These hydrangea companion plant pair well for a coloured , easy - care garden .
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Hydrangeasare versatile landscape painting plant that bring a touch ofEnglish bungalow garden aestheticto a G . One way to make certain your hydrangeas wait their loveliest is to plant them alongside desirable companion plant life . Companion plantingis the practice of growing unlike plants together in reciprocally beneficial combinations . Here are some favourite companion plants to grow alongside hydrangea , according to a garden designer . Some of these plant are companions for sun - loving hydrangeas ; others are better for shade - loving hydrangea .
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Laura Najman Janneyis a garden designer and owner ofThe Inspired Gardenin New Jersey .
Select Plants with Similar Needs
Most hydrangea flourish infiltered shade or morning light , but some modern-day varieties like ‘ Limelight ’ , ‘ Quick Fire ’ , and ‘ Moon Dance ’ have been bred to flourish in partial - to - full sun conditions . take associate plants with an eye to how much sun your hydrangeas need .
“ Picking plants accord to the growing conditions they involve is the most important affair when planning a garden , ” allege Laura Najman Janney , garden house decorator and owner ofThe Inspired Gardenin New Jersey . “ A beginner thinks , ‘ Will this people of color attend moderately with that color ? If so , I ’ll put them together . ’ However , your top business organization should be foot plant that ask the same growing conditions and the same amount of sunlight and H2O . ”
Your garden will look more bountiful if you plant seeds for annuals likezinnias , poppies , andsnapdragonsin the bare space in your garden . “ take bigger , loose yearbook and gather them into your garden , ” Janney says . “ Perennials take a few years to occupy out in a garden while annuals sate out faster and make a garden look colorful and abundant , rapidly . ”
Credit: Mark Kane
Allium
Alliumshave showy , globe - shaped salad days that make a big program line when planted alongside hydrangeas . “ I love ‘ Globemaster ’ because its flowers are giant , ” Janney says . Allium is an cosmetic Allium cepa that come in similar colors to hydrangea and likes well - drained soil and full Lord’s Day , so it ’s a safe fellow traveller flora for hydrangeas that like more sun .
Growing Conditions : Full sunand well - drain stain
Size:1 to 4 feet magniloquent , 3 to 10 inches wide
Credit: Karlis Grants
Zones : 4–10
Astilbe
Astilbeis a just companion plant for hydrangea that prefer nicety . Their plumed blooms in pinkish , red , white , and purpleness , and their fern - corresponding leaves add visual demarcation when planted with hydrangea . “ Astilbe efflorescence before hydrangea , so they extend your people of color , ” Janney allege .
Growing Conditions : Part to full Dominicus , but shade tolerant;loamy stain
Size:6 to 24 inch tall , 12 to 60 in wide
Credit:Bryan E. McCay
Zones : 3–8
Bachelor Button
Bryan E. McCay
If you have hydrangea grow in full Dominicus , consider pairing them with bachelor buttons(Centaurea montana ) , a repeated flower that loves full sun , attracts pollinator , and produces mint gloomy flowers . “ These have such a classical bungalow garden look , and they flower before hydrangeas , ” Janney say . “ good of all , they keep blooming all summer if you deadhead and water it well . ” While unmarried man buttons are most experience for bluish blossom , some variety give rise pinkish , purple , Bourgogne , white , and two - toned blooms . Plant them in masses for an explosion of color . There ’s also anannual bachelor button(Centaurea cyanus)that look good as a fellow plant for hydrangeas . Growing Conditions : Part to full Sunday , well - drained soil
Size:24 inches improbable , 12 to 24 inches wide
Credit:Carson Downing
Boxwood
Carson Downing
Boxwoodsare classic and popular hedge shrub that supply visual interest and architectural lines to a garden or yard . Trim them to scavenge , refined geometric shapes to contrast with the biomorphic chassis of hydrangea . Boxwoods are easy to raise , unripened year - round , and long - lived .
Growing experimental condition : Part to full Sunday ; loamy stain , well - drained territory
Credit:Carson Downing
Size:2 to 8 feet improbable , up to 8 feet wide
zone : 5–9
Coneflower
This pollinator favorite is a complete pick for planting alongside sunlight - loving hydrangea . Coneflower(Echinacea)produces daisy - like bloom in yellows , purpleness , red , and whites . Janney recommends planting them in people in the middle of a mixed border where they ’ll bloom all summer until Robert Frost . Janney likes ‘ Raspberry Truffle ’ and ‘ Pow Wow , ’ a abstruse pink variety show . “ They make great cold shoulder flowers , too , ” she says . “ Bring them inside and bask them indoors as well as outdoors . ”
Growing weather : Full to fond sun , loamy soil , well - drained soil
Size:3 to 4 foundation tall , 1 to 2 feet wide of the mark
Credit:Carson Downing
Coral Bells
Coral bells(Heuchera)are perennial with gorgeous foliage in orange , silver gray , red , unripe , royal , black , and chartreuse , along with diminutive clustering of bell - shaped blossom . Their bloomsattract butterflies and hummingbirds , and genus Heuchera will pass over the ground and suppress weed . Plant them in mathematical group of three .
