Best plants with Silver and grey foliage

A. Valarie finnis is one of the softest, most silver of the Artemisia group. It likes to grow in full sun in well drained soil. In good conditions it will grow up to 1m.  This variety of Artemisia  looks fabulous teamed up with another silver blue favourite, Nepeta. Check out summer planting ideas. 

Another impressive silver blue combination, Russian Sage is fully  hardy, has an upright form and grows to around 1.5m. An added bonus is that it has aromatic leaves and flowers which the bees just love- more bee friendly plants.

This combination of blue and silver is a strongly architectual plant with spikey flowers. There are a number of different varieties from low growing to around .5m. All are hardy and look good with grasses and other silver plants.

Stachys byzantina also known as Lamb's ears is irresistible to the touch with soft downy silver-grey leaves. It is hardy, and the insignificant flowers are strangely attractive to bees. Its soft leaves make it a great addition to a sensory garden.

Some lavender are more silver than others, illustrated is  Lavandula angustifolia. One to look for is Lavandula angustifolia ' Silver Mist' and other  is ' Silver Sands'.  Lavender like dry sunny conditions and if your garden has wet soil, especially winter wet check out the next plant. 

Nepeta is a lovely plant in its own right, but is also a good silver blue substitute if conditions are not ideal for lavender. Loved by bees (and cats) it is fully hardy and tolerant of most garden conditions.

The silver foliage supports bright magenta pink flowers which really stand out. Like many silver/grey plants, it needs to be planted in well drained, dry soil, in full sun. H7 but short-lived, even shorter in wet areas.

This variety,  'Jack Frost' has the best grey leaves of the Brunneras. It is spring flowering and has blue flowers very similar to forget-me-nots. Good for ground cover, ideal with spring bulbs and tolerant of partial shade.