Here we are on the cusp of spring–some of us closer to that cusp than others, but we in the Northern Hemisphere are all headed in the same direction and whooping it up as buds are swelling and leaves are greening.  Those in the Southern Hemisphere–happy almost autumn to you! Regardless are where the gardens are planted, thanks to Christina of Creating my own garden of the Hesperides for hosting Garden Bloggers’ Foliage Day set aside for profiling and parading foliage–for this gardener, of the late-ish winter garden.

Blackberries.  Yum.  I can’t wait to make pie and cobbler, but also to pick the berries right off this vine in May. For now though, I simply appreciate the burgundy blush that winter’s chill left on some of the prickly leaves of the Rosborough Blackberry vine (Rubus, sp.), ‘Brazos’.

Opposite in the color and texture spectrum of the deeply colored and thorny foliage of Blackberry is this Heartleaf Skullcap, Scutellaria ovata ssp. bracteata.

This winter spreading, spring and summer blooming perennial, sports subtle gray-green leaves which are soft to the touch.

The morning sun backlit this pairing of Bamboo Muhly, Muhlenbergia dumosa  and Cast Iron Plant, Aspidistra elatior.

 I love the effect.

In the same garden, just down the pathway,  I also really like this combination of Cast Iron Plant (at top), Sparkler Sedge, Carex phyllocephala ‘Sparkler’, and Iris straps (unknown variety).

All are evergreen and hardy, water wise, and lovely plants year-round.

And this fun combo includes tawny, crispy about-to-be-pruned-to-the-ground, Inland Sea Oats, Chasmanthium latifolium, graceful Giant Liriope or Lilyturf, Liriope muscari, snazzy Variegated Flax Lily, Dianella tasmanica ‘Variegata’, and lacy and lovely summer-blooming Yarrow, Achillea millefolium.  

Oh, and also fallen oak leaves which STILL need raking up.

There’s more foliage gorgeousness to see from beautiful gardens at Creating my own garden of the Hesperides.  Check it out!