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By Loree BohlOne of my favorite garden moments

occurs with surprising regularity. I notice people walking or driving down the street, only to come to a complete stop in front of our garden.

Sometimes their expression is so animated it’s as if they have a cartoon thought bubble above their head read-ing, “What is that plant?” The particu-lar plant in question always changes, depending on the season and the person who’s doing the asking.

Not everyone wants a garden that causes people to stop and stare — and let’s face it, a garden built entirely of dramatic plants would be more chaotic than is desirable.

However, every garden needs at least a couple plants that make people ask, “What is that?” After all, that atten-tion-grabbing plant might just be the one to hook a non-plant person, pique their curiosity, and turn them into a gardener for life.

Flamboyant and downright strange

plants draw attention to the garden

The unusual suspects

A garden with Eucomis ‘Dark Star’ will get noticed — particularly if this dark plum-colored beauty is set off against gold or silver foliage. The pink flowers on this dwarf pineapple lily can draw additional attention in late summer.Photo courtesy of terraNovaNurseries.com

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Plants call out for attention when they stand apart from those around them. Unusual leaf size, a curious foliage color, interesting bark or extraordinarily large thorns are all virtually guaranteed to catch the eye of passers-by.

Fragrance adds another layer of intrigue, as it isn’t always obvious what the source of the scent may be. “Where is that smell coming from?” becomes the question.

A plant which might be common in its natural environment (an agave in Arizona, for instance) becomes rather novel when planted elsewhere, like that same agave growing in Oregon.

Unusually large leavesIntroducing plants with large leaves

into a garden may be the easiest way to up the “wow” factor. One of the most remarked-upon plants in my small

When it comes to hostas, ‘Empress Wu’ is among the biggest of the big. It can grow up to 4 feet tall, with enormous, 18-inch leaves. Consequently, it’s been in high demand. Photo by DoreeN WyNja for moNrovia

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urban garden is the bigleaf magnolia, Magnolia macrophylla. With leaves that can approach 2½ feet long, and flowers a foot wide, this definitely is not a timid tree. It requires a little planning for suc-cessful placement in the garden.

“Don’t put all the big leaves at the back of the border,” cautioned designer Lucy Hardiman of Perennial Partners. By varying the heights and staggering your “wow” plants, they’ll pull your eyes through the garden and draw you into the space. She also stressed the importance of foliage contrast: “Mix small leaves with large ones.” That tip is especially impor-tant in small gardens, where the tendency might be to use smaller foliage plants.

At ground level, large hostas such as Hosta ‘Empress Wu’ and H. ‘Sum and Substance’ not only provide eye-grabbing impact with overall plant size, but also with leaves larger than a foot across.

Sometimes referred to as “dinosaur food,” Gunnera manicata adds a touch of the prehistoric to a garden. When properly sited, its leaves can reach 5 feet across. Sean Hogan of Cistus Nursery likes to tell people it is “sure to impress your friends — and frighten the kids.”

Large leaves are often equated with the tropics. As such, they tend to shock when used in cooler climates. Surprisingly hardy to USDA Zone 5 and fast-growing, Musa basjoo (Japanese banana) can reach 15–20 feet tall in a single growing season. Similarly tropi-cal, Tetrapanax papyrifer is a consistent showstopper. Why wouldn’t it be with huge, fuzzy leaves 3 feet across towering over your head?

Other big leaves for the gar-den include the ornamental rhubarbs Rheum palmatum (Turkish rhubarb) and Darmera peltata (Indian rhubarb). Although actually a tree reaching upwards of 50 feet, Paulownia tomen-tosa is often coppiced to the ground, resulting in extremely large leaves and a much smaller plant.

Unusual foliage color The first time I saw Pinus contorta

var. latifolia ‘Chief Joseph’ at the

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The Chief Joseph lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia ‘Chief Joseph’), seen here in the display garden at Iseli Nursery, is well known and beloved for its golden color. Photo by curt kiPP

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OAN’s Yard, Garden & Patio Show, its golden needles were glowing. Showgoers couldn’t resist caressing the needles.

“People respond to color, gold espe-cially,” Porterhowse Farms owner Don Howse said. Two of his favorites are Picea orientalis ‘Tom Thumb Gold’ and Calocedrus decurrens ‘Berrima Gold’, which develops “orange hints during the coldest parts of winter.”

Abies veitchii ‘Heine’, with its bril-liant silver foliage undersides, is another excellent choice. A dwarf selection, Abies veitchii ‘Hedergott’ is popular among visitors to the display garden at Porterhowse Farms.

Silver foliage is also the draw for Quercus hypoleucoides, an evergreen silver oak. Sean Hogan recalled see-ing this tree in its native habitat of the southwestern United States. “Reflecting the snow, the silver undersides of the oak’s leaves were as bright as if high-wattage spotlights were shining up into the branches,” he said. The one he planted in his Portland neighborhood sees little snow, but similarly reflects the streetlights.

