Just like any textured surface has glare and shading, it is desirable to lighten the palette of an ornamental garden in some places, on the contrary, add a depth effect in others.
Only in this way will the landscape that opens up to the eye acquire expressiveness, and some drama.
The play of light and shadow is a vast topic, so today I will pay attention to the “light” side of the issue, silver highlights in the garden and flower beds.
There are three ways to lighten dark areas of the garden: with the help of “white” (all light shades) plants, varieties with the prefix “variegata” and silvery perennials. The first and last options are my personal favorite.
White flowers and leaves bring an element of freshness to the garden, and in the evening in the moonlight there is no more attractive picture than the reflection effect they create.
Unlike white and variegated counterparts, plants with “moon-colored” foliage create a calmer spot with light nuances that does not tire the eye and, on the contrary, stimulates to look in more detail…
But no matter how good silver-colored plants are, it is not worth planting the entire garden only from them. The landscape will be boring and monotonous. It is better to watch the change of pictures in an ordinary garden outside the window, and in autumn any landscape becomes fabulously beautiful, as if strewn with silver dust.
WHERE YOU SHOULD CREATE SILVER LIGHTS
When there is a need to highlight one or another element in the garden, I recommend planting a plant with silver leaves near it. Why? Red, orange, white or yellow colors will draw all the attention to themselves, and your the goal is to select an object. Therefore, you need a color that is different from the green background, but absolutely neutral.
Imagine that you have luxurious specimens of trees planted in the background of your garden, which simply merge with each other into a green array. Silver-gray color visually brings closer. No, he will not make the plan larger, however, he will attract attention, and together with this and on the environment, plus it will prompt you to come closer and consider the landing in more detail. The main thing, prudently pave the way to it 🙂
Another function of silver plants is grounding. Any mix of tall flowers during the peak of beauty, as it were, breaks off the ground, because all the attention is drawn to the flowering top of the mix. It is for this reason that it is recommended to plant a silver carpet at the foot of the flower garden: it balances the composition.
And the silver frame of the tracks visually expands the space. There is an analogy with the interior: the area of the room is perceived by the area of \u200b\u200bfree space between the furniture or or along the contours of the carpet.
If light plants are planted along the path or around the patio, the area will automatically expand to the outer contours of the border. And what plants retain a light color all season? The answer is obvious: with light gray (silver) leaves.
Few people know, but with the help of silvery cereals and perennials in the garden, you can create the effect of a morning mist over a flower garden.
Isn’t it a mesmerizing sight? I recommend to apply in those places where from bright flowering slightly ripples in the eyes.
BEAUTIFUL COMBINATIONS WITH SILVER PLANTS
The most beautiful compositions are obtained in contrast. In gray, this is a contrast with shades of red.
The combination of gray and pink makes the latter even more delicate. An ideal duo for a garden or flower garden with romantic notes.
The duo silver plus red speaks of the adventurous nature of the creator, and if you have created such a combination, then let it be one central object, a point that can be seen from different viewpoints.
Silver gray and purple is a drama, not yet a tragedy :), but already something that catches the soul. Be sure to use this technique, for example, plant a silver brunner and purple-leaved geyhera at the foot of the purple barberry. Such a composition always looks solemn.
Color combinations with silver based on nuances (white, yellow, light green, blue) are very soft and look good when the flowers are small and there are a lot of them. Great option for a landscape garden.
PLANTS WITH SILVER LEAVES
Characteristic silver curtains form the well-known: lavender officinalis, medicinal sage, gray veronica, prickly artichoke, seaside cinneraria, coronal lychnis, gray fescue.
In the photo: silver santolina in the amount of more than three dozen bushes formed a picturesque pillow in the space between the path and the fence.
In the photo: silver geyhera leaves. These can be found in the grades Stainless Steel, Steel City
In the photo: these silver stars are the very mysterious and rare edelweiss flower. low-key and fanned by a halo of a romantic legend.
In the photo: Nippon fern, almost all representatives of this species can boast of silver notes in the color of the leaves.
In the photo: lunaria, it happens only at the beginning of autumn, but its leaves are so expressive that you no longer pay attention to the fact that this is an annual plant that will have to be sown every spring.
In the photo: maned barley is new to us, but quickly gaining popularity.
In the photo: silvery panicles, this is the thinnest feather grass.
In the photo: giant eryngium.
In the photo: Byzantine chistets during the flowering period, next to the eryngium, gray fescue.
In the photo: Schmidt’s wormwood. In general, there are many types of wormwood with silvery foliage, and it smells of tart bitterness, such a note will not be superfluous in the bouquet of aromas of a modern garden.
In the photo: a silvery coating can be observed on the leaves of the Silver Wings, Silver Heart, Jack Frost brunners.
Unlike brunners, on hostas, «silver» appears as a light transparent mother-of-pearl coating or a gray color. Such properties are possessed by varieties Silver Light, Blue Silver, Silver Bay, Silver Wedding, Silver Moon, Silver Giant, Silver Shadow.
Who would have thought that even lungwort can boast of silver leaves, however, only two varieties of long-leaved: Majesty and Silver Shimmers.
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