Skip to main content

Boost Your Garden’s Brilliance with These Spectacular Plant Pairings

Your garden with these spectacular plant pairings



Many plants that provide more visual impact are perennials. This doesn't mean they're aggressive, but if planted in masses (or sometimes singly), they can quickly get out of control, engulfing their neighbors or dominating the design. A useful strategy I use is to pair strong plants with partners of similar character. This allows the players to keep each other in check without much intervention from me. 


Pairing 1


1. 'Standing Ovation' Small Bluestem (Schizagrium scoparium 'Standing Ovation')



Zones: 3–9

Size: 2 to 4 feet tall and 1½ to 2 feet wide

Conditions: Full sun; Well-drained soil

Origin: North America


2. Calamint (Calamintha nepeta sub. Nepeta)



Zones: 5–7

Size: 1 to 2 feet tall and wide

Conditions: Full sun to part shade; Well-drained soil

Native range: Southern Europe to Great Britain


Why it works: Calamint is a very elegant plant, with airy white flowers in spring that perfectly complement the powder blue leaves of the small bluestem. Most of the time the grass stays neat over the winter and into the following spring.


Pairing 2


3. ‘Totally Tangerine’ Zium (Zium ‘Totally Tangerine’)



Zones: 4–7

Size: 30 inches tall and 18 inches wide

Conditions: Full sun to part shade; Moist, well-drained soil

Native Range: Hybrid


4. ‘Wesuwe’ salvia (Salvia nemorosa ‘Wesuwe’)



Zones: 3–8

Size: 1 to 2 feet tall and wide

Conditions: Full sun; Well-drained soil

Native range: Europe, Asia

   Why it works: This color pairing isn't subtle, but it's sure to catch the eye. Deep orange geum flowers hang tenderly on airy stems and bloom for several weeks in late spring. They perfectly set off the deep purple flowers of 'Vesuvae' salvia, which will continue to bloom through summer without looking shabby.


Pairing 3


5. 'Terracotta' Yarrow (Achillea 'Terracotta')



Zones: 3–8

Size: 2½ to 3 feet tall and 2 to 2½ feet wide

Conditions: Full sun; A lean, well-drained soil

Native range: North America, Europe, Asia


6. 'Rosenkuppel' Oregano (Origanum 'Rosenkuppel')



Zones: 5–8

Size: 1 to 1½ feet tall and wide

Conditions: Full sun; Well-drained soil

Native range: Mediterranean region, Southwest Asia


Why it works: 'Terracotta' is a great plant when someone isn't in poor soil, so don't fertilize it! Its orange umbels fade beautifully to dried flowers in early summer. That's when oregano's plum blossoms are dull. I can't get enough of this combination.


Pairing 4


7. Frost grass (Spodiopogon sibiricus)



Zones: 4–9

Size: 3 to 5 feet tall and 1 to 2 feet wide

Conditions: Full sun to part shade; Moist, well-drained soil

Native range: China, Korea, Japan


8. 'Carolina Moonlight' Baptisia (Baptisia 'Carolina Moonlight')



Zones: 4–9

Size: 3 to 4 feet tall and wide

Conditions: Full sun; Moist, well-drained soil

Native Range: Hybrid


Why it works: Frost grass has beautiful pale green foliage (stems set horizontally) that turn a beautiful maroon color as summer progresses. It can grow somewhat in shade, but in sun I like to mix it with 'Carolina Moonlight', which is competitive enough to hold its own against larger grasses.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

7 Big Impact Dwarf Flowering Shrubs

Scale with dwarf flowering shrubs Big gardens have a season in life, and we have unlimited energy to maintain perennial gardens and a quarter acre vegetable plot that produces enough food for the entire neighborhood. But if you're starting out with a three-story balcony garden or have a small garden, you can still use dwarf shrubs to create a beautiful outdoor living space. Dwarf shrubs are perfect for small space gardens When thoughtfully designed, a small space garden can be as visually appealing and emotionally pleasing as a sprawling yard. No need to sacrifice your favorite shrubs like roses and lilacs. You need to choose the right size varieties to match the size of the space. A short hedge or even a casket of flowering shrubs may be all you need to make your patio feel like "home." Dwarf flowering shrubs for your garden It's best to be selective when curating plant palettes for a small space. If the large shrubs you've seen at local nurseries ar...

Gardening Plants you can walk on

These tough little floor coverings can withstand occasional trampling Mulching the 3 acres of display and test gardens in my perennial nursery turned out to be expensive and time-consuming, so I decided to investigate ground covers that eliminated the need for mulch. As I experimented with several ground covers to complement my perennials and shrubs, I was struck by the plants that were strong enough to withstand the foot traffic of people strolling through my gardens and trampling pets. It was clear which ones were hardy enough to withstand the heat and humidity we experience each summer, stay evergreen, and display beautiful flowers for months. Here are my favorites. 1. Green carpet rupturewort: The toughest of the tough I often refer to Green Carpet Rapturewort as my "tractor-trailer" plant because even though stray vehicles sometimes make deep impacts in my garden, the rapture never turns yellow. Creeping stems of small, bright green leaves form a dense green...

10 Red Flowers for Big, Bold Color in Your Garden

Red flowers are a great way to draw attention Add a variety of eye-catching red flowers to your garden, and you’ll be delighted with the gorgeous color they add to your landscape. Red flowers are a great way to draw attention to a garden. Planting all red flowers can practically stop traffic! Red flowers, especially red roses, symbolize love, but scarlet flowers can symbolize strength, family bonds, good luck, protection, and prosperity, so adding this bold hue can bring many good things to your garden beyond beauty. A bouquet of freshly cut red flowers will brighten up a kitchen table or master bedroom nightstand in a way that no other color of flower can. Red flowers pair beautifully with orange, yellow, and white flowers. Read on to learn about some of our favorites to add to your garden. We’ve got everything you need to know to grow them and add color to your landscape. 1. Zinnia One of the best annual cut flowers, zinnias bloom in a wide range of colors. They don’t min...