Shrubs
imagine of planting some new plant along with your hydrangeas this time of year but are n’t sure what plants are the honest companion ? fellow traveller planting can be a bit tricky , depend on the plant . In this article , horticulture expert and hydrangea partisan Jill Drago walk through her favorite companion plant for hydrangeas .
Contents
familiar planting with hydrangeas can be really fun . Hydrangeas offer a refined show , making it easy to pair your favorite plant with them . The most significant matter to consider while prefer your flora isif they will flourish in the same environmentas your hydrangea . You do n’t need plants that compete for the same soil nutrient , or it can make it hard for yourhydrangeas to turn .
Hydrangeaslove partial sunand well draining soil . They thrive anywhere from partial tincture , to full sun . There are somesun - favorable varieties , and others that favour a little bite more shade . There are even some hydrangeas that can grow in full ghost , giving you plenty of dissimilar options .
If the fellow traveler industrial plant you are select passion these weather as well , you are golden ! While the combinations for hydrangeas are almost endless , there are a few that I prefer above the rest . Here are my favoritehydrangea companion plantsto help get your creative thinking jump started !
Astilbe
Astilbe plants offer a great contrast to hydrangeas . Their leaves are lacelike , and their flowers are spiky . These plants are well loved among shade nurseryman . They perform well in full shade , although their flowers will be more prolific if they take in some mottled dawn sun .
There are over 20 different multifariousness of astilbe inalmost every colorof the rainbow . Some of their more popular variety havebright pink flowers . Astilbe bloom all summertime long , and they would be really pretty imbed in front of hydrangea . There are some larger varieties that grow to three foundation , which would be excellent alongside hydrangeas put up some really pretty contrast .
Azalea
azalea and hydrangeas make a large combination in the landscape . They both love the same growing conditions of acidic , well draining soil , with lots of nicety . azalea blush in the bounce , which will offer your garden with season foresightful flowers when paired with a hydrangea which typically flower all summer long .
Azaleas come in a variety of pinko , bolshy , and T. H. White . you could even find orange varieties if you look hard enough . This wide color assortment makes it a great convulsion for any garden . These bush search great planted severally . If you have the room they can make a really nice belt throughout your garden .
Campanula
Campanula , or bellflower , require full Lord’s Day for optimum bloom . This would make them a great companion forHydrangea paniculata , or panicle hydrangea . Campanula requires well draining soil , and does excellent in the same acidulous soils as hydrangeas .
Campanula blooms from June all the path through to the fall . you’re able to encounter campanula flowers in spectre of violet , pinkish and white . Deadhead these beauties to keep the flowers amount . Cut this perennial back to the priming coat in the fall .
Dogwood
There are over 50 species of dogwood for you to choose from , the most popular being the flowering cornel . Dogwoods love to be planted in partial shade with daybreak sun , just like a hydrangea . If you choose a big variety of cornel , the tree itself could help to shade your hydrangea .
As aflowering tree , dogwoods bloom in May and last through June . The blossom can ramble from white to pink . The skillful part about dogwood , is these trees are alsonative to the United States , which can be important to gardener who only want to plant aboriginal plants in their garden or yard .
Fern
fern make really dainty addition to a hydrangea layer . There are many different types of ferns useable . No matter which fern you select , the leaf are spring to tally interest to your garden . Ferns eff shade , and need constant wet .
There are some ferns that can tolerate more sun , but most ferns know deep shade . This beloved of the tincture would make them a expectant addition to a woodland sharpness . They do prefer moist stain at all times , and would not become desiccated climates .
Heuchera
Heuchera , or coral bells , are a garden classic and for very good reason . This works has become extremely cultivated and there are legion varieties available in many dissimilar shades of ruby-red , purple , orange , chartreuse and even pitch-dark . These plant life do flower , however they are develop mostly for their foliage .
The flowers are light colored spikes that appeal pollinator of all sorts . Coral buzzer digest a wide range of luminosity from full sun to fond shade . I love to see coral bells planted along a edge , where they create almost a gym mat of beautiful foliage . They are also really pretty in large container .
Hosta
Hostas are wide know for being lover of shade . Hostas are not bad comrade flora , and love acidulous soil , just like hydrangeas . The foliage and flowers of hosta blend really nicely with hydrangea . The foliation of Hosta can vary from a silvern blue to a creamy white . The lighter the foliage the more sun your hosta plant can tolerate .
The spike peak are almost always in a chromaticity of clean or purple . Planted along a border , hostas will make a utter addition to your garden . Hostas are a favorite food of cervid . If deer are a problem in your area , and you are trying toprotect your hydrangeas from them , hosta may not be the right option for you .
Japanese Forest Grass
Nipponese forest Gunter Grass , also known as Hakone grass , is a really special flora because it is one of the only cosmetic gage that loves the nicety . This grass do in a variegated or non variegated chartreuse color .
The prime are not very showy , but still pleasant and flower in the former summer . The bright green of this works can really lighten up up a shady area . Plant as a border , or around a tree diagram . Hakone pasture has a beautiful arching growth habit and is really passably spilling into a walkway , or even out of a container .
