First up is the Elaeagnus, which I featured in my plant ABC's a few weeks ago. The new foliage has since turned from bronze to silver, and recently with our slightly overcast days it's been very pretty.
Elaeagnus is a a pretty backdrop for the pale yellow-green leaves (just now visible) of the American Beautyberry by the driveway (Callicarpa americana).
The Elaeagnus also makes a great backdrop for the Texas Mountain Laurel 'Silver Peso' (Sophora Secundiflora) we added to the front garden last fall. It surprised with two tiny blooms this spring. The blooms never fully opened, but with plenty of new growth this spring it won't be too many years before we see full sized blooms. The new foliage is very soft and the deer have been nibbling so I am going to put a cage around it for a while.
Artemesia Powis Castle in front of the Eleagnus and Beautyberries is beginning to spread out a bit.
Artemesia Wormwood out back by the creek is doing well among the wild verbena and rocks. It's also known locally by the Spanish name Estafiate and is used as a medicinal herb.
Gray Santolina with the sages in the front island bed. Santolina smells like new tires so the deer don't bother it. Easy to grow from cuttings and takes heat and drought well, Santolina is a great edging plant for the gravel garden.
To see more foliage photos check out other garden blogger's Foliage Follow-Up posts at Digging.
I love silvery foliage and these are beautiful. I think there are 4 or 5 kinds of Artemisia out there and I'm hoping to collect them all. Of course, Dusty Miller is the one (over)sold by all. I wish I could find the others. I did have the Wormwood. Do a google image search of Wormwood vs Aretemesia ludoviciana 'Silver King' and see what you think. I have Silver King and I love it. There's also a Silver Queen. The Wormwood I used to grow had lacy rounded foliage and was absolutely stunning. The whole group is huge and growers love to give them all kinds of names. Who knows what we'll find! Silver Princess, perhaps? LOL :0)
ReplyDeleteI need to try that Santolina.
Have you tried any Helichrysum? I found 4 kinds sold here in Houston all have gorgeous silvery foliage. You can also get away with growing Spanish Lavender there in San Antonio, but I can't due to high humidy levels.
I'm so glad to find another silver/gray foliage fan. David/:0)
There are quite a few artemesias out there. I just added Sweet Annie which is more green. The term wormwood is applied to a number of different artemesia plants.
DeleteHelichrysum is an annual here, but I usually have a few in containers during the summer. I just picked up 'Icicles' after reading about it on your blog. I would love to find the one called 'Limelight' locally.
I do have Spanish Lavender and it is about to bloom, I showed it last fall in a post on my front yard. The foliage is a bit more green than silver when compared to the santolina.
Silver foliage does add a lot to the garden.
Dav-o don't forget lamb's ear, Salvia officianlis, Teucrium, and salvia leucanth. Among others.
ReplyDeleteNice list Greggo!
DeleteNice post, I enjoy gray foliage the most!
ReplyDeleteThank you, gray really works in our heat.
DeleteI too like your Artemesia and Santolina. They are two plants that I haven't grown before, but as our UK climate is getting drier and drier, I think I might be adding them to my wish list.
ReplyDeleteArtemesia 'Powis Castle' should work well for you. I've grown it in a very humid climate and it has survived cold and snow here.
DeleteNice greys. My nephew calls it Ellie and Agnes when he has to prune the quarter mile of Eleagnus along his and his MIL's property line.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of trimming! Some folks call it "Ugly Agnes", but I really like it and we only prune about every three years or so.
DeleteI love silvery foliage. I think they add a pop of light, and go well with a lot of different colors. Enjoyed seeing your collection.
ReplyDeleteThanks Holley!
DeleteShirley, your choices for silver/grey in the garden are excellent. I love that color as well--beautiful in so many ways. If you don't already have it, the Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) also has lovely silver/grey foliage. You'll probably have to protect it from the deer, though.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tina, I have seen the Globe Mallow and like it. So far anything in the mallow family is chewed to the ground within hours of planting. I do have a fenced area so that's where they can go.
DeleteHey Shirley ! Cool...you have a reader in the UK !! Neato !
ReplyDeleteMe and Ragna were oohing and ahhing over a silver peso the other day when we found a picture on another blog. Where on earth did you find one ????
also looking for wormwood again...where did you find that ?
patty
Patty, I'll bring some of the wormwood to you in April and maybe I can begin to catch up to your generosity in sharing from your garden.
DeleteThe 'Silver Peso' is from Rainbow Gardens on Thousand Oaks. They had plenty last fall, I don't know about now though.
Meeting bloggers from all over the world is part of the fun of blogging. I have had readers from almost everywhere, not all comment though.
So envious of your 'Silver Peso.' Like you, I have a lot of silver plants because they hold up so well in our hot, dry summers. And deer leaving most of them alone is also a plus!
ReplyDeleteShirley, how is the eleagnus now? Here, this plant can get OUT OF CONTROL !
ReplyDeleteIt's been there for nearly 20 years without spreading. Same with all the others I see planted around town so even though I would choose an appropriate native now, these are staying right where they are.
DeleteIt`s not so much spreading ,as getting out control growth wise. I am not against it by any means and it`s a good screen. I planted three of them ,five feet apart in 1997 to act as a screen for the pool from a house that is about 100 yards away. The three have grown together making a screen at least 20 feet wide and 12 feet tall ! I have one on the corner of the drive way bed that I have to really try hard to keep trimmed to a controllable size. This sandy soil may be something that it really likes. The big ones right now are in bloom and smell very very sweet. The bees love it. I have had some volunteers show up around the place, mainly in shade. I was under the impression when I planted them that they were native(nurseryman), but have been dissuaded from that notion. I like yours!
DeleteThey do need a trim every three or four years and are not meant for a small space but are just fine where they are. We trim them every three or four years but this is a large space.
DeleteI wrote more about them in another post as well.
http://rockoakdeer.blogspot.com/2012/02/plant-abcs-e-is-for-elaeagnus.html