When I first started my garden, I was mainly focused on growing my own food. The way things looked – I could not care less. To me, it’s all about functionality, not looks. If I can’t eat it, I don’t need it. But as we started harvesting the fruits of our labor, I started wanting more. I wanted my garden to have flowers and beautiful things in it. And things that would keep at least some of the weeds away. As I went to different gardening exhibitions, I really started getting into silver plants for ornamental purposes. I would get whatever is silver and just plant it in my garden.
Now I noticed that in different seasons, some plants, even some of the foods I was growing, naturally can have a silver tone. Like for example, cabbage, some types of kale and even green onions during warm weather. They have this light, silvery green tone to them. A bit like olive trees.
I grow most ot the plants below in my garden (except the last two that I intend to plant soon) for their silver foliage. They mostly keep their color throughout the changing seasons and, in my experience, can tolerate drought and most do well in cool weather too. Especially, the first four seem to be pretty hardy. So here we go with some photos and additional info.
Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima)
Aka Silver ragwort. This is probably my favorite silver plant. It’s almost always silver, except when the leaves are wet. It blooms in yellow and it loves haircuts. I pruned mine really hard about 4 months ago and now it’s gotten super big again, but not leggy. I also managed to propagate some of the clippings and got 2-3 more plants from that. The internet says it loves full sun and well-drained soil, but one of mine grows in partial shade and seems to love it. The soil is not well-draining; it’s clay. However, to be on the safe side, you can mix the soil with some sand or just use well-draining soil to start with.
Lavender Cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus)
This is another one of my favorite decorative plants as it’s pretty hardy and seems to tolerate all – drought, rain and even some cool weather. At least in my garden…Santolina is native to the Mediterranean, so milder weather is better. The blooms are yellow as well and some people say they stink like dirty feet. I haven’t noticed it. To me, the silver leaves smell good, a bit like olives, but it might just be me.
Lavender cotton can get a bit too big and get very leggy when the weather is hot, so be sure to prune as needed. You can again use the clippings to produce more plants for free. I use the santolina shrubs mostly for ornamental purposes, but I seem to be missing out, because it actually has many medicinal properties, too. Some research suggests this plant can be antidiabetic, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory (source).
Curry Plant (Helichrysum italicum)
Not the plant you’d use to make curry, but this one does smell like the powder. Whenever I prune it or go by it after a rainfall, I suddenly feel like making curry. Again, a native to the Mediterranean, this plant loves sandy, well-drained soil and the sun. Up until now all of the silver plants bloom in yellow, and the curry plant is no exception. Mine seems to love partial shade and water too – just my experience.
Eucalyptus Tree
If you need a beautiful, fast-growing tree, Eucalyptus is the way to go! You need to plant it further away from the house because of the roots, but it’s a beautiful beautiful plant. As far as I know it is poisonous to eat, but as you would know the essential oils can be used as a decongestant and an anti-inflammatory.
Silver Mist Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Aka English lavender. There are many different varieties of lavender, but this one is the most silver variety. And it smells amazing. Lavender loves well-drained, sandy soil and a spot under the sun. You probably know it for its calming, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial properties. When it blooms, it also attracts pollinators while repelling mosquitoes. That’s a dream deal. Some people use lavender to make teas, in baking, to make soap and other natural skincare products.
I love lavender, but I had a really hard time keeping mine alive. During the first year, I planted it during the summer – something I do not suggest anyone do with anything. Probably 3 out of my 7 plants died. Most of the tips on growing lavender say that you should not water too much, because you can overwater it. And that has happened to mine too. But and this is a big BUT, in my experience, this has mostly happened when the weather is hot and you water lavender too often too much. The roots start to rot. Once the weather cooled and it started raining, the plants seem to be doing amazing. So, my experience is – plant when it’s cooler and water regularly until the roots are established. Then, when it’s hot, don’t water often.
Sage (Salvia officinalis)
I only have one sage plant in my garden, because I don’t use it a lot. It is a popular herb and you can use the leaves to make tea too. It has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This plant loves sunny weather and sandy / well-draining soil.
Snow in summer (Cerastium tomentosum)
So this is one of the two plants I don’t grow yet! It is used as ground cover, and it has beautiful white leaves when it blooms during spring. The instructions for planting are – full sun and well-draining soil!
Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina)
I was impressed when I saw the leaves of this silvery, soft hairy plant this year in a botanical garden. If you choose to plant it, do so in full sun and in well-draining soil. It is not edible, but the leaves are shown to have anti-bacterial properties against certain bacteria. This can be great, especially for healing wounds on your skin.
Well, and that’s all of them! I hope you got some inspiration for your garden!