A simple plant combo recipe emphasizing textural contrast of two plants, this green-on-green planting scheme is an easy planting combination to replicate in your woodland garden. ..

WHY IT WORKS:  This combination has strong all-season structure because of the evergreen shrubs as well as a pleasant seasonal flow provided by the spring blooms of the rhody and colorful emerging foliage of the fern. The bold foliage of the bear's britches (Acanthus 'Hollard's Gold') looks great for months on end; from early spring and during (the occasional) exceptionally mild Pacific Northwest winter, it can look good year-round if growing in a sheltered position.   ..

Every gardener falls in love with certain plants only to discover (sometimes the hard way) that they aren't going to thrive in their garden, due to incompatibilities with space, sunlight or other plants. The hard truth is that no matter how lovely a planting combination appears to be in your cart at the nursery, the plants won't grow to their potential when placed together if they aren't culturally compatible.  ..

Bold glossy foliage of Podophyllum pleianthum is the real attention grabber in this scene.  ..