Top 20 Stunning Silver-Foliage Plants for Your Garden
Plants with silver foliage are effective additions to garden arrangements. Some species decorate the garden all year round: in summer they bring refreshment, in winter they add subtle elegance.
Selecting Plants for Your Garden Why is it worth Choosing Silver Foliage Flowers for your Garden?
Plants with silver, gray, dark green, and often even white leaves are an interesting complement to garden arrangements. They can be successfully grown in the garden and in containers placed on the terrace or balcony.
Species with a silvery foliage bring a contrast to the garden. They harmonize particularly well with species with pink, blue, white, and blue or purple flowers. In addition, most plants with silver foliage are drought tolerant, so they can easily be grown in full sun.
Plants with silvery blue foliage get their color from fine hairs called tomentose. These hairs scatter light, making the covered parts of the plant appear dull and silver or gray. The tomentose helps protect the plant from harsh weather conditions like cold, drying winds, and excessive water evaporation during droughts. It is beneficial for plants that grow on dry soil.
These plants are not highly sensitive, so they can thrive in gardens with intense sunlight and decorate balconies with silver leaves.
Ranking of the Best 20 Silvery Plants
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White Sagebrush 'Silver Queen'
White sagebrush 'Silver Queen' (Artemisia ludoviciana 'Silver queen') White sagebrush 'Silver Queen' is a perennial with a sublime habit. Creates stiff, branched shoots in the upper part, growing up to 60-90 cm in height. The entire plant is covered with a dense tomentose. Due to the substantial expansion of the white sagebrush 'Silver Queen', it is best to plant it where we can limit its rapid growth. White sagebrush 'Silver Queen' likes well-drained soil and total sun exposure. Growing in full shade may lose its silver foliage.
If you're looking for a plant with silver foliage to add to your flower beds, consider the White sagebrush 'Silver Queen'. This plant pairs well with other silver foliage plants like mossy sage and looks excellent with lavender-blue flowers.
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Woolly Yarrow
Woolly yarrow (Achillea tomentosa) If you're looking for an attractive silver plant to enhance your garden that gets full sun, woolly yarrow is an excellent choice. This plant is a perennial and has silver foliage that looks stunning. It can grow up to 30 cm tall, making it suitable for rock gardens. The plant has silver pinnate leaves covered in aromatic, tomentose foliage. In the summer season, woolly yarrow produces delightful yellow flowers.
Wolly Yarrow is an ideal plant for mixed garden beds, home gardens, and as a cut flower because of its high durability. Its vibrant pink flowers beautifully contrast with its deep silver leaves.
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Creeping Willow 'Argentea'
Creeping willow 'Argentea' (Salix repens 'Argentea') The creeping willow 'Argentea' is a shrub that grows between 30 to 60 cm in height. It has brown shoots with leaves covered in soft, leathery hairs. This plant is entirely frost-resistant.
The creeping willow 'Argentea' is a beautiful ornamental plant perfect for stone gardens and can even be grown in containers. Usually, grafted forms are used for cultivation. Pairing it with white flowers enhances its beauty.
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Dwarf Schmidt Wormwood
Dwarf Schmidt wormwood (Artemisia schmidtiana 'Nana') The Dwarf Schmidt wormwood is a type of perennial plant with silvery foliage. It's related to the Artemisia 'Silver King' but is shorter in height. This plant typically grows up to 40 cm tall, ideal for silver-themed gardens or small flower beds. It can be paired with a rose campion in the background for a beautiful and complementary look.
The Artemisia Schmidtiana 'Nana' plant has a compact pillow shape, and its aboveground part is covered with delicate white hairs, giving it a silver leaf color. Although yellow flowers appear in the summer, they are not decorative.
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Sea Kale
Sea kale (Crambe maritima) Have you heard of sea kale? It's a lovely plant that grows on dunes and beaches along the Atlantic coast. But did you know that it's also edible and can be prepared like kale? This plant can grow up to 90 cm tall and has a compact shape with fragrant foliage. Its lower leaves are large, wavy, and have uneven teeth, while the upper leaves are slightly smaller and resemble cabbage leaves with a slight coating.
Sea kale is mainly grown as a vegetable but can often be found in flower beds. Due to its beautiful silver-blue leaves, it is recommended primarily as a border plant. Sea kale does not have high requirements. Full sun and well-drained soil are okay for those silver-leaf plants. The silver color of the leaves gives them protection from the scorching sun.
