Blue Foliage is in High Demand
When it comes to gardening, there’s one overwhelming factor that drives all of us: Color. Be it foliage or flowers, customers are looking for distinctive colors to provide interest and contrast in their gardens. Because of their rarity in nature, blue and silver are highly sought after colors when it comes to garden plants. While many may focus on finding blue flowering specimens, there are a number of distinctive plants that offer up blue foliage. Others offer stunning silver foliage.
If you’re looking to bring the rare color blue into your landscape, it’s hard to find a better specimen than Senecio mandraliscae.This species of succulent is commonly referred to as blue finger and blue chalk sticks. It’s obvious why once you see it’s curved, upward-pointed leaves. They provide a striking silvery blue color year-round. This creeping succulent is perfect for filling planters or filling in groundcover areas.
Often called gopher spurge or upright myrtle spurge, Euphorbia rigida offers up striking blue -green foliage and is a showstopper in the garden. Their spiral arrangement of pointy leaves creates a sculptural look. Plants produce bright, chartreuse flowers from winter through spring, which make a beautiful contrast to the foliage color.
What better complement to blue foliage plants than silver plants? Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ is a large, mounding, shrubby perennial with feathery, silvery gray foliage. Use Artemisia in mixed perennial borders to provide evergreen foliage, color, contrast and texture. Their silvery gray foliage makes a beautiful backdrop for plants with blue foliage.
Winter is a great time to focus on foliage in the landscape. In many mild climates, evergreen perennials, shrubs and trees can be planted even in January. By bringing in plants with unique foliage colors, you can continue to inspire and delight your gardening customers all winter long.
