Silver foliage is an ever-popular choice with our landscape customers. And it's no surprise! Silver foliage adds variety and visual interest to landscape projects.
Silver leaf plants are easy to use as they work well with most other plants. You can add a splash of silver to contrast against lush greenery or use in borders to provide a backdrop to brightly coloured plants and flowers. Either way, silver / grey leaves add interest and create a considered, elegant look to your garden design.
For a harmonised look match silver foliaged plants with shades of green, blue, pink and brown. Plants such as Euphorbia, Cistus, Bearded Iris, Adenanthos, Agapanthus and Carex are great for complementing silver and grey foliage. Or use silvery plants to contrast against bright colours such as reds, oranges and purples. We particularly love how Limonium, Echium, Phormium, Anigozanthos, Kniphofia and Geranium stand out against silver leaves.
Have a tricky shady spot? Silver and grey-green foliage breaks the monotony and adds brightness to shady corners where darker, green foliage easily gets lost.
When it comes to choosing the perfect silver leaf plants for your next landscape design, you're spoilt for choice. There are silvery options for shrubs, groundcovers and flowering plants. So what are the best silver foliage plants? We've listed our TOP 10 below.
OUR TOP 10 SILVER FOLIAGE PLANTS
Silver Falls [Dichondra argentea]
A popular groundcover with dense, silver-grey leaves that look particularly attractive when cascading down walls and in hanging baskets. Very hardy and tolerates both drought and heat. Prefers a full sun to semi-shade.
TOP TIP: Prune back in spring to maintain shape. Use liquid fertiliser if grown in a hanging basket or pot.
Grows to approx. 10cm H x 80cm W
Lambs Ear [Stachys lanata]
With velvety soft, silvery leaves resembling lambs ears, Stachys lanata is a beautiful groundcover choice with a cottage garden feel. Stunning when planted en masse as a groundcover or use in garden beds to add interest and texture. It's almost impossible not to touch the soft, fuzzy leaves!
Grows to approx. 30-45cm tall x 45-60cm wide.
Persian Shield [Strobilanthes gossypinus]
A spectacular, evergreen shrub perfect for adding contrast and drama to your garden design. The new growth with golden hairs and felted undersides contrasts dramatically with the mature silvery foliage. A perfect feature plant.
TOP TIP: Althought relatively short lived (2-3 years) it's easy to grow Persian Shield from cuttings.
Grows to approx. 1-2m H x W. Full sun to semi shade.
Frosted Curls [Carex comans]
A tufting, grass-like perennial with fine, silvery leaves and a cascading and mounding habit. A very versatile grass that's drought tolerant and suits any soil types, including boggy sites. Massplant for a beautiful effect or plant near ponds and water features. Prefers full sun to part shade.
Grows approx 45cm H x 45cm W.
Silver Bush [Convolvulus cneorum]
A low maintenance, popular evergreen plant with silvery-grey leaves and large white, trumpet like flowers from spring to summer. Silver Bush is great for mass planting as a groundcover, in rockeries, containers or as a feature. Easy to grow and tolerates most types of soil, even poor soil and dry locations.
Grows to approx. 40cm x 45cm. Full Sun to Semi Shade.
Kalbarri Carpet [Eremophila glabra]
A stunning and versatile native groundcover with silvery foliage and contrasting, small, yellow tubular flowers in spring and summer. Kalbarri Carpet, commonly known as Tar Bush, is a popular choice for native garden designs and is great for attracting honey-yeaters such as bees and butterflies to the garden. Plant as a ground cover, cascading down walls or in large containers. Prefers a well drained soil and dislikes excess humidity.
Grows to approx. 15-30cm H x 1-2m W. Full Sun to Semi Shade.
Licorice Plant [Helichrysum petiolare]
With velvety, soft heart-shaped leaves and beautiful texture, this small spreading plant has a subtle licorice scent and small, cream flowers in summer. Use as a groundcover, low hedge or cascading down walls. Prefers well drained soil and is perfect for low water usage gardens. Tolerates any position from full sun to shade.
TOP TIP: Clip to maintain compact growth.
Grows to approx. 60cm H x 1.5m W.
Cotton Lavender [Santolina chamaecyparissus]
With sunshiny yellow button-like flower heads and silvery, woolly leaves, Cotton Lavender will brighten borders, rockeries and pots. Or plant as a low hedge and watch the flowers sway in the breeze. An easy to care for, low maintenance plant that will tolerate poor soil. Plant in full sun.
TOP TIP: Cut back annually after flowering.
Gropws to approx. 30-60cm H x W.
Blue Chalk Sticks [Senecio serpens]
Popular succulent with cylindrical, fleshy silvery-blue foliage. A ripper plant for sunny, dry locations where it will quickly form a dense blue mat, providing colour contrast to other plants. Mass-plant as a groundcover in low-water use gardens or use in pots and planters. Tolerates drought and heat and acts as a weed suppressant.
Grows to approx. 15-30cm H x 30-60cm W
Smokey Native Rosemary [Westringia fruticosa Smokey]
A hardy native shrub with silvery-green variegated foliage and adorned with white flowers for most of the year. Plant as a low hedge in a native garden design or use as a feature plant to add colour contrast to other greenery. Forms a natural dense mound. Drought tolerant and will suit windy, coastal positions.
Grows to approx. 1-2m H x W. Full Sun to Semi Shade.
What did you think of our TOP 10 list? Let us know in the comment section below which silver or grey leaf plants are your personal favourites. Are there others we should add to the list?
We hope our TOP 10 list of our favourite Silver Foliage plants inspired you! To find out more about each plant on our list simply click on the plant image or name. Feel inspired? If so, head over to your closest Plantmark Trade Market Nursery to hand select plants for your next project. If you are not already a Registered Trade Member, sign up here
MELB > Langwarrin Wantirna Thomastown Werribee
SYD > Vineyard
BRIS > Willawong
GOLD COAST > Carrara