Silver and Other Colours

For April's Garden Blogger's Foliage Day, I thought I would look at some special foliage colours.  Silver - or at least grey - is commonly associated with dry climate plants.  So I've been surprised that I have had to deliberately select for this colour.  Perhaps I should put that differently.  It has been easy to find plants in the muted grey-green range, not so easy to find good silvers.

Lavenders are an obvious choice, though some are more silver than others!  My new addition of Lavandula "Goodwin Creek Gray" has been a step in the right direction.

Curiously, the new leaves now sprouting on Lavandula stoechas "Madrid" sport a distinct yellow-green hue.  At first I was worried about chlorosis, but the plant looks (and acts) very healthy with all that new growth and some buds coming on.

In the same tones, the normally grey-leaved Acacia salicina also shows a distinctly yellow hue to its new growth - of which there is plenty.  This is supposed to be a rapidly growing tree, but its tendency to a weeping habit makes it difficult to realize just how much height it has put on in the last few months.  It is taller than I am now, but that is not saying much!

The new growth on Perovskia atriplicifolia is very much of the same silver-green as the rest of the plant.  (I apologize that some of today's pictures are so dark; I had to give up my early photo session and finish off late this afternoon...  I hope you can tell the distinctive colours!)

It's the perfect foil for the simple blue flowers, just now opening.

In a very deliberate attempt to ensure a strong silver component, I recently added Artemisia "Powis Castle".

Also, simple Salvia officinalis is a good choice for the silver-to-grey range.  It is planted at the bottom of the garden, and I hope it does not end up entirely fried to a crisp come summer!

I still have every intention of adding Stachys byzantina to the garden but haven't sourced it locally yet, and it does seem silly to have to purchase that one by mail order.  So I am waiting in hopes it will turn up at one of the garden centres.

In the meantime, there have been some plants whose silver or grey tones have surprised me by their intensity.  One is Eremophila "Valentine", which I expected to show flowerless this month, but no... there are still a few blooms on this incredible little shrub.  Perhaps its foliage is better described as smoky green.

While the Eremophila is distinctly grey-green, Penstemon parryi is far more silver than I expected.  Its bloom period really is over, and I cut back the bloom stems the other day.  As a foliage plant it is remarkable - almost as remarkable as it is in flower!  This picture doesn't do it justice (nor does it show the new growth coming in many of the leaf axils), but it does show just how silvery the plant is at present, accented by a rich plum hue on leaf edges.

From Penstemon parryi we move to a group of plants with a great deal of variation in foliage colours.  These are the assorted succulents that have entered the garden, generally as impulse purchases, over the past five months or so.  Silver from Cistanthe grandiflora...

...and Echeveria lila, shown here with a few neighboring chamomile flowers...

...and predominantly silver-green, but with a distinctive red edge and furry texture, is little Echeveria harmsii.

The mahogany tones are even stronger in Sedeveria "Sorrento", which has not lost its colour since it turned from primarily green to mostly red upon being planted out last winter.

Even brighter?  Euphorbia tirucalli(?) "Firesticks"...

Turning to the cooler side of the spectrum, we find Senecio "Blue Fingers".

Lastly, a succulent just planted: Crassula capitella thyrsiflora "Campfire".  It came home with leaves almost entirely green; however, judging by descriptions, this will soon change with exposure to full sun.  I hope to keep a photographic record of the transformation.  It already has darker edges than when I bought it last weekend.

The green-foliaged plants are quite valuable in this anything-but-green region, but I thought it would be fun to look at the silver side of the spectrum this month.  As usual, I'm linking this post with Christina's at My Hesperides Garden, where many other April foliage updates can be enjoyed!