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Plantain Lily 'White feather'
The Plantain lily 'White feather' is another plant with white foliage. Interestingly, it does not produce a cutter. And its white leaves turn white only in early spring in full sun. Its leaves turn green as it grows. 'White feather' plantain lily leaves are green during the growing season.
The Plantain lily 'White feather' looks excellent with accompanying blue flowers and gray-green leaves plants. It is one of the few plants with white leaves that require more attention due to the lack of chlorophyll. Plantain lily like sunlight, full sun in spring, and partial shade from early summer. It does not tolerate excess water in the soil. Due to its extraordinary beauty, the 'White feather' variety is a beautiful and original decoration of flowerbeds in a shady corner of the garden. It will also look stunning in container compositions in a shady position.
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Edelweiss
Edelweiss (Leontopodium nivale) Edelweisses are another plant with silver foliage. It grows up to 30 cm. Edelweiss creates clumps of silver felty leaves and long-lasting silver flowers. Its leaves and flowers are covered with white hairs that protect the plant from harmful factors in its natural environment, which is the high parts of the mountains. Full sun and barren land are suitable for these silver-leaved plants. Edelweiss is a plant for mountaineering. It looks stunning among dark rocks.
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Sandy Everlasting Flower
Sandy everlasting flower (Helichrysum arenarium) The Sandy Everlasting Flower is a beautiful plant with both ornamental and medicinal value. Its silver foliage is adorned with a layer of silver hairs, which gives it a bright, silvery appearance from afar. Additionally, it produces colorful yellow flowers during its growing season.
The Sandy everlasting flower is ideal for sunny and warm areas, and it grows best in light, sandy, and stony soils that are not very fertile. It can even thrive in places with fewer nutrients. You can pair its visual appeal with other silver-leaved plants like rose campion, Japanese-painted fern, dusty miller, Russian sage, or Siberian bugloss to enhance its visual appeal.
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Wormwood
Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) Wormwood is a prevalent plant globally, recognized for its grey-green, silky, hairy leaves and yellow flowers that cluster into a panicle-type inflorescence. Despite being considered a weed with silvery foliage, it is a vital herbal resource, often referred to as Abisinthii herba.
Wormwood thrives in warm, sunny areas and prefers well-drained, dry, and slightly alkaline soil. Sandy substrates are optimal for its growth, providing excellent aeration and quick water drainage. Due to its allelopathic properties, which hinder the growth of neighboring plants, it can be challenging to grow alongside other flora. Therefore, growing wormwood in standalone groups or as a single specimen is best. Large silver-leafed bushes characterize this plant.
Wormwood, though aggressive, can produce stunning silver-leaf walls that serve as an elegant backdrop for smaller plants with purple or pink blooms. It makes wormwood an excellent choice for rustic-style flower beds.
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Cotton Lavender
Cotton lavender (Santolina chamaecyparissus) Cotton Lavender, an evergreen shrub known for its captivating foliage, forms dense clusters of fragrant leaves. This plant sports erect silver shoots that become woody at the base. It's recognized for its silver foliage, densely covered in tomentum which offers protection against harsh sunlight while bestowing a blue-silver hue. This shrub blooms small, basket-shaped yellow inflorescences.
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Snow-in-Summer
Snow-in-summer (Cerrastium tomentosum) Snow-in-Summer is an exceptional plant with silver foliage, celebrated for its snow-white blooms. Thanks to its vigorous runners, it forms compact carpets reaching approximately 30 cm in height. This plant thrives in barren land, coping well with dry, well-drained soils as long as it gets plenty of sun. It's not suited for shaded gardens. Snow-in-Summer is ideal for rock walls and slopes, filling gaps between stones effortlessly. In temperate regions, it retains its silvery foliage throughout the year, including winter. Its attractive silvery-blue leaves pair well with intensely colored perennials or those with contrasting foliage. Thanks to its robust growth, it's effective for covering larger areas.
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Sea Holly
Sea holly (Eryngium maritimum) Sea Holly is characterized by a rosette of stiff, silvery foliage and numerous, branched, inflorescence shoots. Its above-ground parts are gray-blue and covered with a thin wax coating that protects the plant from water loss. Sea Holly thrives in sunny, sandy environments and barren soils with a neutral pH. Unfussy about its conditions, it dislikes being pampered and looks its best on slopes amidst grasses.
