12 Best Garden Plants with Silver Leaves

In small gardens, adding uniquely colored plants can add depth and interest. Plants with silver foliage or pink leaves etc, really draw the eye and get you looking at the details. Plus, the cool tones of silvery gray leaves blend in beautifully with other green foliage and particularly purple flowers.

In a sea of green, the metallic sheen of plants with silver leaves can add a beautiful glow to a garden space.

Why do some garden plants have silver leaves?

The silver coloring found on some plants can be caused by two unique coatings found on the leaf surface. Some have fine hairs (trichomes) that reflect light, others have a waxy coating (farina). The hairs or waxy surfaces are thought to protect plants from harm, e.g. from harsh sunlight, frost, or even insect damage.

Hairy plants

Trichomes can give the appearance of silver when we look at plants from a distance. When there’s a dense coating of hairs they reflect light, blocking the color of the green stem or leaf below. This gives the plant a grey, white or silvery color and also usually a soft texture!

Waxy succulents

The waxy coating often found on succulents, like the silvery agave, is a water-repellent layer of epicuticular wax. This gives the leaves a powdery-looking, silvery color. It’s why there’s an amazing variety of pastel-colored succulents, as their colors are softened by this thin waxy layer.

Outdoor garden plants with silver-colored leaves

Whether you’re looking to add some enchanting foliage to a mini fairy garden, or simply add some unique textures and colors, here are 12 beautiful garden plants with silver leaves.

1. Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’

Known for its silvery cascades of foliage, dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ is one of the most popular trailing plants for hanging baskets. It also works well as a unique creeping plant in borders too.

The leaves are small and rounded, with a lightly scalloped edge. Its silvery color pairs beautifully with purple flowers.

2. Angel Wings (Senecio candidans)

I’ve always thought the name of this plant is so apt. The large, elegant leaves have a soft, lightly frilled appearance — like angel wings. However, it’s the striking white coloring that catches your eye.

The leaves have a dense layer of fine hairs giving them an other-worldly glow. In Latin, Senecio translates as old man, which is pretty apt for a group of plants often covered in silver hairs!

With their coating of fine hairs, angel wing plants are very resistant to harsh sunlight and also dry conditions. As drought tolerant plants they work well in dry soil, warmer areas, and also in xeriscape gardens!

3. Brunnera

If you have a shady garden, Brunnera is a wonderful shade loving plant to add to borders or containers.

They have large, tropical-looking leaves that can be flushed with metallic silver. And in the summer, you can enjoy a hazy display of delicate blue flowers.

Two silver Brunnera varieties:

• Brunnera ‘Looking Glass’
• Brunnera ‘Sea Heart’

4. Coral Bells (Heuchera)

With an amazing variety of colors, coral bells are great plants to bring color into a shady garden. However, there is something incredibly striking about coral bells with silver foliage.

Their silver coloring is usually contrasted with deep black veining. Then in the summer, you’ll enjoy an amazing display of pink flowers that glow against the silvery foliage.

Coral bells with silver foliage:

• Heuchera ‘Silver Scrolls’
• Heuchera ‘Silver Gumdrop’
• Heuchera ‘Indian Summer Huckleberry’
• Heuchera ‘Timeless Treasure’

5. Brachyglottis greyi

Often known as the daisy bush, the leaves on this beautiful plant are covered in fine silvery hairs. In summer it produces clusters of yellow flowers.

New growth is especially felt-like, with older leaves eventually maturing with a dark green color on top and fine white hairs underneath. The leaves are edged with fine hairs too, making each look like they have a white outline.

6. Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima)

Loved for its lacy, silvery foliage, dusty miller adds a delicate charm to hanging baskets or containers. It stays quite small so would work really well as a silvery plant in a mini fairy garden.

Dusty Miller has recently moved from the Senecio genus, so you’ll still often see it referred to as Senecio cineraria.

Some of the most popular silver dusty miller varieties:

• Dusty Miller ‘Silver Lace’
• Dusty Miller ‘Silver Dust’
• Dusty Miller ‘Cirrus’

7. Lambs Ears (Stachys byzantina)

Covered in soft, fairly long, fluffy hairs, it’s easy to see the decision-making behind the name — lambs ears. The plant forms clusters of lovely silver-leafed rosettes.

There’s a common cultivar called ‘Silver Carpet’ which is a popular plant for borders. It’s also a drought-tolerant plant, making it ideal in a xeriscape container garden or a garden that receives little rainfall.

8. Liriope muscari ‘Okina’ 

Liriope are beautiful evergreen plants that work well on balconies and other small spaces. Their strap-like foliage adds unique structure and as evergreens, they’ll keep their foliage year-round (in the right growing zone).

One variety called ‘Okina’ produces striking leaves heavily streaked with white that become frosted and silvery as they mature.

9. Silver Bush (Convolvulus cneorum)

Producing long silvery blue leaves, the silver bush has an amazing metallic sheen. In spring and summer, it will also produce small, white trumpet-shaped flowers with yellow centers.

10. Painted Lady Fern (Athyrium niponicum)

These uniquely colored ferns have a dusting of silvery hairs which give them a beautiful metallic sheen. The ‘Burgundy Lace’ cultivar is especially beautiful as the leaves are almost completely silver and each has a purple streak through the center.

They’re ideal plants for shady gardens, as they thrive in full shade and partial shade.

• Athyrium niponicum var. pictum ’Silver Falls’
• Athyrium niponicum var. pictum ’Burgundy Lace’
• Athyrium niponicum ‘Metallicum’

11. Licorice Plant (Helichrysum petiolare)

With soft, silvery, rounded leaves, the licorice plant is a great way to bring soft silver colors into your garden. It’s a trailing plant that you could use in vertical planters or hanging baskets for beautiful cascades of silver foliage.

Although it has a licorice aroma, the licorice plant is not related to the actual licorice root plant. It’s usually grown as an annual, but could be a perennial in warmer areas (USDA zone 9+).

• Helichrysum ‘Goring Silver’
• Helichrysum ‘Silver Mist’

Other silvery members of the Helichrysum family include the curry plant (Helichrysum italicum). It has a deeply aromatic curry scent, and silvery, long, almost needle-like leaves. Helichrysum ‘White Wonder’ is another lovely silvery plant, similar to the curry plant, that will produce clusters of bright yellow flowers.

12. Begonias

Begonias are a hugely varied group of plants, found in a range of foliage and flower colors. Some have tumbling foliage that makes them excellent trailing plants for hanging baskets. Others have striking leaf patterns, in swirls of pink, purple, green, and silver…

The silver-leaved begonias mentioned below are very tender, meaning they won’t survive a frost. This means they’re only perennial in USDA zones 10-11. However, you can grow them as houseplants and bring them outside in summer if you live in a cooler area!

Some of the most silver begonia plants include:

• Begonia ‘Silver King’
• Begonia ‘Ironstone’
• Begonia ‘Silver Lace’
• Begonia ‘Queen Olympus’

When searching for these plants, you may find that some are listed with different Latin names. A large group of plants were fairly recently moved out of the Senecio genus, like Dusty Miller, otherwise known as Wooly Senecio! It makes searching for them a bit confusing, as many old gardening books or nurseries may still refer to them as being part of that genus.

Other amazing foliage colors to bring into your garden…

• Plants with black leaves
• Plants with purple leaves
• Plants with pink leaves
• Plants with orange leaves
• Plants with red leaves
• Plants with blue leaves