25 Stunning Silver Plants to Add Shimmer to Your Garden

When you are looking for garden drama, look no further than silver plants. Whether succulents, shrubs or ornamental grasses, silver-hued plants provide rich contrast to bright or muted colors. The little black dress of the garden, a plant with silver leaves goes with anything. Plus, the Garden Media Group predicts a "horti-futurist" movement marked by sci-fi influences will make star-flecked or silver-hued plants more desirable garden additions in 2024.

Sageleaf Willow 'Iceberg Alley' (shown here) is a cold-hardy shrub and low-maintenance landscaping plant suitable for Zones 2 to 6. Silver catkins with red stamens appear in spring, followed by silvery, disease-resistant foliage. It’s a favorite deciduous shrub because silver works with almost any other plant color and its slender leaves add texture to the garden. Full sun is ideal for sageleaf willows, but they’ll tolerate partial sun. While the plants don’t mind moist soil or rain gardens, they will die if allowed to stand in water. At maturity, 'Iceberg Alley' reaches 3 to 6 feet tall and wide. Apply a balanced fertilizer in spring and snip the catkins for cut flowers. Prune as needed and grow these shrubs in borders, masses or wildlife gardens, or use one as a specimen plant.

Lavandula stoechas 'Silver Anouk' features silver foliage and whimsical tufts of purple florets that give this perennial its uniquely ravishing look. It is especially nice to plant in containers or near porches and pathways where you can enjoy Silver Anouk's delicious fragrance. This lavender has a compact size and a width of 12-18 inches and does best in well-drained soil.

Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls' has a silvery sheen and delicate fan-shaped leaves. 'Silver Falls' is heat- and drought-tolerant, and is especially lovely when it is allowed to cascade from containers and window boxes as a dramatic "spiller" plant.

A lovely foliage plant for shade, this Brunnera macrophylla 'Sterling Silver' has large, silvery heart-shaped leaves and looks great as a groundcover and in containers.

This silvery blue Sempervivum, aka hens and chicks, is an easy grower and thrives in abundant outdoor light and with well-drained soil. Sempervivum is frost-hardy but needs to be protected from standing water, which can cause rot. Its rosette form looks great in borders and containers.

Looking for a tree that holds up well in the garden? You couldn't do better than blue spruce. Its silvery blue-green coloring makes this ornamental conifer a dramatic year-round garden feature, especially when privacy or a wind block is needed. Easy to care for and adaptable to a variety of soils, blue spruce is also a fast-growing tree.

Broad silver leaves flecked with burgundy, this cross between manfreda and agave is striking in containers and the garden. Cultivated to grow quickly, Mangave 'Aztec King' is a full-sun tender perennial that can grow to 24 inches tall and 3 feet wide.

Also known as Siberian Bugloss and False Forget-Me-Not, Brunnera 'Alexander's Great' is a super-sized perennial with large, silver heart-shaped leaves. Moist, well-drained soil works best for this handsome, low-maintenance brunnera. Larger than 'Jack Frost' brunnera, 'Alexander's Great' forms a dense, low mound and features tiny blue flowers in spring.

Pewter-colored ruffled leaves and a low mounding habit give this heuchera (also known as coral bells) 'Prom Dress' its distinctive look. This perennial will last into autumn and would beautifully accent a fall container for your Thanksgiving and Halloween display.

With its arresting, glowing metallic fronds on burgundy stems, Athyrium 'Ghost' is a stunning addition to the shade garden with its upright growth and relative height compared to other ferns. Best suited for well-draining soil, this deciduous hybrid fern is a cross between Japanese Painted Fern and Lady Fern.

Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) 'Silvery Blue' is a hardy perennial known for its lavender flowers on silver-white stems and gray-green foliage. Russian sage does best in dry to medium soils and full sun and looks especially beautiful in Mediterranean and cottage gardens. Combine Russian sage with other gray-colored plants for architectural and color variety in the garden.

The ornamental plant Stachys byzantina (or lamb's ears) is a wonderful addition to a children's, sensory or rock garden, which makes sense because these plants are native to the rocky landscapes of Armenia, Turkey and Iran. Lamb's ears get their name for their velvety texture. This herbaceous perennial has silvery leaves and does best in dry, well-drained soil.

Pewter-gray foliage distinguishes this 'Smoke and Mirrors' heuchera, also known as coral bells. 'Smoke and Mirrors' has a low mounding habit suited to shade gardens and performs especially well in the heat and humidity of the South.

Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' (also called Whale's Tongue Agave) is a succulent that grows from 2-5 feet tall and features wide gray leaves. It flowers off a 10-14-foot spike with greenish-yellow flowers. 'Frosty Blue' grows in full sun to light shade in well-drained soil and is native to northeastern Mexico. It's a wonderful addition to a coastal, Mediterranean, rock or succulent garden.

Also known as white sagebrush, artemisia 'Silver Lining' is a durable foliage perennial primarily used for its showy, silvery foliage. 'Silver Lining' has a mounded, low habit and works well as a filler plant in the landscape or in mixed containers.

Like 'Alexander's Great' this 'Jack Frost' brunnera boasts pretty, heart-shaped dark-green leaves with a frosty silver sheen and is ideal for a shady, woodland garden. The 2012 Perennial Plant Association's Plant of the Year features bright blue flowers in spring.

A relative of the artichoke, cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) produces a beautiful, silvery, thistle-like flower and leaves which are often braised or sauteed in Mediterranean cuisine. Grown as an ornamental, cardoon produces large, purple flowers and thrives in full sun and well-drained soil.

Commonly known as baby's breath, this flower-arrangement staple is beautiful both in the landscape and dried. 'Summer Sparkles' is a taller gypsophila featuring lovely gray-green foliage. From late spring to midsummer, 'Summer Sparkles' is covered in delicate white flowers and is ideal as a filler plant in both the landscape and in containers.

As its name suggests, 'Silver Bullet' hosta is a medium-sized plant boasting thick, rounded clumps of blue-silver leaves. Ideal for shade gardens, hostas like 'Silver Bullet' are easy to grow, hardy and perform well even in polluted city environments.

Also known as wormwood, ghost plant and Dusty Miller, artemisia 'Silver Mound' features lacy silver foliage and a mounding habit. 'Silver Mound' can tolerate hotter temperatures than some other artemisias. Just be aware that this perennial is toxic to pets and people if ingested.

An innovative cross between an agave and manfreda, this succulent hybrid mangave is bred to be a fast grower and is named for the silvery-white fur of a silver fox. 'Silver Fox' has dramatic, serrated arching leaves that can grow to almost two feet wide.

Fescue 'Beyond Blue (Festuca glauca) is a hardy evergreen with a powdery blue-silver color. 'Beyond Blue' is a cold-hardy and low-maintenance ornamental grass and works well in Asian and drought-resistant gardens. This perennial keeps its color and shape throughout the year and thrives in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 to 8.

Sea holly (Eryngium-planum), also known as star thistle, is a perennial in the carrot (Apiaceae) family and shines in the garden with its quirky form. Planting 'Blue Glitter' (shown here) in full sun yields intense blue-silver blooms. Tolerant of dry, poor soil, this unusual-looking plant also attracts butterflies.

Dusty Miller 'Quicksilver' is a wonderfully "touchable" plant that children will especially enjoy. The fuzzy leaves are silvery-gray, and this sun-loving annual can stand up to both heat and drought. 'Quicksilver' is a newer, shorter variety than the popular Dusty Miller 'Silverdust' and it has a neat, tidy growth habit and can reach up to 12" tall.