Growing foliage: plants that grow through the seasons

Plants growing in time-lapse have a slow, steady pull that few animations match. Growing foliage in Screensavers by Zaweba shows made-up plant species growing tip by tip across a dark screen. Their leaves turn green, then gold, then brown, and drop away, while new growth layers over the faded old.

None of the species are real. They are invented for the screensaver and drawn by the app's own code, so the scene never quite looks like any garden you know, and it never stops changing.

A night pack screensaver with a long view

Growing foliage is part of the night pack, the set of mostly dark screensavers with a few bright moving things. Here those things are the growing tips and the changing leaves. Because the old growth fades rather than vanishing, the screen slowly builds up layers, so what you see after an hour is quite different from what you saw after a minute. That makes it a good choice for a PC left idle for long stretches.

The three settings

Growth speed decides how fast the plants grow. A slow speed lets you watch a single stem push out, branch and leaf. A faster one fills the screen sooner and shows the whole cycle of growth and fall more often.

Season colours has three choices. Natural runs through green, gold and brown as the leaves age, the way a plant might through a year. Mostly autumn leans on the golds and browns, which is warm and suits the cooler months. Blossom brings in the colours of flowering plants, for a brighter, spring-like scene.

Density sets how many plants there are and how thickly they grow. Low density leaves plenty of dark space between plants, which is calm and keeps the screen mostly dark. High density gives a thick tangle of growth that fills the screen.

Choosing your look

Use the live preview in the manager to try the settings. Start with season colours, because that sets the mood, then density, then speed. Growth is slow by nature, so give the preview a little time before you judge it.

A natural colour scheme at a slow speed and low density is the quietest version and works anywhere. Mostly autumn at a medium density looks rich and warm on a winter evening. Blossom at a higher speed is cheerful and suits a family PC in spring.

Then press Preview full screen to see it at real size. It ends the moment you move the mouse or press any key.

Planting it on your screen

Use this screensaver builds it into your profile without administrator rights and opens Windows' Screen Saver Settings for the wait time and password option. Settings are read when the screensaver starts, so you can switch from natural colours to blossom in spring without building anything again.

With several monitors, choose one on each, one stretched across all of them, or the main monitor only with the others black. A garden on each screen gives two different sets of plants growing side by side, since the growth is never the same twice.

Getting the best from it

The most common mistake is expecting fast action. Growing foliage rewards a glance now and then rather than a stare, so set it for the times when the PC is left alone for a while. If it feels too slow, raise the growth speed a step rather than the density, because more plants growing slowly can look cluttered.

It sits well with Paisley layers, another night pack scene that builds up over time, and with Aquarium among the classics. Ticking a few in Install several gives you a random pick each time. If you lose your way in the settings, Reset to defaults brings everything back.