Silver

A friend of mine commented the other day that one of her favorite things was silver leafed plants. I would have to agree with her. In fact, I have been tempted to convert one of my gardens into a silver garden. This is something that I have thought about since my visit to the Silver Garden by Isabelle Greene (I think) in the conservatory at the Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The photograph doesn’t do it justice. It is a luminous garden of textures, the silver giving the garden an otherworldly quality. I imagine that it is a wondrous experience in the moonlight. Placing a garden like this might be a bit of a challenge. It would look great at a Bart Prince house. Or maybe a Frank Gehry building, although that might be just too much silver. It would be great in a courtyard of an old adobe. One day, I’ll do one.

We are fortunate that in this climate we have a variety of choices in silver plants. Whereas in more plant friendly climates such as the UK, silver plants frequently languish due to the overabundance of water, here we have no problems (usually...ahem) in keeping plants dry. Not only beautiful but environmentally appropriate for our climate, these plants can keep water usage to a minimum. Some can survive on precipitation-only landscapes. Kind of a nice side effect of using native plants, eh?

One of my favorites is Winterfat (Ceratoides lanata it still is to me, although the new name is Krascheninnikovia lanata, an unpronounceable name to my tongue). This plant bears a remarkable resemblance to lavender, although it doesn’t have either the scent or the flowers. What it does have is silvery foliage. Even better, is its flowering stems, which although the flowers are insignificant, the stems are striking white wands in the landscape, and last all winter if the rabbits don’t eat them. There’s a reason that these are called Winterfat: the ranchers used to fatten their cattle on them, the tasty morsels that they are to herbivores. Rabbits have probably known this for millennia, and they never allow my Winterfat to grow. Cindy tells me that this is her new favorite plant, which is a welcome relief to my ears after hearing for the last year the joys of Spanish Broom.

The genus Artemesia has some selections that are native. The familiar Artemesia frigida has a nice little mound of silky leaves in the spring, which unfortunately can become a sprawly scraggly mess by summer. It might be happier in higher altitude gardens. Still, in the spring it is a delight. Artemesia tridentata, or Big Sage is a lumpy shrub with a delightful fragrance. It usually needs no introduction. It seems to like more water than Albuquerque can give it, but in my garden, it survives on precip only, but at three years old, it is only about six inches tall. Artemesia filifolia, the threadleaf sage is a wondrous cloud of silver filaments on a three to four-foot shrub. Its leaves can wriggle in the wind looking like a maggoty mass, if you think in that way. I kinda like it. Some people say that it looks better with an annual pruning, like Rabbitbrush, for then it loses some of its wild character and becomes a more dignified mound. The non-native Artemesia ‘Powis Castle’ is a delight for me, even though it loses its form in the winter, and requires the annual maintenance of pruning back in the spring if it is to look good. I'm becoming almost obsessed with Artemesia versicolor ( 'Seafoam' ). If I don't watch it, it may become a "signature" plant of mine.
Artemisia versicolor

Speaking of Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosus, the plant formerly known as Chrysothamnus nauseosus), this is a familiar silver leafed plant for Albuquerque. Don’t dismiss it because of its putrid yellow flowers in the fall, or its self-seeding ways. It is one of the plants that give Albuquerque its identity. Fall here comes when the Purple Aster blooms with the Rabbitbrush.

I fell in love with the chartreuse bracts of Four-Wing Saltbush when I lived in Palm Springs, and although it has a twiggy winter appearance that looks suspiciously like tumbleweed, the silver leaves and colorful bracts make it worth its keep. It can also be a precip only plant, and can grow rather rapidly and unruly with irrigation.

Lest you think I only discuss natives, there are lots of silver leafed plants that are water wise, noninvasive and silver. Lamb’s Ears (Stachys byzantina) sprouted spontaneously from seeds in my yard when I moved in. I liked them and kept them for the irresistibly touchable fuzzy silver leaves. The spikes of purple flowers are attractive, but easily removed, and the self-sowing habit is tolerable since the seedlings are easily weeded. This is not a maintenance-free plant, however, due to this and since the centers can melt in the summer, requiring the plant to be lifted and divided. An option is just pulling the whole thing out and letting the seeds sprout. Seedless options are ‘Silver Carpet’ (not very carpeting in my opinion) and the large leaves of ‘Helen Von Stein’ which unfortunately are not as silver as the species. Lamb’s Ears requires very little water in my yard once established, although with little water it won’t bloom and leaves wilt.

