Silver-gray plants They don’t look at all like gray mice. Rather, they look like prim diplomats at a high-society reception. The design of a flower bed in gray tones requires special art so that gray does not become boring, but looks noble.
To create such an elegant and stylish flower garden with your own hands, it is not at all necessary to paint everything in gray tones.
Also choose plants with gray or gray color
Also magnolia, lichen, sherry, hawthorn or reed pine. They protect the plant from solar rains, and most of them want to dry out dry habitats. Svatolna needs a protected shelter, it is sensitive to salinity and can hibernate in winter. Its small banks can be formed.
The most beautiful gray perennials for your flower garden
The pile is good for time and the moon, he doesn't care about drought. The smaller cake grade gives a compact shine. The giant mushroom is a two-blade blade standing up to one meter high. This is the second year of blooming blue. Lobster is a distinctly grey, perennial perennial that fits into dry perennial hair.
On the contrary, you need to use a variety of matching colors. Later in this article we will look at a sample planting plan, using its example you will see how you can combine different colors in the design of a “silver” flower bed.
In cloudy weather and in shady corners, silvery plants bring light and highlight other colors; in the sun they shine with a noble metallic sheen. When designing flower beds, you need to follow the rules of accents.
For “silver” flower beds, there are plants with leaves, shapes and textures; variegated flower beds can be surrounded by one or two dominant species. Such dominants act as an elegant accompaniment in the background of plantings - for example, low bushes of sage or wormwood.
Empty spaces will be filled with ground cover species such as Chistets Byzantine or gray fescue. Silver-gray color diplomatically connects flashy rich colors or shining cold tones, like a frame emphasizing the beauty of semi-precious stones. But silver color is best combined with muted, delicate pastel tones.
Gray discount - flower garden diagram
If you want to create a gray discount, stick to those simple rules, which we offer, you can easily create an excellent flower garden with your own hands. We offer you a planting plan in which we have thought out the design for your flower bed down to the smallest detail.
The leading part in this composition is performed two bushes of maquea cordata, located in the corners of the house and attracting the eye.
She is accompanied by lower eryngium(Miss Willmott's Ghost) Louis wormwood(Silver Queen) and clary sage.
The beauty of plants with such muted foliage is very elegant, and the "calming" impression they produce makes them especially valuable partner plants. Since such plants are not striking, in order to hold attention for a long time, it is worth adding several bright flowering plants to them, and both partners will benefit from this, emphasizing each other’s beauty. Gray, silver and blue tones are ideal for softening bright colors or, conversely, for enhancing pale shades. And plants with these colors can be used to create the illusion of space.
Silver tones
Most plants with such leaves are especially good. Most gray and silver foliage plants prefer full sun and well-drained soil, and their pale coloration is an adaptation to dry conditions. If you look closely at the leaves, you will see that the color is mainly due to the surface layer of hairs or waxy coating, which reduce evaporation and protect the plant from the hot sun.
It should be noted that many of these decorative foliage plants produce flowers that are quite unremarkable in appearance, such as, for example, wormwood. Other plants have more showy flowers, for example, the airy bluish-purple inflorescences of Perovsky swan leaf ( Perowskia atriplicifolia) significantly enhance the beauty of the plant itself, but for a “fully leafy” composition this is not always appropriate. Regularly removing the greenish-yellow button flowers of silvery santolins will encourage abundant growth of showy greenery, and many gardeners also remove the yellow "daisies" of brachyglottis ( Brachyglottis).
Very few plants with silver foliage grow well in wet conditions, of which sand willow is particularly attractive ( Salix exigua). This shrub grows well in all types of soil except dry, but responds especially well to moist soil. And some with gray foliage - for example, pea cypress ( Chamaecyparis pisifera) and juniper virginiana ( Juniperus Virginiana) also love fertile and non-drying loamy soils.
Interesting plants with silver and bluish leaves
The bluish-green foliage brings soothing yet rich tones to the color scheme. Few plants have a pronounced blue tint to the foliage, but all the more valuable for creating spectacular combinations in the garden!
Wormwood ( Artemisia) - thanks to its filigree leaves, wormwood is considered one of the best plants with silver-colored leaves.
(Festuca glauca) is a hummock-forming grass with a pronounced blue color. The plant is decorative all year round, becoming covered with tiny “diamonds” of frost after freezing. The blue coloration is especially noticeable in spring on young growth.
Tsmin, or Immortelle petiolate (Helichrysum petiolare). This small, heat-loving plant is valued for its spreading habit, which makes it especially popular for summer and hanging baskets. The pubescent grayish foliage is especially attractive in the sun, but appears rather dull in cloudy weather.