Japanese Maple
Nipponese maples offer year round interest group . Their leave of absence are a beautiful red ink that turn to a burn deep red in the declination . In the wintertime the barque of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is attractive and tranquil , with carmine raw growth . Similar to the dogwood mentioned above , the Japanese maple requires a Libra of Dominicus and shade .
When at its maturity it can provide bang-up tint for hydrangeas . Many miscellany of Japanese maple have fern - like leaves which provide heavy contrast to the hydrangea . Many Nipponese maples have an upright sort , however there are weep varieties that make stunning specimen plants in your garden that would look gorgeous in your recurrent gardens .
Lamb’s ear
Lamb ’s ear is a really pretty ground cover . It offer a unfitness that can be much needed in a recurrent garden , and instantly gives your perennial beds a cottage look . Grown primarily for its foliage , lamb ’s ear is silver and colour , and velvety to the touch . If you rent lamb ’s ear flush , it will do so in the summertime , as spiky purple flowers .
This is a very humbled sustainment plant once it is established . It will distribute nicely and , if planted in a group , will create a nice matted result . Lamb ’s ear likes full to partial sun , making it a majuscule choice for your hydrangea garden . Due to the texture of the leave of absence , and its low growing nature take care not to waterlog the plants . If the leave get too wet they can set about to rot . Mulching around the base of this plant can help keep the parting dry .
Nepeta
Nepeta , or catmint , is a personal favorite of mine . Catmint is a gorgeous , sun bed perennial . When the Dominicus hit the plant life the aroma is of a warm mass , it ’s really awing . The foliage of catmint is a pretty silvery blue , and the spike flowers that underwrite this plant all summer long are a pretty spectre of purpleness .
Because catmint loves the sun , it is best planted withHydrangea paniculata . This plant make up a beautiful border , but it rightfully gorgeous on its own as well . This plant draw pollinators , and cats but do n’t worry- this is not the catnip that will drive your cat uncivilized !
Perennial Geranium
This is another favorite of mine ( are we sensing a composition here ? ) . Perennial geraniums , also known as cranesbill or hardy geranium , are really beautifullow growing perennials . The sprawl leafage is a gorgeous true green with pretty gelded leaves . The blush come in imperial , pinkish , or white and mimic the annual geranium we are all intimate with .
Geranium loves full to fond Lord’s Day , get it very various in your garden . Perennial geraniums line the front perimeter of my fundament gardens , they are paired with ( wait for it ) catnip , ornamental locoweed and , you imagine it , hydrangeas . Geraniums are a whole classic garden plant that requires little maintenance and really are ego sufficient once establish .
Rhododendron
Rhododendrons are spring beaut . They run around gorgeous large flowers that are most unremarkably in a tad of pinkish or purple and flower in the late spring to other summer . There are variety of white , orangish , red and even yellow flowers that are just as beautiful . The foliage on Rhododendrons is evergreen .
The leaves are bright green , lustrous and elongated . rhododendron love morning Dominicus , but are also ashade friendly shrubjust like their intimate comrade , the hydrangea . They also thrive in the same acidic soils . Rhododendrons want minuscule maintenance , aside from pruning for size and shape , as well as deadheading .
Sweetspire
Sweetspire is a really pretty bush for your full sun to fond tint garden . The bush has a really beautiful arching pattern , and the flowers are a reasonably white drooping spike . These flowers will bloom all summertime long . If you have a gay woodland garden , sweetspire would be a great addition . It loves well drain , acidic soil just like hydrangeas .
The autumn color on the leafage in increase to the shape of the flowers is what will make this plant such a great associate for hydrangeas . The fall leafage is golden and turns to shades of red and orange , and has been compared to the fall semblance of sunburn bush , but without the progeny of intrusion .
Veronica
Veronica , or spiked veronica , is a really pretty down in the mouth acquire perennial . In the summer these plants are covered in purple , pink , or white spike flowers . The foliage is small and mound .
Deadheading the spend flowers off of this perennial is a great direction to keep the flora blossom all summertime long . Veronica does love full sun , so be certain to establish with your hydrangea paniculata or on a sunny bound of a perennial garden . I hump the look of spike flower meld with the bollock shaped bloom of hydrangeas , it allows each eccentric to really show off .
Final Thoughts
So often we see hydrangeas in a hedgerow , or as a screen . They really can boom in this type of setting . However , adding them into an existing perennial garden , or building a new perennial garden based off of your favorite hydrangea is aperfect direction to add hydrangeas into your yard .
The aforementionedhydrangea associate plantsare just a few hint , the ideas for hydrangea companion are truly interminable . Whichever plants you choose to pair with your hydrangeas be sure to watch over the planting didactics , and space them out fittingly . This will set aside both plant to prosper and grow blithely and become friendly neighbors .
I am a unwavering believer in take your preferred plants to fill up your garden . If your favourite perennial or bush is a sun lover but you ’re eager to grow hydrangeas , try making a new full sun bed with someHydrangea paniculata . If you loveHydrangea macrophyllaand its beautiful mophead blossom , hear out anew spectre perennial . You just may find a new combination that you bonk !
