SIX OF THE BEST Gold, silver and bronze plants
Award your garden with plants that lend their glittering radiance to beds, borders and containers, as these winning tones provide the perfect backdrop for colourful flowering plants.
1.Gold: Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’ Golden Hops
Grow this vigorous climber over an arch or pergola where you will be able to appreciate its strings of aromatic hops in late summer, which can also be used in dried flower arrangements. Cut the plant back hard in spring.
2.Gold: Philadelphus coronarius ‘Aureus’
The foliage of this stunning, hardy, deciduous shrub is at its most golden in early spring. It is often referred to as mock orange since it produces an abundance of citrus-scented clusters of white blooms in early summer.
3.Silver: Senecio candidans ‘Angel Wings’
An eye-catching evergreen perennial that has tactile, velvety foliage. It excels in free-draining soil and tolerates salt-laden winds in coastal gardens. If your garden’s soil is heavy clay, grow this specimen in gritty compost in a pot.
4.Silver: Eryngium giganteum ‘Silver Ghost’
Flowering during July and August, this shimmering biennial self-seeds freely in well-drained soil in full sunlight. An architectural plant that carries silver, spiky flowers that are beloved by flower arrangers for their longevity in displays. Propagate by taking root cuttings in winter.
5.Bronze: Phormium
Pair a bronze-coloured Phormium with a matching coloured pot to enhance its metallic charm. Phormiums make great bed fellows with containers and need very little maintenance other than watering, feeding and removing any dead leaves in spring.
6.Bronze: Heuchera ‘Marmalade’
An ideal front of the border plant for all-year interest. While it does produce tall wands of delicate flowers, it is more often grown for its bronze, ruffled foliage.