Purple Leaf Ligularia

As a lover of foliage plants, I grow several varieties of Ligularia - crinkly, spotty, and plain. This elegant brown-purplish leafed Ligularia is my latest acquisition.

 An attempt at a photograph - note the messy leaves!
My New Ligularia

It's a delicious colour combination (burnished brown leaves, subtle orange daisy flowers) which should make a strong water-side statement in my summer garden. Trouble is - these new Ligularias haven't quite made it, yet!

Firstly their planting spot by the water race gets the fierce afternoon sun (oops - wilting leaves). Then there is little wind shelter (oops - rips and tears in stylish brown foliage). My loving application of compost isn't perfect to show off the colouring - brown leafed plants are notoriously difficult to present well in a garden design.

Blame the Head Gardener!

For all the above reasons my new Ligularia has proved extremely difficult to photograph - and the sun, consistently and brilliantly shining all summer, hasn't helped! All in all I blame the head gardener! This Ligularia may need to relocate next spring.

 They bloom in the middle of summer.
Ligularia Flowers

Other Ligularia Varieties

My other fancy Ligularias have pages of their own - Martian Invader and the Leopard Plant are their common label names. Neither of these have the orange daisy flowers, though - they are both strictly for foliage!