I especially love that "Red Umbrellas".

(If we were less far apart I hope I could come view your property. All the photos you post are representative of wonderful gardens.)

Acer pseudoplatanus 'Eskimo Sunset' ... note color of back of leaf

variegated columbine

variegated lilac ... dappled dawn ... ken

thats better

Hmmm, the two that are coming to mind at the moment, sorry no pictures. The one still in a pot waiting for it's forever home, a hardy begonia 'Garden Angel Plum', a real beauty, the description from Phoenix Perennials ...
A hardy begonia boasting pewter-silver palmate leaves with coal black
veins and a warm, gorgeous, rich, plummy-red violet flush. 'Garden Angel
Plum' will form a luscious clump of zone 7 hardy foliage in the shade
garden or in shady containers. Best classified as a shrub begonia, it
has a mounding, upright habit and flowers in late summer with small,
single, pink flowers. In colder climates use as a houseplant in winter.

The other one I purchased and did get planted last fall is Acanthus 'Whitewater' can hardly wait to see how this develops as it grows and gets bigger.

Annette

That "Esk Sunset" is s stunner Ken. .

(And that variegation would better camouflage the "leaf miner" paths on the that Columbine ;)).

hers how to do it.. midnight .. if you dont have pix ... i just highlighted your name.. right clicked.. and hit search google.. then hit IMAGES .... ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=begonia+%27Garden+Angel+Plum%27&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjvi7f_n6XLAhUBs4MKHXWIDB0Q_AUICCgC&biw=944&bih=745&dpr=0.9

https://www.google.com/search?q=Acanthus+%27Whitewater%27&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiBvqyToKXLAhVBsoMKHe3vC-sQ_AUIBygB&biw=944&bih=745&dpr=0.9

Thanks Ken, good to know :).

I love Jack Frost Brunnera especially to light up shady spots. The leaves are very luminous...

These brunnera are so excellent in the spring with the usual wetter cooler weather but some of mine (not as much for JF) can start to look quite ratty with 'rusty' splotchy foliage with the prolonged heat and inevitable dryness of the summer.

I like epimedium rubrum - here's link to a photo (not mine). Epimedium rubrum

I know we are not supposed to mention heuchera...so I won't...but I do think a shout out for tellima is worthwhile, especially t.grandiflora 'rubra and quite a few of the saxifrage family deserve a mention too - s.fortuneii 'Wada's Fortune for example (although there is a bizarre and sickly looking variegated s.urbium which is horrid). I always enjoy the delicate foliage of thalictrums and aquilegias...but the native a.chrysantha has a delicious glaucous cast to the leaves. Hardy begonia evansiana is a late summer delight (especially when the leaf undersides catch the evening sun. Finally, a few of the species hellebores are as notable for their foliage as for their flowers - the dainty metallic lividus and argutifolius, fierce h.corsicus and the deep green, highly cut leaves of h.foetidus.

cornus hedgerow gold

variegated forsythia

philadelphus argento-marginata

artemisia

all at their best in the spring, particularly the artemisia.

I have two Caryopteris that I love for the all-season long foliage.

C. divaricata 'Snow Fairy' has a delicate texture close up, but from a distance reads as a frosty mound. It's herbaceous.

C. incana 'Sunshine Blue' is a shrubby plant that has bright gold foliage and in my garden never gets taller than 2 feet. Like other Caryopteris it has late season blue flowers.

A couple of other gold-foliaged plants that I like are Spiraea 'Ogon' which has an almost weeping form and small white flowers. This is a two-year-old plant late in the season when the leaves are starting to fade; they spend most of the season a bright gold-chartreuse.

and Clematis 'Stolwijk Gold' has early-season blue flowers. I can't get a photo that shows both the flower color and the foliage color accurately, so here the foliage is true while the flower color should be a steely blue with just a hint of lavender.

And three shade plants since all the ones above are for sunny areas. The first two provide a contrast in plant and leaf shape to many of the common shade plants.

Variegated Solomon's seal, Polygonatum variegatum

I can't find right now reasonable photos of Leucosceptrum japonicum 'Gold Angel' and my dark-leafed Actea (used to be Cimicifuga).

My favorites......

Great thread subject, rouge. Here are some from my garden. (click to enlarge)

Evergreen deer fern Blechnum spicant

Eryngium 'Miss Willmott's Ghost'

Enjoying everyone's pictures! And a little ashamed I have none of my own pictures to contribute... and to think I call myself a gardener! I shall endeavor to do better this year.

Sedums always come to mind for interesting/striking foliage. I just planted 'Frosty Morn' last fall and it's variegated tips are pushing through the soil now and look so neat! I also love 'Angelina' and 'Blue Spruce'.

Variegated solomon's seal always makes me smile.

'Helen Von Stein' lambs ears for texture, every visitor comments on them

I wintersowed Agastache 'Golden Jubilee' - looks quite vivid in pictures but I only have little seedlings right now

Another creature I just wintersowed is the variegated money plant (Lunaria annua). It seems to have an disorganized sort of structure to it... but the seed pods are unusual.

I planted some Ajuga 'Burgandy Glow' last fall as well, it has very striking "splashed" looking foliage. To the point that my mind thought "unnatural" when I first looked at it. Of course I bought it :-) I have had hardiness issues with other ajugas so I don't know yet if this is a winner for my garden

Alliums are among my favorites for unusual/eye-catching flowers. Almost no work for quite a reward!

Hydrangea "Little Honey"

oooh, that's fabulous, witchazel. I am a hydrangea novice - never had space or shade but suddenly, I am seeing what great potential they have in my woods. Like finding a really great author or musician with a good back catalogue, coming across a whole new genus is thrilling...and that foliage is just sumptuous.

Oooh, that is lovely! Would really light up a shady spot.

I did snap a picture of the aforementioned 'Frosty Morn' sedum coming up.

Thanks Campanula UK. I stumbled across it in a local nursery 2 years ago and each year it gets even more spectacular. The sheer brightness of it is hard to catch in a photo and of course it follows these up with gorgeous red in the fall.

Of course just gorgeous Witchazel.

How are the flowers on this particular hydgrangea?

Well...the flowers are white and are probably the weakest link IMO. This is an oakleaf variety so the blooms aren't as pretty as the mopheads. It's still a fairly young plant, maybe 3-4 yrs old. The leaves turn a little more green deeper in the season but it still maintains the overall yellow color all the way to Fall. Here's another shot I took this morning.

Check hardiness, Rouge. I am fairly sure that this won't grow for me. Perhaps T2D will weigh in since she is a bit warmer than I, and I know she bought a couple of these perhaps 2 years ago.

Where are you Witchazel?

Atlanta, 7b/8a. According to Dave's, it's hardy to 5a.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/59722/#b

Witchazel, I know it is supposed to be hardy to 5a, but oakleafs aren't necessarily flower bud hardy here. In the nearest city to me (Concord, NH, solidly 5a) I've seen several that look fairly sad after one of our winters and they take some time to recover. I'm usually about 5 degrees cooler, so I haven't even tried. That's why I thought T2D might add her experience on these. My memory is that they didn't survive for her, but my memory sometimes fails me. ;>)

Roger that, I defer to your expert opinion on your zone.

I checked with T2D and she said: "One of my Little Honey survived. I think the other two were both severely eaten by deer so didn't have much of a chance." So folks who are solidly zone 5 have a good chance with Little Honey.