Hostas, especially 'Halcyon' and 'Big Daddy' varieties, are excellent bluish-green varieties for shady areas with moist soils. Hosta ‘Halcyon’ is the bluest of all hostas. Its leaves have pronounced veining and retain color better in the shade.
In some conifers, the foliage also has a surprisingly beautiful blue tint, especially in junipers such as M. squamosus ( Juniperus squamata) and many varieties ( Picea pungens).
Juniper horizontal ( Juniperus horizontalis ‘Glauca’) - This smoky bluish or blue coniferous plant is perfect for group planting. By itself, juniper creates a low, spreading carpet that looks both thick and delicate.
(Ruta graveolens) - attractive small plant With strong aroma and yellow flowers - forms a neat curtain of leaves with a shade sea wave, finely dissected, but with pronounced rounded edges. It grows well in sunny areas, but this plant can cause irritation on sensitive skin.
Santolina pinnate f. Neapolitan ( Santolina pinnata s. neapolitana) – its dense mass of thin stems creates the impression of a rounded silvery cloud. These plants are good for mass planting and show better silver coloring in poor soils.
Plants with gray and silver foliage are easy to find a place, but you need to remember that their beauty can only be appreciated in comparison with other colors.
Best combinations
Blue and silver shades of foliage are appropriate almost everywhere, but the following can be considered especially successful combinations:
- Grayish-bluish foliage and (or purple foliage)
- Silver and gray foliage and flowers in pastel colors - apricot, pink or mauve
- Silvery foliage contrasting with bright blue or bright pinks and reds
- Silvery foliage, enlivening the gloomy purple flowers and leaves
We will talk in more detail about other shades of colored foliage in the garden - yellow and gold, red, purple and bronze, and others...
On garden plants there is also fashion. IN last years it’s “well, it’s simply indecent” for a gardener not to have it in his garden alpine slide. What would a hill be without silver leaf plants! And in other sunny places in the garden, “silver lace” in flower beds is miraculously good.
First of all, this is - wormwood (artemisia). There are many types of them in nature, and even a bush of common wormwood with silvery leaves, grown from a seed accidentally blown by the wind, can become a decoration for a flower garden. You just cut it at a height of 20-30 cm. And when it starts to bush, cut it again - give it the shape of a ball, for example. Perennial decorative wormwood They grow easily and are best propagated by dividing the rhizomes.
Chistets (stahis), unlike lacy wormwood, covers the ground with dense silver rugs.
A popular ground cover plant spreads along the ground like a light fluffy cloud. Its leaves are needle-shaped and pubescent. The shoots are thin, densely branching, creeping. In the second half of summer, the tree blooms with white star-shaped flowers, which greatly decorate it. The plant can be propagated by dividing bushes in spring and autumn, by cutting shoots in spring and by seed method. A new product has appeared in my flower garden - a perennial decorative pyrethrum. By appearance it resembles cineraria (ragus), forms bushes 25-30 cm high. Silver leaves, strongly dissected, lace. It is very decorative throughout the summer and retains its beauty until snow falls. After frosts it does not lie down and does not turn black. Decorative pyrethrum was grown in seedlings from seeds. How will the new product behave in our conditions in the future? Wait and see.
An “aggressor” also grows in my flower garden anaphalis. This is what you need an eye for! It is growing at an incredible speed. Until mid-summer (subject to constant cutting off of new roots) - this is an erect, dense bush up to 70 cm high with small oblong silvery-pubescent leaves. Anafalis is very beautiful next to evergreen conifers, for example, Cossack juniper. In mid-summer, clusters of pea-buds appear at the ends of the shoots, blooming into tiny white immortelle flowers. Branches cut at this stage are excellent dried flowers; when dried they retain their silver color . During flowering, anafalis requires a garter, because the stems lie down. In dry autumn, the silver bush decorates the flower garden for a long time, but after the rains it is better to prune it.
Everyone has silver leaf plants there is one thing in common important condition growing - sun. The more its rays, the brighter their silver burns.
Perennials with silvery leaves, stems and inflorescences typically grow well in dry, hot climates, so they are great for sunny areas with dry soil.
They look great on their own, but even more elegant as a background for flowers of a different shade, for example, cool blue, as in this scheme. If you try white flowers instead, the combination will be even brighter, and the dark, almost black leaves will provide an effective contrast.
Necessary plants and planting scheme
- RUSSIAN SAGE, OR PEROVSKIA
Perovskia atriplicifolia - 2 seedlings. Zones 5-9 ( minimum temperature not lower than -29 °C)
Substitutions. Other perennials from 1 to 1.5 m high, with blue flowers and/or silvery leaves, such as Powis Castle wormwood (Artemisia) or Caryopteris xclandonensis.
