Planting a Summer Garden of Gray, White, and Green Flowers

White flowers are beautiful at any time of the year and when added with a few other colors, can really brighten up a garden. However there are some alternatives for those who love white flowers alone, and want to create a garden without having the white look so solid in color. Or it may be that the gardener wants to create a totally different look for that small garden in the front yard, or on the side of the house. One of the best ways to achieve such a look is to combine the colors of white with gray or silver plants, with green plants in the garden. These three colors combined together can not only be beautiful but also provide a dream-like garden that lays past a meadow, the kind that one might see in a fantasy film.

There are many varieties of flowers that come in white that grow during the different seasons of the year. Spring flowers include: gladiolus, tulips, hyacinth, crocus, pansies, roses, spring cress, wood anemone, and lily of the valley. Summer flowers for your garden can be: snapdragons, cosmos, zinnias, petunias, pansies, phlox, ground phlox, roses, daisies, asters, verbena, sweet williams, and alyssum. Fall flowers for your garden can be: chrysanthemums, zinnias, asters, white snakeroot, candy tufts, and alyssum. These are just a few of the many white flowers available throughout the year so check with your local nursery to see what is available.

Dusty Miller is the most commonly known gray-silver plant but there are others that you can plant in your garden. These are:

Flannel Flower (Actinotus helianthi). This herbaceous plant belongs to the carrot family and is native to Australia. Seeds may be sown in the ground in a shady spot where it is warm once the last frost has disappeared from the ground. Once the seeds have germinated, they can be transferred to the full sun. This plant likes some sand mixed in with the well drained soil. Avoid over-watering during any wet periods during the season.

Abromeitiella Lorentziana (Deuterocohnia) This is a succulent plant, native to Argentina, which is perfect for year-round sub-tropical planting regions. The spike shaped leaves can provide an exotic accent to the white flowers.

Aeonium Glutinosum Ballerina. This beautiful silver plant has big, long leaves underneath the top layer of shorter leaves. Very striking in any garden, this is another succulent plant that grows well in sub-tropical planting regions in the United States.

Dichondra Argentea Silver Falls. This pretty silver-gray plants has round leaves on a trailing vine. They can either grow directly out of the ground or be placed in pots to hang down the sides in your garden. This plant is easy to grow, can tolerate long periods of heat, and is quite beautiful when planted with white flowers. You can also request any other silver-gray plants that might be available through your local nursery.

Green plant accents for your garden can be any variety of ferns, pachysandra, sylphid celosia, or anything else available at the local nursery. Plant these mixed in with your silver-gray plants by alternating them around patches of white flowers, or in random places between the flowers.

For an added touch, acquire some attractive medium sized white rocks and place them to your garden.

Image Credit: Dryas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.