Master Gardener Home PageA Garden with a "Soft Touch"
July 1997
By Ginny Baier, MG
My favorite plants have soft, furry foliage with a beautiful silver sheen. Silver leafed plants are covered with silky hairs which catch the light and protect the leaves from the sun. They also have wonderful names like Lamb's ears, Snow-in-Summer and Moonshine. The leaves of most of my "furry friends" are what make them interesting, and their growth habit is definitely individual. I have learned about them by taking them into my garden like stray kittens; watching and waiting to see how they would grow. Most grow well, and as a bonus, those that flower have the good sense to keep their colors to hues that complement these lovely silvers.
Of all such plants, the Artemesia family is tops in its variety of silver plants. The fluffy ball of the perennial artemesia "Silver Mound" is a real delight with lacy leaves which youngsters like to pet. There is also the stately "Silver King" with almost white leaves. It makes an excellent filler in fresh and dried bouquets. "Old Woman" is a wonderful low creeper with deep cut leaves, soft to the touch, which may need to be renewed from time to time because it has a tendency to die out.
As one of the bitterest of herbs, Wormwood has frequently been mentioned in poetry and literature. It was regarded as a potent and dangerous medicinal herb in Medieval gardens. Today it is considered useful in repelling insects. Wormwood grows to great size and its essential oils are said to inhibit the growth of other plants, although I have never found this to be true.
Absinth, a greenish colored liqueur, was made from wormwood oil. Edgar Degas' famous painting "The Absinthe Drinkers" conveyed the initial poisonous effects of drinking absinthe, numbness, which was followed by delirium and death in long time users. His painting remains a testament to the reason absinthe became an illegal substance in 1915.
A favorite maverick in the soft garden is Lamb's Ears, which seems to have a mind of its own as it branches out here and dies out there. It puts out tall spires of lavender flowers in June which you may or may not like, but there's no denying the soft,floppy, lamb's ear-shaped leaves which make the plant special to touch. It's useful particularly as an edging along a driveway because it will survive an occasional delivery man drive-over. For a dramatic effect, Verbascum "Silver Lining" also has large soft hairy leaves. It's a mullien, and grows to huge proportions. From among the annuals choose "Dusty Miller" and curry plant.
Once you develop an eye for silvery foliage, you will find there are many flowering plants which not only have the foliage, but bloom in colors which go particularly well with the silvers. Achillea Moonshine" is one of the best. It produces large flat blooms of a soft yellow which are much sought after by floral arrangers. Some plants are not associated with herb gardening, but they make excellent companions in a garden of this kind.
Helichrysum "Splendidum" is one such plant. It has felted narrow white leaves and yellow flowers. Perovskia "Blue Spire" (called Russian sage due to its sage scent) is a grand size open shrub with beautiful lavender blue flowers accompanied by deep cut gray leaves.
Lavender Cotton (Santolina), the foliage of the annual blue-flowered Bachelor Button, borage, and even the blue-green leaves of many lavenders with their gray green foliage and scented flowers fit right into this kind of garden and look beautiful in it. White flowered plants such as "Snow in-Summer" are especially striking in contrast to the silvers. The silver cast of these plants is pleasing in itself, and also provides a cool background to other plantings. All will snuggle well into a "soft garden" and will give great pleasure.
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