Most silver foliage plants are covered in fine hairs that reflect light, which is why GardenGhost Artemisia and Powis Castle Wormwood still stand out at dusk after green leaves have faded into the dark. Lemony Lace Elderberry does the same job with bright chartreuse leaves. All three make a black or purple shrub beside them look darker, which is the whole trick of a Halloween ghost garden. Here is how each one grows and where to put it.
| Plant | Leaf color | Mature size | Zones | Sun | Soil |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GardenGhost Artemisia | Silver, aromatic | 1 to 2 ft. tall, spreading | 4 to 8 | Full sun | Dry, well-drained |
| Powis Castle Wormwood | Silver-gray, finely cut, aromatic | 2 to 3 ft. tall | 6 to 9 | Full sun | Dry to average, well-drained |
| Lemony Lace Elderberry | Chartreuse, red-tinged new growth | 3 to 5 ft. tall | 4 to 7 | Full sun to part shade | Average to moist |
Why do silver and chartreuse leaves stand out at dusk?
As light fades, your eyes lose color before they lose brightness. Reds go dark first, while pale leaves stay visible after everything else has turned gray. Silver leaves get their color from a coat of tiny hairs that reflect light and help the plant hold on to water in hot, dry sites. Chartreuse leaves carry less of the dark green pigment, so they bounce back more light than an ordinary green leaf.
That is also why these plants belong next to dark foliage. Beside silver or lime, purple and black leaves read darker, and at twilight the pale plants seem to float above the bed.
Which silver foliage plants work in a ghost garden?
GardenGhost Artemisia: Haunted Moonlight
GardenGhost® Artemisia (Artemisia ludoviciana 'G19123') is a low, spreading perennial with silver, aromatic leaves that stays 1 to 2 feet tall in zones 4 through 8. It is the more compact and the more cold-hardy of the two artemisias here, which makes it the one for the front edge of a bed, a container, or a northern garden.
Give it full sun and soil that drains quickly. It tolerates drought and poor soil, and deer and rabbits leave it alone. Like the species it comes from, it spreads by underground stems, so give it room or plant it where a path or edging will stop it.
Powis Castle Wormwood: Haunted Moonlight in a Taller Mound
Powis Castle Wormwood (Artemisia 'Powis Castle') is a shrubby artemisia with finely cut, silver-gray, aromatic leaves that forms a billowy mound 2 to 3 feet tall in zones 6 through 9. It rarely flowers, so the foliage is the whole show, and in mild-winter areas it keeps its leaves nearly all year.
It needs full sun and dry to average soil with good drainage; wet soil rots the roots, and it can struggle in hot, humid summers. Deer and rabbits avoid it, and it handles slopes and the tops of rock walls. Zone 6 is its cold limit, so in zones 4 and 5 choose GardenGhost instead. For more tough, dry-soil plants, browse our drought-tolerant perennials.
Which chartreuse plants pair with dark foliage?
Lemony Lace Elderberry: Ectoplasm Green
Lemony Lace® Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa 'SMNSRD4') is a Proven Winners® red elderberry with finely cut leaves that come in golden with a red tinge and mature to bright chartreuse. It grows 3 to 5 feet tall in zones 4 through 7.
Where the artemisias want dry soil, Lemony Lace prefers average to moist soil and tolerates wet spots, so it is the plant for the low side of a bed. It takes full sun to part shade, with the brightest color in sun, and deer tend to leave it alone. Its fine leaves echo the cut leaves of Black Lace Elderberry, so the two read as a light and dark version of the same pattern. For more lime-colored leaves, see our chartreuse foliage plants.
How do you plant silver and chartreuse against black foliage?
Use pale plants as accents, not the main event. Roughly one silver or chartreuse plant for every two or three dark ones keeps the bed dark with points of light. Set GardenGhost or Powis Castle directly in front of a purple shrub, where silver sits against the dark leaves, and repeat the same plant two or three times down the bed so the eye travels.
Dark mulch or dark stone makes silver look brighter still. Keep the artemisias out of reach of lawn sprinklers and away from downspouts, and give Lemony Lace the moister spot. Black Lace Elderberry and Little Devil Ninebark are the dark shrubs we pair them with most.
For a whole garden designed to be seen after sunset, our moon garden plan goes further, and our list of five more silver-leafed plants covers five more, from groundcovers to a silver juniper.
Why do silver foliage plants rot?
Artemisias usually die from wet soil, not cold. Plant them in the sunniest, best-drained spot you have, on a slope, in a raised bed, or in gritty soil, and water only until they are established. After that, rain is usually enough. Both artemisias here are adapted to poor, dry ground, so a soggy winter is a bigger threat to them than a cold one.
All three plants are in one place: Shop Halloween plants.
