Elegant Silvers

Striking Plants for Every Garden

Silver plants bring a luminous beauty to the landscape. Their distinctive colors, textures, and silhouettes enrich garden design; their ability to withstand extremes of heat, cold, drought, wind, and, for variegated silvers, shade makes them indispensable for gardeners. The geographic range of silver plants is broader than many assume. Silver conifers evoke snowy, colder regions and thrive in the most frigid sites. Even in four-season climates where they are frost tender, stunning agaves, yuccas, and echeverias can be grown outdoors in containers, then wintered over indoors, while other silvers, including tropicals like the downy-leaved Plectranthus argentatus, can be treated as annuals. In this comprehensive and inspirational compendium, silver aficionados Jo Ann Gardner and Karen Bussolini have selected and vividly illustrated the best candidates for a broad range of growing and design needs. Whether you decide to add a dash of quicksilver or the soothing perfume of an ancient herb, this in-depth guide to plants of uncommon beauty and versatility is certain to change the way you see and plant your garden.

Media reviews of this book:

"Consistently excellent composition and color reproduction of the nearly 120 photos by coauthor Bussolini ... highly recommended."

—G. D. Dreyer, Choice, September 2005

"Every aspect of plants with silver foliage is covered in this valuable new book."

—Graham Rice, American Gardener, July/August 2005

"A bible, if you will, of the increasingly popular plants with the metallic moniker. "

—Metropolitan Home, April 2005

"This book is a gold mine and a cause for celebration: a well-researched guide to silvery plants that thrive in this region."

—Lili Singer, Los Angeles Times, April 7, 2005

"Helpful information on growing and placing each plant, and the best varieties to use."

—Joanne S. Carpender, National Gardener, February 2005

Customer reviews of this book:

"Delightful book — informative and beautiful. Thanks!"

—Sharon B. from Cockeysville, Maryland, April 10, 2006

"Wonderful book! Beautifully illustrated, clean references, and good sources for plants."

—Joan M. from Connecticut, March 27, 2006

"A superb idea, an inspiring concept, and beautiful close-up photography."

—John W. from Millbrook, New York, September 7, 2005

"Superb idea — inspiring concept, beautiful close-up photography!"

—John W. from Millbrook, New York, September 7, 2005

"The book is great. Very good information and the pictures are a great bonus! Thank you."

—Robert H. from Madera, California, July 18, 2005

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An excerpt from this book:

Although we call all of them silvers, their silveriness varies from near glittering white and absolute silver to green-gray, grays, and silvery blues, and from spotted and streaked leaves to types covered with a metallic sheen. Silvers can be found in most plant groups, although few true annual species exist, since these occur mostly in winter rainfall areas where conditions are unfavorable to silver adaptation. We think of many of the silvers, such as the dusty millers (senecios), as annuals, but they are actually shrubby perennials in their warm, native climate. Although silvers are represented in many families in the plant kingdom, they are especially well represented in the sun-loving family Asteraceae ...

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