I am helping a friend pick some plants for the Silver Jubilee of the school where she maintains the plantings in Pasadena, California. We have been perusing the Plants Database but there are so many options! Some of them such as certain hollys are unusable because there are small children running around and they can ouch. Also we must omit potentially poisonous plant too, obviously.
Anyone have any suggestions of plants that will grow Zone 9b-10a that are silver or have silver in the name?
Silver Perennials
Dusty Miller is one. Money Plant, Roman Shields, Bromeliads (Aechmea fasciata for example), there's some downy cacti (wihtout thorns, they're covered in a down), Silver leafed princess flower (Tibouchina heteromalla). There's plenty more, do a search and you'll find bunches of silver plants.
Heh! We are doing that but to narrow to favorites and sometimes silver just brings up every yucca ever come across.
Thanks- I like your suggestions! This is the kind of input needed!
I wouldn't reccomend planting yucca where children will be. Sharp spines you know
Yeah I know! But if you put silver in the PDB, yucca pops ups immediately! Can you imagine the parents faces? Here is your garden for your children- please send bandaids. No way!
Lamb's ears, lychnis are in my garden now...and easy to grow...
Sheila
Daisy - is the area in full sun? shade? part shade? Brunnera 'Jack Frost' and Japanese Painted fern are good silver looking plants for shade.
How about artimesia? Is that poisonous?
The school is a several acre historical property with many planting areas and big trees so there is all kinds of sun exposure.
Brunnera 'Jack Frost' -- pricey still and the specimens may look wimpy, but it fills out fast. A very vigorous and delightful new hybrid.
Artemisia is always one of my first choices -- such lovely foliage. Also helichrysum 'Icicles' and those white leafed caladiums would work.
Silver Sage (Salvia argentea) is one of my favorites. The leaves are spectacular and beg to be touched. After it blooms and you cut back the stalk you get a fresh growth of the beautiful silver velvet leaves.
True, you never know what children will do so toxicidy is a major concern. I remember in my elementary school, they had some kind of evergreen with berries ( I know the name, but just can't recall right now) and I'm suprised we didn't eat them. We did used to pick them all the time and etc. But the main issue is they are toxic. Shouldn't have been planted.
Dichondra 'Silver Falls' is kinda neat... it might be scary in zone 10 tho.
PDB says it's not hardy past Z8 but I see you have a bit of it there Poppysue. Is it still growing for you or was that an annual for you? (Had to go look it up as your post sounded intriguing)
I grow it as annual. I'm thinking I might try to winter over a couple of snippets. The plant roots all along the stems that lay on the ground.
That looks loke a wonderful groundcover! I would consider that one for me! Thanks!
I love all of the suggestions made so far- thanks and keep 'em coming, ya'll!
daisy: How sweet of you to help your friend with this project. It sounds like a neat idea.
According to the PDB, some of the artemisias are poisonous (too bad, since they are some of my favorite gray/silver plants and I was going to suggest 'Silver Mound' for you 8={). Fortunately, Lychnis coronaria (Rose Campion) isn't poisonous (another of my favorites). It is also a wonderful gray foliage plant and very very xeric. It can be grown in either sun or shade and is really tough and not picky about soil etc. It's a biennial but it reseeds so heavily that I always think of it as perennial since it seems to come back every year with no trouble at all. I had it planted under pine trees and it didn't even care. Kids can pick it and voila! you'll have more next year. 8=} You can get it with either white or fuschia/ pink little flowers. Great little plant!
If you're looking for larger plants, Russian Sage is wonderful, and some of the Buddleia have silver foliage. Both bloom in the late summer and/or fall which is nice.
CaptMicha: Could you be thinking about castor beans? Also, oleander which grows like a weed in Southern Calif. (It's all over the place) is highly toxic and should never be planted where there are young children around.
It don't think it could have been oleander b/c I'm in zone 7. I had sofy red berries that have a hole in one end... I dunno.
How about Silver Vine? It'd be great to incorporate some vines and trees into there if there's room. I'm pretty sure silver vine is easy to obtain plus it's easily rooted.
-CaptMicha