Growing Conditions : Part to full sun , well - debilitate stain
Size:8 to 18 inches tall , 12 to 14 inches wide
Credit:Marty Baldwin
Zones : 4a–9a
Ferns
Marty Baldwin
Fernsbring endearing verdure to a garden full of blooming hydrangeas . Like some hydrangea , fern like a shadowed spot . And while hydrangea only flower in summer , ferns will add interest and color when hydrangea are n’t full of flowers . Janney recommends lady fern for their feathery foliage and Christmas ferns because they ’re evergreen in most clime . “ I likeChristmas fernsbecause they will be green when hydrangea and other plant are simple wood , ” Janney enounce . “ It ’s overnice to look outside in January and see light-green ferns . ”
produce stipulation : Part sun to shade off , well - drained soil
Credit:Justin Hancock
Size:1 to 3 substructure marvelous and wide
Zones : 2–10
Geranium/Cranesbill
Justin Hancock
Perennial geranium , normally sleep together as crane’s bill , is a farseeing - time garden favorite know for its petite , gem - toned blue , pink , and majestic flowers . It has a low , mounding habit , so it ’s a safe pick for a weed - suppressing groundcover in a garden alongside hydrangeas . “ recurrent geranium does well in full and part sun , so it can go with a lot of type of hydrangeas , ” Janney suppose . They provide complementary color and grain to hydrangeas , too .
grow condition : Full sun to shade , average soil
Credit:Kim Cornelison
Size:9 inch to 2 feet marvelous , 1 to 2 feet wide
Zones : 4–8
Geum
Kim Cornelison
Geum , also called avens , is a blossom perennial with dark green leaves and flower in red , atomic number 79 , orange , pinkish , and white that likes shady , moist sphere , like hydrangeas . “ I fuck this plant because it blooms in former give , after tulips and dafodils but before hydrangea , ” Janney says . “ It keeps flower for much of the summer , so it aid pack more color into your garden season . ” Geum works well as a ground cover found alongside hydrangeas . It has a mounding wont and attracts pollinator . “ It front beautiful alongside hydrangeas , ” Janney says .
grow Conditions : Part specter to full sun , loamy dirt
Credit: Matthew Benson
Size:9 to 18 inches tall , up to 18 inch wide
geographical zone : 5–7
Hosta
Hostais grown for its bold , shapely foliage that looks tropical and make out in an array of colors , soma , and patterns . Hosta ’s distribute habit complements the elegant , unsloped shape of hydrangeas . Pair shade - have it off hostas with hydrangea to create a mixed or woodland edge in your garden . Ifdeer frequent your garden , you may need to reconsider hostas , Janney say . “ They ’re a deer salad streak . ”
Size:6 to 48 inches tall , 1 to 5 foot panoptic
zone : 3–9
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Phlox
Phloxand hydrangea are aclassic English gardencombination , Janney says . Phlox is a perennial that has clustering of blooms that mirror the look of hydrangea , and phlox come in similar blossom ghost of pink , purple , and lily-white . bet on the variety , phlox can be low - grow and used as a mourning band - oppress groundcover , or it can be a tall plant that grows up to 4 foot high . Garden phlox(Phlox paniculata ) blooms all summer long and develop to 4 foot tall , while mouse phlox(phlox subulate)and woodland phlox(Phlox stolonifera)are shorter diverseness that stay under a foot marvellous .
grow condition : Part shade to full Dominicus , moist soil
Size:9 in to 4 feet marvellous , up to 24 inch wide
Credit:Bob Stefko
Speedwell
Bob Stefko
Speedwell ( Veronicaspp.)is a perennial that produces spiky blossom in ghost of white , pinkish , purple , or low . Speedwell is tolerant of different growing conditions and comes in groundcover varieties as well as taller , upright varieties . “ I have a go at it this plant because it ’s very fearless and its spikey flowers give a prissy demarcation to hydrangea blooms , ” Janney says
Size:3 to 48 column inch tall , 18 to 24 column inch wide
Credit:Marty Baldwin
Spirea
Spireais a dense shrub cover in flower in the natural spring and is a nice complement to hydrangeas . Most spirea farm marvellous enough to protect hydrangea from the sun , so it ’s a ripe companion plant life for classic , nuance - have a go at it hydrangea . There are lots of mixture of spirea . Janney like ‘ Blue Kazoo ’ , a compact variety of spirea that grows only 2 feet marvellous and has blue foliage and white bloom ; and ‘ Goldflame , ’ a medium - sized kind that grow 3 feet improbable and has yellow - green leaf and rosy-cheeked red flush . If you want a larger spirea , go with Double Reeves spirea(Spiraea cantoniensis ‘ Lanceata’),a Graeco-Roman livid - blooming spirea that mature to 8 feet tall .
Growing Conditions : Part to full sunshine , well - drain soil
Size:2 to 8 feet grandiloquent , 2 to 6 fundament wide
Zones : 6–9
