Plants for a Purpose The Gold Standard Plants that Lighten Landscape Projects

By Nina Koziol

About 20 years ago, a majordomo in the horticulture world told a packed crowd of green industry pros that chartreuse and gold foliage was, well, awful. He said it was especially bad when it was combined with burgundy foliage (as in burgundy-leaved barberry paired with acid-yellow barberry — his example). Granted, these plants are considered problematic today, but his point? That particular color combo, in his opinion and in no uncertain terms, was in bad taste. Period.

Juniper chinensis ‘Saybrook Gold’

“I had one at my old house that was maturing nicely and I missed it when I moved, but my new one was just planted two years ago and has grown quite well. The color is a phenomenal focal point in the garden. It could be a stand-alone tree or in a garden border for a punch of color. I just love the texture of the ferny leaves and the bright color as an exclamation point in the garden.”

Well, that’s changed big-time. Gold and chartreuse are two colors that really pop in the a northern landscape, whether it’s perennials, shrubs, or trees. Add conifers and you’ve got multi-season interest, especially on drab winter days. Take Saybrook Gold juniper (Juniper chinensis ‘Saybrook Gold’) in plant breeder Hans Hansen’s garden in Zeeland, Michigan. It grows alongside the deciduous Gold Rush dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Ogon’), and the juniper makes a stunning specimen any time of year.

Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Ogon’

“Yucca is a great plant to give a southwestern look to a garden even though it’s actually native to Florida and Mississippi,” says Homer Trecartin, Jr., manager of sales and production planning at Twixwood Nursery in Berrien Springs, Michigan. “It is very drought tolerant once established so it works well in a xeric landscape or gravel garden and it’s hardy to zone 5. But Color Guard is even more versatile with its golden needle-like foliage — and it is evergreen, or evergold.”

I love, love, love this plant. In the home garden, the plant reached five-plus feet across. “It was always about three and a half feet high and gorgeous. It holds its foliage much longer into the summer than the straight species.”