Silver Celebration
Partial to full shade
Average soil
Plants need a lot of energy to produce flowers, so where sunlight is lacking, their blooms tend to be sparse, too. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a pretty perennial garden in the shade, though: just look to perennials that have showy leaves for color you can count on from spring to frost. Plants with silvery, gray, or powder-blue foliage are especially good for adding the illusion of light to shady spaces.
The Garden Plan
Shopping List
1 ‘Krossa Regal’ hosta
Hosta
1 plant
Zones 3–8
Alternates: ‘Big Daddy’, ‘Blue Angel’, or another 2- to 3-foot-tall hosta with blue leaves or other shade-tolerant perennial with deep green leaves, such as bearsfoot hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) [1 plant]
‘Krossa Regal’ hosta (Hosta)
2 ‘Jack Frost’ Siberian bugloss
Brunnera macrophylla
2 plants
Zones 3–8
Alternates: ‘Langtrees’ or ‘Looking Glass’ Siberian bugloss, or another 1- to 2-foot-tall, broad-leaved, shade-tolerant perennial with silver or silver-spotted leaves, such as ‘Mrs. Moon’ or other lungwort (Pulmonaria) [6 plants]
‘Jack Frost’ Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla)
3 Japanese painted fern
Athyrium niponicum var. pictum
2 plants
Zones 4–9
Alternates: ‘Ghost’, ‘Ursula’s Red’, or another silver-gray painted fern, or another 1- to 3-foot-tall, shade-tolerant perennial with lacy or grassy blue or white-striped leaves, such as ‘River Mist’ sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) [2 plants] or ‘Ice Dance’ sedge (Carex) [2 plants]
Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum)
4 ‘White Nancy’ spotted deadnettle
Lamium maculatum
6 plants
Zones 3–8
Alternates: Another 9- to 18-inch-tall, shade-tolerant perennial with silver-and-green leaves, such as ‘Dale’s Strain’ heuchera (Heuchera americana) [6 plants] or ‘Hermann’s Pride’ yellow archangel (Lamiastrum galeobdolon) [6 plants]
‘White Nancy’ spotted deadnettle (Lamium maculatum)
5 Lamb’s ears
Stachys byzantina
3 plants
Zones 4–8
Alternates: Another 4- to 8-inch-tall, shade-tolerant perennial with silver or green-and-silver leaves, such as ‘Callaway’ mottled wild ginger (Asarum shuttleworthii) [9 plants] or ‘Sylettas’ violet (Viola koreana) [9 plants]
Lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina)
Planting Plan
Season by Season
Spring: Planning a perennial garden around plants with attractive leaves doesn’t mean you won’t get any flowers at all. ‘Jack Frost’ Siberian bugloss kicks off the season in early to mid spring with sprays of dainty blue blooms, looking much like a super-sized version of forget-me-nots (Myosotis). The white flowers of ‘White Nancy’ spotted deadnettle start a few weeks later, once its silvery leaves have begun to expand. By late spring, the fern and lamb’s ears are filling out, too, followed by the ‘Krossa Regal’ hosta.
In early to mid spring, clean up any debris left from last year; then dig up and divide any too-large perennials that you didn’t take care of in the fall. Apply a fresh layer of organic mulch around the plants.
Summer: ‘Jack Frost’ Siberian bugloss usually finishes blooming in late spring, but the ‘White Nancy’ spotted deadnettle continues into summer. Lamb’s ears and ‘Krossa Regal’ hosta also flower in summer: the first has fuzzy spikes of tiny pinkish blossoms, and the other has pale purple trumpets. As the flowers come and go, the Japanese painted fern, as well as the leaves of the other perennials, are at their lush and lovely best.
Summer maintenance is minimal, other than watering during extended dry spells. If you like the flowers of the lamb’s ears and hostas, wait until the blossoms drop off before trimming off the bloom stalks; if you decide you don’t care for them, it’s fine to cut them off as soon as they appear.
Fall and Winter: Apart from a few scattered blooms on the ‘White Nancy’ spotted deadnettle, it’s the leaves that keep your silver garden shining into fall, at least. Heavy frost will zap the ‘Krossa Regal’ hosta and Japanese painted fern, but the other plants in the garden can be quite tough and may continue to look good for a few more weeks.
If any of the perennials have outgrown their space, early to mid fall is a good time to dig up and divide them. Trim off the dead or cold-damaged leaves in late fall, or leave that job until late winter or early spring.
Digging Deeper
- This simple silver garden needs only the most minimal maintenance: mainly just a yearly mulching and cleanup. Spotted deadnettle and lamb’s ears can spread at a good clip in moist, fertile soil, so you may need to divide them every other year to keep them in check. The other perennials in this garden can stay in place for many years without division.
- This rectangular bed is planned as an edging for one or both sides of a path, but you could also use it as a narrow border along a fence or wall, with the larger plants along the back. To fill a longer space, repeat the plan end to end, overlapping the Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla) and lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina) each time so the hosta-fern-bugloss pattern alternates along the length of the extended planting. It’s also easy to wrap this narrow rectangle around a corner in the same way.
- Solid silver, silver-and-green, gray, and powder-blue leaves are all fair game for silver gardens, but they’re not your only options. Dark green and deep purple to near black foliage can add welcome contrast to pale-leaved partners and give your silver planting even more visual impact.
- Blue or white flowers are perfect complements for silvery leaves, and pale pinks and yellows can add a nice touch, too. If you want to spice things up a bit, choose richer flower colors instead, such as bright reds or hot pinks.