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Mixing
Textures -
Adding
another dimension of variety to your container
A container
full of plants with huge leaves would look overwhelming - and one
with nothing but frail tiny leaves would look insubstantial. The
most exciting container plantings mix leaf textures and shapes.
Leaves come
in all shapes and sizes, from big and bold to almost needle-like
leaves. Some plants are so finely textured they are almost see-through.
Many, such as astilbe, are fern-like and complex. Grasses can be
fine-textured and spiky at once.
A good rule
of thumb is to choose one plant with bold leaves, and mix it with
one with complex leaves - the two textures show each other off to
perfection (and we're going for perfection here). Adding a spiky-leafed
plant and one with a medium rounded or heart-shaped simple leaf
form will give you a container that is interesting even without
the flowers.
But flowers,
too, can be big and bold, like zinnias, or tiny and fine like candytuft.
Some flowers are fluffy, some stark. The mix makes each more exciting.
Make sure you also have a good mix of flower-textures - let a few
bold ones act as star players with some smaller, finer flowers as
supporting players.
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