Carex oshimensis Everillo with Salvia elegans Golden Delicious behind in a shaded part of my garden

I am very fond of plants with coloured foliage, as they offer year-round interest and some relief from a sea of greenery, whether they be gold, lime, creamy-yellow, silver, purple or white-variegated. I particularly love lime leaves, and there are of course many lime-coloured foliage plants that are by their nature shade dwellers and can light up these areas. But one of the satisfying discoveries I have made over the years is that a number of gold-leaved plants that are regarded as sun loving, and the foliage of which is brassy yellow or gold in a sunny spot, can be successfully grown in part shade, where the colour transmutes to a beautiful chartreuse. The foliage is a delightful partner to a number of different flower colours.

Clipped Duranta Sheenas Gold in the Sydney garden of Alida Gray

Clipped Duranta Sheenas Gold in the Sydney garden of Alida Gray

The shrub Duranta erecta 'Sheena's Gold' (ht to 3 m) is one that I have used a bit in my garden in such a situation. It can provide an excellent background mass in a part-shaded bed, where its limy-yellow foliage in such a setting contrasts well with surrounding green-leaved, or green and gold variegated-leaved shrubs. They do need a bit of pruning to keep them tidy and not too tall.

Foliage of Salvia Omaha Gold

Foliage of Salvia Omaha Gold

Tall, large-leaved Salvia 'Omaha's Gold' (ht 2 m) has variegated gold foliage with deep blue-purple flowers. These large-leaved types of salvias actually fare better in a part-shaded position as the size of the foliage means that they can wilt in harsh sun in summer. When grown in a shadier spot, the leaf variegations are a pale limy colour. On a lower level, Salvia elegans 'Golden Delicious' (ht 1-1.5 m), pictured at the start of the blog, has bright yellow foliage that is a bit too loud for me when it is grown in sun. Placed in a shadier spot, however, the colour softens to a glorious chartreuse, particularly lovely in its fresh new growth, which is coming through now after having been cut back to the ground in late winter. The red flowers in late summer and autumn look stunning against the foliage.

Liriope muscari Pee Dee Ingot in bloom

Liriope muscari Pee Dee Ingot in bloom

Strappy-leaved Liriope muscari cultivars (ht 25 cm) with plain gold or gold-striped foliage can grow in sun but look at their best in a shaded spot, where the colour becomes limy. As with the Salvia, the leaves are at their most delicious when coming through in spring. I actually cut my Liriope back hard in late winter, as they were looking scruffy, and I am enjoying seeing the new foliage emerging. The cultivars 'Gold-banded' and 'Pee Dee Ingot' have cute purple spikes of flowers in autumn and this is another colour that looks fabulous when paired with lime foliage. Another strappy-leaved plant that transforms in colour in the same way when grown in part shade is Carex oshimensis 'Everillo' (ht 30-60 cm), pictured at the start of the blog. It has a mound of fine, arching leaves and these are a superb contrast to other foliage forms.

Sedum mexicanum Gold Mound with Ipheion uniflorum

Sedum mexicanum Gold Mound with Ipheion uniflorum

At ground level, Sedum mexicanum 'Gold Mound' (ht 10-25 cm) and Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' (ht 5 cm) will have soft limy foliage when grown in a shady spot. Nearby bright blue flowers look beautiful with this foliage. A taller groundcover that surprisingly will put up with part shade, though normally considered a sun lover is golden oregano (Origanum vulgare 'Aureum', ht 30 cm). In shaded spots the foliage will become a lovely muted colour.

Nicotiana langsdorffii

Nicotiana langsdorffii

Coloured leaves can also be used most effectively to make 'colour echoes', where a leaf can be matched to a flower of the same hue: there is something quite thrilling about such a combination. In the case of lime foliage, there are some shade-dwelling blooms of this colour that can be used in this way. One of my favourites is Justicia brandegeeana 'Lutea' (ht 1-1.2 m), the limy-flowered version of the old-fashioned shrimp plant. Its colourful bracts seem to be present all year round. Another candidate is Nicotiana langsdorffii (ht 1 m), a self-seeding annual with petite bell-shaped, lime flowers for most of the year. There are also larger-flowered Nicotiana alata (ht 80 cm) varieties with limy blooms.

It's worth trying any sun-loving, gold-foliage plant in a shady spot to see what might happen!