Springwood Gardens: Foliage types

There has been a lot of talk on the AHS robin about foliage types, and figuring out the difference. I wrote about this earlier on the blog on January 2, 2012 and March 7, 2010 (you can go to the search box and type in those dates or just type in the word foliage). It can be really hard to tell the difference in foliage types outside, but it is quite clear in a greenhouse setting. Some things are 100% evergreen, some are 100% dormant, and semis range from 90% dormant to just 10% dormant and their foliage makes it obvious which is which. However, because I don't take the temperature in the greenhouse below 36 degrees (so as not to damage it), some things that are somewhat semi-evergreen inside may indeed be dormant when grown outside. (Note that I register the foliage type based on what I observe in the greenhouse and comment if it looks different outside).

Here are a couple of my introductions that are clearly 100% evergreen (and yes, they are hardy in the north) and were registered that way (pictures taken today). The first one is Gnashing of Teeth and the second one is Faith That Moves Mountains. Note that the foliage is erect and there is virtually no yellowing or browning at all.

The picture below is Entwined in the Vine. Although in the greenhouse it does not look evergreen this year (note the slumping leaves and browning foliage), I registered it that way because I thought it looked that way in the year before registration and because outside in the spring its foliage is mushy.

The next picture is All Things to All Men, which is a semi-evergreen. Note yellowing but lots of green, and it looks like it might be about 70% evergreen and 30% dormant if you were using a sliding scale.

This is Spoken in Parables, which looks about midway between dormant and evergreen, and is registered as a semi-evergreen.

The picture below is Wrestling with Angels, which is almost dormant (about 90%) but not quite, so I had to register it as a semi-evergreen. Most plants this dormant do not do well in the greenhouse, so the majority of the fans are lined out outside.