- COMMON MORDOVINA
Echinops ritro - 1 seedling. Zones 3-9 (average minimum temperature not lower than - 40 ° C)
Substitutions. Other perennials from 1 m to 1 m 20 cm tall, with blue flowers and/or blue-gray leaves, such as “Heavy Metal” switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) or evergreen sheepsfoot (Helictotrichon sempervirens).
- TZABEL'S BLUE BLUE "BIG BLUE"
Eryngium × zabelii | 6 seedlings. Zones 5-9 (minimum temperature not lower than -29 °C)
Substitutions. "Blaukappe", or other species of eryngium, or other perennials from 60 cm to 1 m in height, with blue flowers and/or blue-gray leaves, for example rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) [6 seedlings] or Amsonia "Blue ice" ) .
- SAGE OFFICINAL “BERGGARTEN”
Salvia officinalis | 3 seedlings.
Zones 5-8 (minimum temperature not lower than -29 °C)
Substitutions. Other perennials range in height from 15 to 45 cm, with blue flowers and/or silver leaves, such as angustifolia (Lavandula angustifolia) or Silver Brocade (Artemisia stelleriana).
- BLUE FESCUE “ELIJAH BLUE”
Festuca glauca | 5 seedlings.
Zones 4-9 (minimum temperature not lower than -34 °C)
Substitutions. Idaho fescue ("Siskiyou"), or other types of blue fescue, or other perennials from 15 to 30 cm in height, with silver or blue-gray leaves, such as carnation "Greystone" or "Firewitch" (Dianthus) or Caucasian rhizome, aka Arabis (Arabis caucasica), .
Caring for a flower garden throughout the year
Spring. In early spring Narrow gray-blue leaves appear on blue fescue bushes.
From mid to late spring, the rest of the perennials begin to grow: silver lace Perovskia sage, gray-green sprouts of Echinops, green prickly eryngium, silver sage "Berggarten". By the end of spring, large buds appear on the eryngium.
In areas with mild, frost-free winters, by the end of spring, Perovskia may open its inflorescences.
In early spring, cut the fescue to a height of about 10 cm and remove the dried tops of the Echinops and Eryngium. And when Perovskia and sage “Berggarten” begin to grow, cut the first to 15 cm, and the second to about half its height. If necessary, add more mulch to cover the soil.
Summer. In warm climates, Perovskia blooms throughout early summer; in other areas it looks best in mid to late summer. The spherical buds of Echinops appear already at the beginning of summer, and throughout the second half it opens its silver-blue flowers. Mordovnik also adds richness of blue color, opening its silvery buds from mid to late summer.
Salvia 'Berggarten' doesn't usually bloom, but its silver-gray leaves look great all summer long. Fescue also attracts attention with its leaves, but in mid-summer it also blooms with green-blue flowers, from which yellow-brown seed pods appear later.
If Perovskia bloomed early summer, then in mid-summer you need to cut it back by half or two-thirds to prevent self-seeding, encourage more luxuriant growth and possibly another flowering.
Cut the dried heads of Echinops flowers to the lower leaves or to the base of the stem, but you can leave them until the end of the season. During the summer, the lower leaves may dry out and fall off; remove them if you wish. Cut off dried fescue stalks immediately above the leaves, otherwise they will turn brown and seeds will begin to fall out. You can do this earlier if you don't really like its flowers. Water the garden on dry days.
Autumn and winter. Perovskia, Echinacea and Eryngium often bloom at least through early autumn, and their dry stems and seed pods are of great interest in winter.
- Sage "Berggarten" preserves the beauty of its leaves until winter.
- In mild climates, fescue leaves last all winter.
- Fescue should be replanted every 3-4 years in early fall. Or you can leave the garden alone until spring cleaning.
If you only have room for a small front garden, then this rectangular garden will look great on its own. If space allows, you can repeat this pattern one after another as many times as you like to get a long border.
For variety, you can replace some perennials with the suggested alternatives.
A silver border looks amazing along your driveway or pedestrian path(silver plants do well in open and dry places - along paved areas they are just like that) or at the base dark wall Houses.
When choosing plants to plant at the store, be sure to look at the herbs on sale. Some herbs have silver or gray leaves and in addition pleasant aroma, and sometimes a rich spicy taste.
For example, the common herb sage (Salvia officinalis) typically has grey-green leaves, while some bred varieties, such as 'Berggarten', are distinctly silver. Many types of lavender (Lavandula) are also gray-silver.
Using gravel as mulch instead of shredded leaves, bark and other organic materials is not very good idea, since you will have to replant the plants every few years. But if you are growing silver plants in a humid climate or wet soil, a little gravel will keep the leaves and stems from rotting.
However, don't cover the entire surface with gravel - instead, spread it into a 15 to 30cm ring around the base of each plant. It is better to use bean-sized gravel or smaller: when replanting plants, you can simply dig it into the ground.