Dan Heims of Terra Nova Nurseries recommends a trio of colorful Eucomis: E. ‘Oakhurst’, E. ‘Dark Star’ and dwarf E. ‘Freckles’. While not evergreen, these selections are jaw-dropping perennials in the summer garden, especially when the dramatic flower stalks emerge from the dark (or speckled, in the case of ‘Freckles’) strappy foliage.

Unusual bark and thorns Exceptional bark seems to require

touching. Who doesn’t want to run their hands along the smooth, sensu-ous cinnamon-colored bark of a mature Arctostaphylos glauca? Native to the West Coast, the species commonly referred to as manzanita is relatively unknown and under-appreciated by many garden-ers, yet when “discovered,” they quickly become a must-have.

Equally tactile but with a completely different look is Eucalyptus pauciflora subsp. niphophila. Hogan described its

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trunks as “exquisite gray bark peeling to green and brown” and yes, he has witnessed passers-by stopping to pet the trunks of the trees in his garden.

If the idea of people fondling your plants doesn’t appeal, perhaps Rosa sericea subsp. omeiensis f. pteracantha is a better choice. Its blood-red thorns send a slightly less-friendly message and glow like stained glass when illumi-nated by the sun.

Unusually fragrantDescribed by a friend as the

very essence of “dry, sunny, summer warmth,” the scent of Salvia clevelandii ‘Alpine’ filled my garden for too short a time. My one and only plant died after a particularly wet, cool spring. Walking through a nursery last summer, the famil-iar scent stopped me cold. I could smell it, but where was it? Thankfully, I locat-

ed the plant and made the purchase.Also capable of stopping me in my

tracks is Clerodendrum trichotomum (harlequin glorybower) in flower. The scent travels just far enough that the blossoms may not immediately be recog-nized as the source — but once identi-fied, the scent is memorable. For those close enough to touch the foliage of this large shrub/small tree, the scent of pea-nut butter is released when the leaves are crushed. Finally, bright blue metal-lic berries sport fuchsia calyxes, adding another arresting element.

Other plants with strong, unexpected scents include Nicotiana sylvestris, Daphne bholua and Cistus ladanifer ‘Blanche’.

Unfamiliarity breeds curiositySometimes the shock of the new

or the out of place is enough to mes-merize even a certified plant nut. Louis

The hardy banana (Musa basjoo) makes a statement, with leaves that grow up to 6 feet long and 2 feet wide. The bananas themselves are seedy, pulpy and not edible. Photo courtesy of moNrovia GroWers

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Abraham, salesperson at a Canadian nursery, described the afternoon when a Monrovia truck arrived and he first laid eyes on Drimys winteri var. chiloense.

“It was the silvery undersides to the leaves that caught my attention, and I’m not even joking when I say it stopped me dead in my tracks from across the parking lot,” he said. “(It was) something I had never seen before, yet in an instant became the object of my plant affections.”

I had a similar reaction the first time I saw a trunking Yucca rostrata at Cistus Nursery. Of course, I immediately assumed something so bizarre and obvi-ously desert-born couldn’t possibly be hardy in my USDA Zone 8 climate — but it is! Now I watch people experience the same jolt of surprise when they see it in my garden.

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The harlequin glorybower (Clerodendrum trichotomum) is native to southeast Asia. It is also known as the peanut butter tree, due to its odor when the leaves are crushed. Its looks are equally distinctive, with fruits that change from white to dark blue as it matures. Photo by WeNDy cutler

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asked about Mahonia × media ‘Charity’ in her personal garden. “People always ask what it is, even in summer when it’s just the foliage,” she said. “It’s statu-esque, architectural. It has a presence in the garden.”

The same can be said for hardy Schefflera such as S. delavayi and the smaller-leaved S. taiwaniana, both of which are fairly new introductions. When seen for the first time, severe plant lust typically ensues.

Maurice Horn of Joy Creek Nursery tells of people stopping to admire Grevillea victoriae in his former garden. He noticed the appreciation was rather seasonal however, since in the summer months this Australian shrub can be overlooked. Late winter is when it’s typ-ically covered with showy red-orange spider-like flowers that scream out to be noticed.

Rediscovery According to Horn, plants that peo-

ple in the trade view as common may not be that common at all. The average person on the street may be discovering it for the first time.

“There is a natural cycle of discov-ery as things fall out of favor in one generation only to be discovered again by the next,” Horn said. In his view, a well-grown specimen of a common plant can make all the difference. “Even pro-fessionals can be reintroduced to things they’ve taken for granted,” he said, refer-ring to a particularly statuesque Nandina domestica loaded with red berries.

Thankfully, about the time I’m tempted to declare that “I’ve seen it all,” a chance stop at a local nursery, or an unexpected garden tour, uncovers a new-to-me treasure. I find myself ask-ing, “Wow, what is that plant?” followed by another question, “Now, where can I plant it?”

Loree Bohl is a plant lover who writes about her garden and plant-related adventures on her blog, dangergarden.blogspot.com. She is also a partner at plantlust.com. She can be reached at spikyplants@gmail.com.

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