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Senecio 'Angel wings'
Senecio 'Angel wings' (Senecio candicans 'Angel Wings') Senecio 'Angel wings' with silvery leaves attract attention with their white color. The name 'Angel Wings' refers to the beautiful silver and white color of the leaves created by the dense tuft covering the entire Senecio candicans plant.
Senecio 'Angel wings' is a fast-growing deciduous plant best placed in a sunny spot with well-drained soil. However, avoid the scorching afternoon sun, which can harm it. Sunburn in the form of brown spots on the leaves is a rare sight, but it can appear on newly purchased plants planted in a rebate with the scorching sun.
Senecio 'Angel wings' creates a background for plants with intensely green leaves and perennials growing in sunny gardens. It is suitable for growing in containers placed on a sunny balcony.
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Russian Sage
Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) Russian sage is cultivated for its long-lasting magenta flowers. In areas with winter after flowering, the flowers fall off, leaving silver shoots to adorn the plant throughout the year. They have an upright habit and form quite loose, openwork clumps. Russian sage looks very good in rustic gardens in combination with grasses, echinacea, lavender, and holly.
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Dusty Miller
Dusty miller (Senecio cineraria) Dusty miller is a showy plant with silver foliage for the garden and for growing in containers. Dusty miller forms incised leaves covered with light gray hairs. During flowering, it forms yellow baskets resembling daisy flowers. Dusty miller flowers, however, could be showier, and some gardeners remove the flowers, so the plant has more effective foliage.
Dusty miller has low requirements and succeeds on any soil. Dusty miller requires a fully sunny position because it produces a thick torus; thus, the leaves acquire a unique silvery color. The plant looks good in containers or on a flower bed. It can also be grown on raised beds with other perennials.
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Siberian Bugloss
Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla) Siberian bugloss is an ornamental perennial with silver foliage. In the natural environment, it occurs in the Caucasus. It forms dense clumps of heart-shaped, gray-green leaves. It grows best in partial shade. Therefore, we can plant it under the crowns of trees. Siberian bugloss should be planted sheltered from the wind and free from direct sunlight.
Siberian bugloss gives the garden a wild, natural character. It is most often planted in shady rebates. It is sometimes grown as a cover crop. The plant can also be a decoration of a pond. It looks excellent when grown in larger groups.
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Lamb's Ear
Lamb's ear (Stachys byzantina) Lamb's ears are one of the best silver plants. The plants stay silver even in winter. Dense, soft hairs protect the plant from cold, excessive sunlight, evaporation, and wind. Lamb's ears grow quickly, creating a spectacular velvet carpet.
This plant is not very demanding and can grow almost anywhere. It is often grown in gardens. It is suitable for edging paths and as a ground cover. It can also be grown in containers.
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Blue Fescue
The blue fescue (Festuca glauca) Blue fescue is an ornamental grass with its compact, dome-shaped habit. The plant produces narrow grey-blue leaves. Blue fescue is an ornamental grass for dry and sunny positions. Blue fescue has very low soil and water requirements.
This grass should not be cut in the spring, only combed out when the appearance is not objectionable. It looks good in containers, terraces, and balconies. In the garden, it blends well with larger grasses or perennials. It grows well in a sunny position. The lack of light causes it to lose its intense color.
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English Lavender
English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) English lavender is another plant for fans of the silver color. It produces fragrant flowers. It has purple, white, or pink flowers during the flowering period.
English lavender loves lime soil and dislikes shade, drafts, and root flooding. Although English lavender likes soil that is not very moist, during periods of drought, especially in the case of newly planted plants, remember to water the plants regularly. It grows very well in rustic gardens on mixed beds. Smaller specimens of English lavender can be planted in pots placed on the balcony or terrace.
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Cushion Bush
Cushion bush (Leucophyta brownii) A cushion bush is an exceptionally decorative shrub with numerous silver, branched shoots. It has a very distinctive appearance. The main advantage of the cushion bush is its habit and unusual color of shoots. The plant is sensitive to frost but can successfully overwinter in a cool room. In summer, it tolerates periodic water shortages very well. Cushion bush grows best in a sunny position, in fertile, permeable, and well-drained soil. Cushion bush reacts very severely to too salty, fertile ground.
It fits perfectly with plants with expressive colors, as a plant that fills a flowerbed.
Summary
Species with silvery foliage are beautiful plants with iron resistance for particular tasks. Thanks to waxes and hairs that protect plants with silver foliage from UV radiation and excessive evaporation, they can grow on dry and sandy soils, which most species of garden plants will certainly not cope with.
