Winning colour plants
Winning colour plants including bronze, silver and gold flowering plants. Inspired by the 30th summer Olympic Games (26th July – 11th August 2024) in Paris, France. Let’s look at some plants that have distinct bronze, silver and gold traits. It may be the stems, the leaves or the flowers that provide a winning medal colour. But the one thing that all these plants have in common is their ease of growth and suitability to our climate.
BRONZE
Verbascum Helen Johnson
Verbascum produce rosettes of grey-green leaves from which a flowering spire grows, which become covered in delicate flowers in a wide range of colours. These short-lived perennials with evergreen leaves grow to 90cm high with around 45cm of colourful flowers. What I like so much about Verbascum Helen Johnson is the variation in copper and bronze colours as the petals mature and fade.
For a more pink copper colour, try Verbascum Petra.
All verbascum can be prone to the Mullein moth caterpillar. It is instantly recognisable with black and yellow markings on a white background. In years where the caterpillar numbers seem problematic, I remove some of them by hand, otherwise I leave them as they rarely kill a plant. They are usually only a nuisance between April and June and plants usually recover to produce more flowers the same year.
Chrysanthemum Astro Bronze
Chrysanthemums seem to go in and out of fashion. Don’t be put off by sad-looking bunches found on petrol stations forecourts, there are some absolutely beautiful Chrysanthemums! Early varieties will provide a good show of colourful flowers from late August through to the first frosts. Chrysanthemum Astro Bronze grows to 120cm tall and has incurved petals and the blooms are usually around 15cms across. If you disbud and remove all the sideshoots, you could have a single bloom of 22cms. I prefer to allow the sideshoots to develop resulting in more, but smaller blooms.
Heuchera Marmalade
I noticed this lovely Heuchera at RHS Malvern Spring Festival, where the colour of the foliage stood out from the crowd of plants around it. Heuchera Marmalade is an evergreen perennial with slightly ruffled leaves that have a pink underside. It grows to 25cm tall and 45cm spread, making it idea for the front of the border and edging pathways.
Heucheras are susceptible to vine weevil, check potgrown plants regularly and remove the creamy-white vine weevil larvae. And increasingly, they are susceptible to Heuchera rust, but otherwise relatively trouble-free. Propagate heuchera from cuttings of healthy plant material.
SILVER winning colour plants
Eryngium giganteum Miss Willmotts’s ghost
Giant sea holly is a clumping forming plant that is easy to identify. The pale spiny leaves form rosettes above which silvery bracts appear around cones of tiny blue flowers appear from July to September. It is a short-lived perennial and in some gardens, needs to be treated as a biennial. Height and spread 50-100cm, it requires full sun on a well-drained, poor to moderately fertile soil. Avoid root disturbance.
Due to the spiny nature of the leaves, it may be worth growing Miss Willmott’s ghost set back from the edges of the border. Cut back productive stems after flowering. Leave some of the seed heads on the plant to add structure in the winter garden. Plants will usually self-seed freely.
Senecio candidans Angel Wings
Here’s one for coastal gardens, although it grows happily inland too if you can provide a sheltered, sunny position. Once established this Senecio is low-maintenance, drought resistant and grows well in light, free-draining soils. Height and spread 40cm. In wet areas, try growing in a pot and moving to a sheltered site during winter. Senecio candidans Angel Wings is an evergreen plant that produces small clusters of bright yellow flowers in summer, but that is not the reason to grow it. Choose it for the large and rounded silver leaves. They have the added attraction of being soft and downy, with a velvety feel making them ideal for sensory gardens.
Propagate by cuttings or division. No pruning is required, but you can remove flower stems once they have finished flowering.
Cerastium tomentosum
Snow in Summer is a low-growing, creeping groundcover that dies back completely each winter and sends up new growth each spring. The silvery foliage is the perfect backdrop to the clear white flowers that appear from late spring to mid summer. It needs full sun with free-draining, gritty soil, so is ideal for an alpine garden, it does not thrive in acid soil. However, if it is happy in its situation, it grows rapidly.
I remember my parents being frustrated at the speed with which Cerastium tomentosum spread through the rockery. But it can be kept in check by cutting back or dividing. However, if you have the space for it to spread, it will soon form a thick ground cover mat. It is fully hardy, but will suffer in very wet gardens. Try growing it in the tops of walls or in containers raised from the ground to allow free drainage.
GOLD
Sambucus nigra Aurea
Golden Elder is an easy to grow large, herbaceous shrub with golden leaves. It can reach 2.5 – 4m tall and spread, but luckily it responds well to pruning and so can be cut back hard each year to keep it confined to the space you have available for it. Sambucus nigra Aurea provides interest in the garden from spring until late autumn. The fresh yellowy leaves give a good splash of colour, the creamy-white flowers are fragrant and the dark berries offer a nice contrast to the foliage. Tolerant of most soils, it grows happily in sheltered and exposed sites, but prefers not to be in waterlogged ground. It is easy to propagate by softwood or hardwood cuttings.
As with all elderberry, the flowers and fruits are harmful if eaten raw, but once cooked they are safe for consumption. In our garden, elders are planted specifically to harvest the deep purple berries to make an elderberry jelly, much like redcurrant jelly. And a very palatable country wine. The berries are much-loved by birds, especially starlings and jays.
Craspedia Globosa Drumstick
This is an evergreen perennial that is often grown as an annual from seed. It is hardy in many parts of UK, but does not always fare well in temperatures below -5. It has silvery green, hairy leaves, so could have been included among the silvery plants, but it is the flowers that give it a spot on the gold podium. During the summer, 60cm tall flower stems are produced that have globe shaped, bright yellow flower heads. The 3cm drumstick flower heads are excellent for cutting and also for drying for use in dried flower arrangements. They grow well in a shelterd position, in full sun, in loam and sandy soils, but will struggle in water-retentive and and clay soils.
Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii Goldsturm
Rudbeckias are available as half-hardy annuals, biennials and hardy perennials. ‘Goldsturm’ is a herbaceous perennial that forms a clump of mid to dark green leaves above which, the flowers appear in late summer to mid-late autumn. The flowers are a 12cm across with deep golden yellow and dark centre cones. When it comes to gold winning colour plants, Rudbeckia Goldsturm is an easy-care plant that looks great as individual plants dotted across the garden and even better as a drift of plants, if you have the space. Height and spread 6ocm, they will grow in full sun and dappled shade and generally do not need staking. Deadhead regularly to prolong flower production and leave flower heads from mid autumn onwards to stay on the plants over winter. They can provide structure in the winter landscape. Propagate by division in spring or autumn.
Add an Edible
There are so many edibles to choose from and my top picks for winning colour herb plants are Bronze fennel, Silver mint, Mentha x longifolia Silver, and Golden marjoram.
More information
The article, Winning Colour Plants, was written originally for Amateur Gardening magazine in summer 2024. I have updated some of the specific varieties and images, I have added further plants to the list and I’ve included to help you find the suggested plants. For another themed idea for flowers in your garden, try a romantic look for a June display.
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