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.