Adding a focal point

The front garden was looking quite nice after all the improvements over the past few years.  But I felt improvements could still be made.  How would I improve this? 

By adding a focal point to the space in front of the garage.  The tree-form vitex (left) and Texas Mountain Laurel (right) were not quite enough of a focal point.  The vitex blooms once briefly in early spring then goes dormant through the winter months and the evergreen Texas Mountain Laurel doesn't quite fill the gap.  The Agave ovatifolia also needed a silvery friend to connect silver foliage from across the yard.

That's where this Bismarck Palm comes in.

Palm trees need a wide planting hole, look at all those rocks that had to be dug out.

Palms are very drought tolerant so check the planting level to make sure it isn't too deep.

We filled in around with a sandy loam top soil mix, watered it in slowly, and mulched to keep the roots cool.  Our current brief respite of a few partly cloudy days and somewhat cooler summer will help too.

It holds the light like a catcher's mitt and connects the silvery foliage from around the yard, including the sages on both sides, and numerous smaller plants like gray santolina.  Cold tolerant in our zone, it should do well with just a bit of protection in the first few years.

It also plays well with the palm next door

Shares nicely with the Agave ovatifolia

The patterns and contrast of foliage add interest to the area

There's the focal point, it has plenty of room to spread out and should grow above the roof line within a few years.  Palms don't provide a lot of shade so the perennials in the bed below will continue to get sun here too.

The spot in front of the garage now feels like it has a focal point and the silvery plants are better connected.  Besides all that, I've always thought a palm tree would look nice there.

Silver Foliage Shines for Foliage Follow-Up - March 2012

For March Foliage Follow-Up sponsored by Pam Penick at Digging I'm highlighting the silvery foliage in my garden.  I'm a bit tardy with this one since I've been getting new plants in ahead of the rain forecast this weekend. 

First up is the Elaeagnus, which I featured in my plant ABC's a few weeks ago.  The new foliage has since turned from bronze to silver, and recently with our slightly overcast days it's been very pretty.

Elaeagnus is a a pretty backdrop for the pale yellow-green leaves (just now visible) of the American Beautyberry by the driveway (Callicarpa americana).

The Elaeagnus also makes a great backdrop for the Texas Mountain Laurel 'Silver Peso' (Sophora Secundiflora) we added to the front garden last fall.  It surprised with two tiny blooms this spring.  The blooms never fully opened, but with plenty of new growth this spring it won't be too many years before we see full sized blooms.  The new foliage is very soft and the deer have been nibbling so I am going to put a cage around it for a while.

Artemesia Powis Castle in front of the Eleagnus and Beautyberries is beginning to spread out a bit.

Artemesia Wormwood out back by the creek is doing well among the wild verbena and rocks.  It's also known locally by the Spanish name Estafiate and is used as a medicinal herb.

Gray Santolina with the sages in the front island bed.  Santolina smells like new tires so the deer don't bother it.  Easy to grow from cuttings and takes heat and drought well, Santolina is a great edging plant for the gravel garden.

To see more foliage photos check out other garden blogger's Foliage Follow-Up posts at Digging.