-Sharon, here are a few pics of that Corydalis cheilanthifolia!
Whole plant- very delicate look to it

Older leaf set- looks a bit like the foliage of C. lutea, except the leaflets are set farther apart

Young leaf set- looks more ferny than older set. Maybe with time the plant will look more like the frilled ones.

I think there are still a few leftover seeds of this plant loafing around in my seedbox. There arn't many, but if you are interested I could send you some in a sasbe. Drop me an e-mail if you are...
CMK