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SILVER LEAVED

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  • Salvia

    (Sage)
    Lamiaceae

    A genus whose popularity has risen exponentially in recent times. Offering a diverse range of form and colour there is a Salvia for nearly every garden situation with more and more being discovered and described all the time. The count now stands somewhere in excess of 1000, including subspecies, according to The Plant List. They are found on every continent except Antarctica.

    From a gardeners perspective they can not all be treated the same, they come from many different climates after all, but as a rule of thumb can be grouped into winter rainfall and summer rainfall species and with few exceptions they all prefer well drained soil.

    Soft leaved species from Central and South America are usually autumn and winter flowering. Coming from summer rainfall areas they typically need protection from dry heat and the accompanying high light intensity and they vary in their tolerance of winter damp. As with most plants the larger the leaves the more water they require, this also dictates how fast they grow with many growing several metres in a single season.

    Species from south western North America, South Africa, the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands are all winter growers and are tolerant or demanding of dry heat and summer drought. Slower growing but usually longer lived these all tend to have small, densely haired, silver or grey leaves or a combination of these traits which help them conserve moisture. Most of these require no additional water in Perth and are well adapted to our climate. They tend tend to flower from spring into summer.


    Prune back to where vigorous new basal growth is seen, never to dead wood, they appear to store little food in their stems and without leaves stand a chance of starving to death or at least struggle to regenerate. The exception is those few that are tuberous or clump forming, these can be cut to ground level once the stems start dying back in late autumn.
    • pachyphylla   CAG02284

      (Mountain desert sage, Blue sage, Rose sage, Purple sage)
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

      Luminous blue-mauve tubular flowers emerge from whorls of rich rosy pink bracts tiered on erect spikes atop a low mound of, highly aromatic, silvery white spoon shaped leaves crowding stiff woody stems.

      One of the most spectacular members of the genus, from the high semi-deserts of California and surrounds and so strictly for drier inland gardens, with their more favourable extremes of heat and cold, where it will prove exceptionally hardy and very long lived. Excellent drainage is essential, with constant moisture, warmth and humidity tolerated only briefly. An occasional summer drink is appreciated but perhaps no more than once a month.

  • Santolina
    • chamaecyparissus   CAG01012

      (Lavender cotton)
      Santolina chamaecyparissus
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

      A garden staple long valued for its neat buns of feathered, silvery grey, coralline foliage, upright, button-like, yellow flowers and hardiness. Its scale and form goes well with just about anything but especially other mediterranean type foliage and is useful to give a bit of structure to smaller gardens or gardens full of small but formless desirables. Excellent too for parterre or formal edging.

      From the Mediterranean and easily grown in any well drained sunny soil, with leanness and exposure favouring the densest and silveriest growth.

      Trim off spent flowers annually and cut back hard as needed while actively growing.

  • Seseli
    • gummiferum   CAG01928

      (Moon carrot)
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

      From Turkey and Eastern Europe comes this surreal, biennial member of the carrot family.

      Silvery-blue mounds of lacy foliage throw up fat, branching stems of creamy-white umbels followed by the unavoidable death of the plant but no loss, as providing there is good drainage and a sunny exposed position, a healthy crop of seedlings should appear the following Winter.

      Tolerant of dry, stony and poor soils this plant is astounding in scattered drifts with winter bulbs, Catmints, Lambs ears, Anthemis or any other tough low growing plants.

      It shouldn't need saying but just in case. Intolerant of shade and much summer moisture.

  • Stachys
  • Teucrium
    • dunense   CAG02493

      (Dune germander)
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

      A truly xerophytic species from coasts in the western Mediterranean demanding excellent drainage and dry summer conditions, so perfect for the Swan Coastal Plain and probably hopeless in areas with higher summer humidity.

      Forms a small shrublet with white felted stems clad in in greenish white felted, narrow, 1cm long, toothed, lance shaped leaves with their edges tightly rolled to conserve moisture and emitting a pleasing camphor-mint scent when brushed. Furry heads of small white two lipped, tubular flowers terminate the branches in late spring but are of little consequence compared to the sublime foliar effect.

      An excellent edging plant for exposed, barren and windswept coastal conditions or for contrast with other small hardy foliage plants like the closely related T. marum (Cat thyme) with dense pewter coloured leaves and spikes of bright pink flowers or Santolina of any variety.

      Tolerates at least light frost but is probably not terribly cold hardy.
      Intolerant of summer irrigation, water at your own risk.

    • marum   CAG01680

      (Cat thyme)
      Teucrium marum
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

      A small, very silver, pungently aromatic sub-shrub from the western Mediterranean, happiest in exposed dry soil and perfect for edging or parterre. Many short wands of soft magenta, two lipped flowers lend the stiffly twigged mounds, clothed in tiny, silver, rhomboidal leaves, a dreamy quality during late spring.

      Easily grown in any well drained sunny site. Summer irrigation unnecessary.
      A quick annual tidy up after flowering, to remove the spent stems, keeps it looking attractive over summer. Older plants can be cut back to the point of new basal growth in late winter to rejuvenate them.

      As its common name infers it is often adored by feline denizens of the garden, boon or bane depending on you point of view, and their wallowing and mauling can leave it a little worse for wear but seldom proves fatal.

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