The genus Salvia has some great options. Last year I planted Salvia officinalis ‘Berggartten’ which as claimed produced silver leaves, more rounded than the usual. This version of culinary sage is rather slow growing however, and produces few if any flowers. Salvia officinalis ‘Minima’ is a cute little culinary sage that does produce a cloud of purple flowers in the spring to top its silver leaves. Judith Phillips introduced me to Salvia lavandulifolia, whose leaves do smell a bit like lavender. The leaves are broad, however, not looking anything like lavender, producing a textural contrast. It produces airy wands of large pale purple flowers in the spring. I tried Salvia daghestanica
from High Country Gardens last year. It seemed very slow to take off in the spring, possibly from it being its first year, and produced some very pale spikes of flowers. With the monsoon rains, it bloomed again, with very dark purple flowers. Interesting. The silver leaves formed a tight little mound, turning dull brown in the winter despite being advertised as “ever-silver.” Since I love the fragrance of Salvia clevelandii, which is not hardy here, I tried the hybrid Salvia ‘Trident’. It doesn’t have the same fragrance, having the influence of Salvia dorii, but the silver leaves and candelabras of purple flowers were attractive. Unfortunately it did not survive this winter, although it is said to be hardy here. Maybe it was too much moisture. Salvia chamaedryoides (Mexican Blue Sage) is an engaging guy, with small to moderate shrubby stature and bright true-blue flowers through the summer. The one at Judith’s Bernardo Beach nursery caught me off-guard one early summer, when it was shockingly covered with flowers. At the risk at running on a bit long, I must mention Salvia argentea, the Silver sage. This is the sage with big (enormous) leaves to 12 inches or so long and broad. It forms an herbaceous clump that looks best in spring since after flowering the leaves turn from silky silvery goodness to a nondescript olive-silver. Cutting off the attractive white candelabras of flowers doesn’t help despite what the books say, although later in the year, new silver leaves grow. In the cold of winter the leaves turn a mushy black. The books also say this plant is short lived, but I haven’t noticed that yet. It has produced a very modest number of seedlings in the garden. They are welcome. As are the seedlings of Salvia pachyphylla, which has an olive tone to its silver leaves, and strident large bracts of purple with bright blue flowers peeking through. The leaves are intensely fragrant.

Some of the lavenders have strikingly silver leaves. Lavandula ‘Provence’ has blue tinged silver, while ‘Grosso’ has a purple tinge in the winter. More silvery are L. angustifolia ‘Mitcham Gray’ and L. x ‘Silver Frost’. These are said to be slower growing than your typical lavender, and more sensitive to cold, although tolerating inferno-like heat and sunlight. A nice companion in my garden is Veronica tauricula, which is sold at High Country Gardens in Santa Fe, not through the catalog. It has the same color leaves as Lavandula ‘Provence’ but a mat forming plant and the most charming blue flowers you may ever see. Similar in requirements are Dittany of Crete, which I found mostly because I love the name. I'd love the plant, with its silver leaves and purple lantern flowers, even if it was called dog poop. Similarly there is False Dittany, which doesn't look that similar to true Dittany in my eye, but is still a great plant with silver leaves (not as silver as Dittany of Crete) and satellite dish shaped bracts hiding tubular white to purple flowers. It's a bit hardier than Dittany of Crete.
Origanum dictamnus

Of course you know about Caryopteris. I like its fragrant silvery leaves, and pinch them just to smell the fragrance.

I’m jealous of the subtropical Echeveria that don’t survive here, but I’m wondering if some of the more silvery Sempervivum will do. I can’t wait to try them. I was hopeful for Teucrium fruticans, the Mediterranean Bush Germander with silvery leaves and blue flowers, but this winter it turned black.

I must briefly mention some silver grasses that I enjoy. Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’ is more blue than silver, but it will do. I like the striking upright form, although it needs full sun and some water to perform. Blue Lyme grass has a steely appearance, but is scraggly and unimpressive to my eye. I’m more impressed with the Festuca glauca cultivars, despite their small size and need for dividing periodically.

I won't even get started on Agaves and Yuccas and the like. That'll have to wait for another day.