Silver Plants Shine in Sun or Shade

Silver plants are a great addition to gardens. They can brighten up the darker, shadier spots in your yard and are terrific foliage plants for a sunny border.

Made for Shade

Plants "variegated" with white stripes or leaf margins tend to do better in shaded spots than their green counterparts.

Pittosporum tobira 'Cream De Mint'

SHADE-TOLERANT SILVER PLANTS

• Heartleaf Brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' or 'Silver Heart')

• Dead nettle (Lamium 'Purple Dragon')

• Coral Bells (Heuchera 'Stainless Steel')

• Silver carpet (Dymondia margaretae)

• Pittosporum 'Marjorie Shannon'

• Pittosporum 'Cream de Mint'

• Flax Lily (Dianella 'Silver Streak')

• Dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima)

Dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima)

Made for Heat

Fuzzy silver plants such as lambs ears (Stachys) have white hairs that reflect light and keep the plants cool. Others may be waxy. These coatings help minimize water loss, making them more tolerant of low water conditions.

Some may have other drought adaptations such as thin leaves. These lose less water than larger, wider leaves.

Variegated coast rosemary (Westringia fruticosa)

SILVER PLANTS FOR FULL SUN

• Angel's wings (Senecio candicans)

• Velvet centaurea (Centaurea gymnocarpa)

• Lambs ears (Stachys byzantina 'Big Ears')

• White sage (Salvia apiana)

• Variegated coast rosemary (Westringia fruticosa)

• Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima)

• Silvermound (Artemisia 'Silver Mound')

• Germander (Teucrium fruticans)

GRASSES & GRASSLIKE PLANTS

• Silver Lomandra, Lomandra longifolia 'Arctic Frost'

• Blue fescue (Festuca glauca)

This elegant monochromatic garden in Menlo Park features silver-green plants including olive ( top left), westringia (bottom left), germander (right), and blue fescue (foreground).