Leaves and petals are a little harder for stitchers to master because they are usually fairly realistic. "Magnolia" has very realistic leaves with lots of shading. I think I see three shades of green in the photos of the canvases. The "Red Floral Heart" has small leaves that are more stylized, making them a little easier.
Of course, we can use our old standby, tent stitches, to work the leaves. That allows you to capture the shading as it was painted. If you choose a silk for Magnolia's leaves, the natural shine of the thread would also help convey the sheen on real magnolia leaves, which are glossy in real life. I would use a cotton thread or maybe a wool or synthetic with a wool-like look for the smaller leaves on the Red Floral Heart. That would allow those leaves to recede and make the pink flowers the stars of the design.
Tiny leaves (and even buds) can be worked with Lazy Daisy stitches. Don't worry if the Lazy Daisy stitch is empty in the oval it creates. You can fill that with a straight stitch in a matching color or if your leaf has a vein, use a slightly darker shade to fill in the Lazy Daisy's empty middle. You'll have a nice oval leaf next to your stem that looks like a leaf but doesn't overwhelm the flowers.
If your leaves are bigger, either satin stitches that completely cover the leaf shape or fishbone stitch which will have some gaps looks good. I personally would use fishbone stitch for Magnolia's leaves and use the paint that shows between the stitches to create more dimension. You can, however, add a tiny straight or slanted stitch in the empty spots to cover the bare areas if you prefer.
Fishbone leaves a ridge in the leaf middle, but you can also do a little back stitch line to create a vein on top of either the satin stitches or the fishbone. It depends on whether you want the leaf vein to be prominent or not. If back stitching worries you, just couch a perle cotton (probably a size 8 or 12) down the middle of the leaf following the vein.
If you want to work leaves in satin stitches, read Mary Corbet's tutorial for her Blackberry Brambles and Blossoms design. It explains the process very well. Mary is working on linen but if you use a sharp needle, you can place your threads exactly where you want them instead of having to find the nearest hole.
These are the five main leaf stitches I use. I'll talk further about satin stitch next time when we talk about stitching flower petals.
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