Silver & Gold

12 years ago

Well I don't know about you guys, but I feel in the mood for sharing and looking at pictures in these already dreary winter days. ;-)

Sometimes my mind goes in strange places, particularly if I haven't had much sleep, lol. Anyhoo, the other night I was channel surfing on the ol' tv and came across Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer while Burl Ives (aka the Snowman ;-) was singing 'Silver and Gold'. Naturally that got me to thinking about silver and gold in the garden. LOL!

I'm not sure it always looks that great, but I do have the tendency to plant some silver and gold foliage plants together. I guess I am oddly attracted to it!

Here is the silvery green foliage of Heucherella 'Kimono' and the gold of Filipendula ulmaria 'Aurea':

Heucherella 'Alabama Sunrise' and the gray-silver foliage of Ballota acetabulosa:

There is quite a bit of silver/blue and gold/chartreuse in my back shade and patio garden. Gold hostas, golden millet, 'Jack Frost' silvery Brunnera, silvery purple and green Japanese Painted Fern ('Pictum'), blue oat grass, blue hostas, etc.

This fall I also found myself pairing a few more silver and gold plants together. The Pulmonaria 'Majeste' a garden bud from GW sent me was moved next to a gold and green variegated Filipendula ulmaria 'Variegata' at the edge of the shade garden. I also put some newly raised Salvia argentea (with huge, fuzzy silver leaves!) next to another patch of the Filipendula 'Aurea'. Will be interesting to see how those couplings turn out. ;-D

Couple years ago I also had a goldenrod paired with a 'Silver Mound' Artemisia that I liked a lot. Can't quite remember what happed with that. Either the Artemisia died or I moved it...somewhere, LOL. I don't doubt that there are also some silver and gold leaf dead nettles running together in the alley garden too...

How about you my Cottage peeps? Do you have any Silver & Gold combos in your garden? If not, what are some of your favorite plants with silvery foliage and gold flowers or foliage?

All pics welcome by the way;-)

CMK

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Comments (10)

ogrose_tx
12 years ago
That is gorgeous! Sorry to say I can't add anything right now, so much of what you grow will not make it in our heat.
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
12 years ago
Closest to silver and gold that I have is the 'Jack Frost' Brunnera with a Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Lutea' in the foreground of this pic.

{{gwi:369506}}

tj
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Calamity_J
12 years ago
Oh My!!! Lovely!!! Eye Candy!!!mmmmm
christinmk z5b eastern WA
Original Author
12 years ago
-TJ, that is spectacular!! What is that lovely thread-leaf like golden evergreen in the back? C. 'Golden Mop' or something similar?

Your garden looks lush and inviting. Don't think I have seen pics of it before- hope you show more of it here in the future. ;-)
Thanks for sharing
CMK
pat_tea
12 years ago
What a beautiful combo the silver and gold makes. I haven't put in my gardens yet but I have five silver moonglow junipers in my cold frame to go in the ground next spring. Any golds you would suggest to pair with them?
christinmk z5b eastern WA
Original Author
12 years ago
-Pat, what a nice looking evergreen. I think gold would be a great pairing with it. Did you want other shrubs with golden hues to pair with them, or perennials? Do you plan to put them in full, part sun, or even a bit of shade?
CMK
Thyme2dig NH Zone 5
12 years ago
Christin, that filipendula is gorgeous! What is the orange flower in the heucherella photo?

tj, beautiful photo! We need MORE!!!
pat_tea
12 years ago
Christinmk; I don't want to hijack your thread but my plan is to use the five moonglows to devide the more formal gardens in the front of my house from the more casual in the back. They will be in full sun on the formal side and will be the background for a courtyard with a fountain in the center encircled by a purple rose garden (melody parfumee). There will be an opening between the moonglows to the back yard which will be the background for a sitting area and fire pit. I invision mostly conifers in that area and anything at their feet will get morning sun but by noon will be light shade.

I absolutely love your plant combo's and agree that we need to see more pictures.
christinmk z5b eastern WA
Original Author
12 years ago
Not at all Pat! Doesn't matter to me in the least ;-)

So did you want the gold on the formal and sunny side, or the informal and slightly shaded side?

Persicaria 'Golden Arrow' is a nice looking plant with golden foliage and red/pink bottlebrush like flowers. Can do full sun if the soil doesn't dry out, but does best in some shade. Hakonechola 'Aureola' is a great gold variegated ornamental grass for part shade. There are some fuchsias with gold folaige too, like 'Golden Gate' and 'Aurea' and should be hardy for you (in zone 7/8??). Those are best in some shade.

For full sun how about a low maintenance shrub? There are tons of golden spireas (Goldmound, Goldflame, Magic Carpet, etc), barberries, and gold leafed 'Worchester Gold' Caryopteris/bluebeard.
There are also plants that have gold variegation, like Phlox 'Becky Towe' with hot pink flowers.

There are really tons of other great gold leafed shrubs and some perennials out there... let me know if you want me to keep going on. Somehow I am able to remember all this stuff and yet I STILL can't recall what my distant relatives names are LOL!!! ;0)
CMK
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
12 years ago
christinmk- The conifer in back is Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Aurea Pendula'. I got it as a small mail order plant (4" pot) from Girard's Nursery back around 1998.

pat_tea- Up in the PNW there are a myriad of choices for gold confiers as well as ample nurseries. Check out the link for ideas.

Thanks all for the kind words. I'll try to work in a few more pics. For now, this is to the right of my pic above. The other side of the path leading downhill.

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: Golden Conifers

Silver & Gold

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