Garden offers a few places for the outrageous

Let me start right out by saying I love outrageous plants. The more outrageous, the better. This has brought more than a few unruly plants to my garden, but I have to say the benefits have outweighed some minor inconveniences associated with introducing the plants to the garden in the first place.

What exactly is an outrageous plant? More than anything, the level of a plant’s outrageousness is related to its size. Herbaceous plants that dwarf you when you walk past are deliciously outrageous and, I believe, should hold a place in every garden.

And so, out with those fussy beds of tidy impatiens and petunias. In with some of nature’s more gloriously large and wacky plants.

Giant coltsfoot reigns as king in our garden. The plant is one that never fails to take one by surprise when it blooms with the crocus and daffodils in spring. Deceptively dainty, daisylike flowers bloom along a short stalk that juts upward from the ground as soon as it’s thawed. Silvery leaves poke through the soil soon after. The leaves of giant coltsfoot emerge rolled so tightly they resemble twisted or wadded-up newspaper. Each slowly unfurls to a deep green and spreads to nearly 3 feet across. Yes, one leaf develops into an enormous 3-foot-wide blanket that takes the shape of a colt’s foot.

Unusual, yes. For everyone, no. Giant coltsfoot has another equine resemblance: It runs. Runners from the mother plant shoot out here and there, burrowing under pathways, emerging through sod and coming up, occasionally in inconvenient places, such as, among your favorite ligularia plants.

Speaking of ligularia, it would be considered an outrageous plant itself. The classic ligularia grows to 4 feet or so in shade and develops green-tinged, burgundy-colored, dinner-plate-sized leaves atop sturdy burgundy stems. Huge flowers with a deep orange-yellow button center and pretty sunflower yellow ray petals form in late summer, providing a blast of much needed color in the shade garden.

‘Rocket’ ligularia is much different from the classic form, but entirely worthy of an “outrageous” designation. Similar in color and size, the leaves of the plant are beautifully teardrop-shaped with deeply serrated edges that offer the garden a perfect and unusual texture. The delicate yellow flowers of ‘Rocket’ blast off fine upright stems, giving the plant a more elegant appearance than its earthier relative.

Both ligularias are tidy plants. They grow in clumps and haven’t misbehaved in our garden. They don’t seed in or send offspring hither and yon.

Nearby, the more unruly gooseneck grows. The unusual light-green leaves of the plant are edged with the finest burgundy lines, complementing the deep maroon of the ligularia but contrasting ligularia’s bold texture with more refined and stately leaves.

Gooseneck is an odd plant, for certain. When it emerges in spring, the buds are bright red and poke through the soil in great numbers. Slowly they rise above the earth, producing 3-foot-tall stems lined with lush leaves and producing, at their tops, the most beautiful creamy white flowers that drape in the form of a goose’s neck, head and beak.

On the other side of the garden, globe centaurea’s giant sword-shaped leaves are just beginning to bulge with delightfully outrageous buds. The plants are hip-high right now, with 4-inch-wide, bright green leaves. Among dense masses of leaves, papery golden-colored buds are developing. In the next few weeks, these buds will open slightly, and send out feathery yellow petals which will dance atop the golden buds for several weeks, gracing the already beautiful plant with a bit of color during midsummer.

These wonderfully outrageous plants are all are perennials. They crop up in the garden year after year. One of my favorite oversized plants, angelica, is biennial. If coltsfoot is king, I believe angelica is queen of all outrageous plants. This is a truly majestic plant. In the first year, angelica grows in a rather unassuming celerylike fashion, producing thick stalks and the finest, thin fans of leaves.

In its second year, angelica attains her pinnacle of beauty. She grows slowly in spring, and then suddenly one day you look out into the garden and the plant has reached an amazing height. A half-dozen stems with a girth that rivals the handle of your garden spade jut skyward. Masses of ferny leaves spread in all directions. Impossibly huge clusters of chartreuse green blossoms that would each fill your cupped hands rise from the tops of 7-foot-tall stems.

Wonderful! Glorious! Outrageous!

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, 512 North Ridge Road, Montville 04941 or e-mail dianagc@midcoast.com. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.