Ok - another favorites: 3 Top Companion Plants

12 years ago

Oh, we're having so much fun with the favorites. When I read through older threads about favorite companion plants I feel like I have ADD. There are so many that each person lists, I just can't get through them all, and lose focus and interest.

So - would you be so kind as to limit your list to your favorite THREE (3) companion plants, and why?

My favorites:

1. Dahlia.

So many varieties to choose from, very vigorous and hardy, tons of color throughout the season, and all are beautiful.

2. Honeysuckle.

The fragrance is to die for, and it makes a wonderful background for the roses.

3. Geranium.

They aren't the most beautiful plants in the world, but they just never stop flowering. Can be cut to whatever size you want with no harm to the plant, and if you want more you just chop off a stem and stick it in the ground somewhere else, and you have another!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (13)

michaelg
12 years ago
Has to be blue and purple things that neither disappear in time nor overrun the roses. I guess a geranium (perennial Cambridge type), a stokesia, and a smallish purple daylily.

Then those other persistent blue and purple things I'm not allow to list here.

Sorry I don't remember the varietal names of my perennials. No file space available.
kathy9norcal
12 years ago
Veronica--blue-purple spikes
Wallflower--orange, blooms almost all year
Daylilies, of course. I can't take a rose photo that doesn't have daylily foliage in it.
Clematis--but that is four. Sorry.
Related Discussions
I lost 3 favorite plants this month ---- booooooo hoooooo
Q
Comments (8)
I feel for ya Vicki! I'm no where near a master gardener but I just about lost a beautiful succulent that had overgrown it's pot by transplanting it. Stupidly I put it in a glazed pot with attached drip saucer. DH came around and watered generously over and over a couple days leaving water in the saucer. Between too much water and tranplant shock, I've lost all but the two newest inner leaves :( This thing was 6" across and had about 12 leaves beautifully edged in red and laying like a cabbage. Now we're down to two 1" leaves on a long stem and who knows if it will bounce back:( Hard to take this when you have been babying a plant for several years - this one was 4 years slowly growing out of it's mixed succulent dish container. I also lost a fancy new verbena, a gazania and looks like my lavender is not far behind. I keep trying with the lavender but never seem to be able to make it grow. Thankfully all 4 of my clevelandii sage are surviving, a few just barely but one is very vigorously growing even in the heat. My fruiting Frederick passiflora looks great even in this heat. But I discovered this week that the few fruit on it this season are AGAIN hollow. Obviously we have to give more water than just enough to keep the leaves looking great in order to get edible fruit. I'm not sure the darned thing will ever give me any fruit after almost 3 years. At nearly 40' wide and 5' tall you'd think it would do more than just look green and pretty. Wishing you no more croaking this year and hope my luck will hold out too.
...See More
What is your Top 3 favorite peppers to grow?
Q
Comments (45)
1. Giant red bells that the grocery store sells cheap year round. I use them in everything including as a base for smoked chili powder blends. 2. Yellow Bhut Jolokia. First time growing them and have only produced 2 ripe pods so far, but was totally surprised by the relatively mild heat (for a super hot) and orange flavor. I'm sure later pods will be hotter, but I really hope not. These were good eaten raw. 3. White Naga/Bhut. This is a recent development from Pepperlover.com. Never have I had such a huge burst of flavors followed by huge heat from a pepper. I wish I could describe the flavors, but the heat (did I mention the heat?) soon overpowered my senses. I saved the seeds and am hoping it grows true. I really want to make some smoked white powder out of them next year. (Note: They may be named White Bhut Jolokia on her website) PS My favorite pepper plant is the habanero shrub. It has produced 170 pods so far and has at least another 100 on it now. I would consider it a favorite, but I'm kinda burned out on them and have since found better flavored peppers. This post was edited by mecdave on Tue, Oct 7, 14 at 19:00
...See More
Favorite Companion Plants
Q
Comments (49)
What a lovely thread this is! Thanks to all who have posted. I will second Peren.all's suggestion of Actea/Cimicifuga, particularly the dark-leafed types such as Brunette, Hillside Black Beauty, etc. I have many of the others mentioned here such as Hydrangea macrophylla varieties in the half shade spots, a few types of Solomon's seal/Polygonatum, Dicentra eximia/ fern-leaf bleeding heart, Astilbe, European ginger, columbine, and primroses. There are a few plants that I have with hosta that I didn't see in others' posts (though I may have missed since this is a long post). Veronica 'Georgia Blue' grows for me in both sun and mostly shade. In sun it has a tighter growth habit and darker leaves, while in shade it spreads among other plants in a friendly and nonaggressive manner so that it just winds arounds other plants filling in bare spots. It blooms well in both sun and shade in late spring. Iris cristata (crested iris) is a slowly spreading spring bloomer that is fine in full bright shade. Depending on the selection, it blooms can be from white to medium blue. It is mostly done blooming by the time the hostas are fully leafed out but the foliage is a nice contrast to the hosta foliage for the rest of the season. This photo has a couple of foamflowers/Tiarella as well in the upper right corner and center bottom. Some have fancier foliage than these two, and there are also Heucherellas which are Heuchera-Tiarella crosses. 'All Gold 'Japanese forest grass/Hakone grass/Hakonechloa macra is one of my favorite gold plants, and I often have it with hosta. It expands very slowly; I think I've only divided mine once in 15 years and is happiest with a lot of shade. This one is being crowded by a self-seeded Hosta. Leucosceptrum japonica 'Golden Angel' has the unfortunate common name of Japanese shrub mint, but it isn't a shrub, just a medium perennial, and though it is in the mint family, it doesn't spread like mint. It does expand slowly, but is easily controlled; I haven't had to do anything to mine in 5 years or so. Gold Angel is just to the left of center in the photo below, farther back in the bed. Hakone grass is on the right. Between it and gold hosta are a biennial foxglove which blooms pink and is trying to out-compete a Japanese painted fern, which looks a lot nicer in better circumstances. The Sputnik-like seed heads are from a white allium which is happy in a bit less than half day sun. An evergreen shrub to go with Hostas (if you have acid soil) has a few branches over on the left, Leucathoe. Partridgeberry/Mitchella repens is native groundcover that likes shade. Another native is False Solomon's seal/Maianthemum racemosum, which has red berries later in the season. There are a couple of groundcover shade-loving geraniums - Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo' and Geranium macrorrhizum - that might be too aggressive for Hosta - I am just trying the combination in the last couple of years.
...See More
What are your top 3 favorite rose bushes?
Q
Comments (37)
OMG this is like being asked which is your favorite child! How do you answer? My answer is, I can't answer. At least not off the top of my head. But, I CAN say off the top of my head that Lyda Rose might be in the group. But there is a reason. I have mostly shade in my yard, and after years of trying (sorry, David Austin, I really did try) I have come to the conclusion that I can't really, truly grow a healthy, prolific rose. Except Lyda Rose. She is healthy, vigorous, prolific, fragrant, hardy, and beautiful, and all in part shade. If I had more full sun to grow roses, she might not make the top three favorite. But in a practical, what-favorite-rose-can-grow-in-my-yard list, she is at the top. Loving the pictures here, even if they are a bit of a dagger to my shaded-yard heart! Many of the roses mentioned are ones that I tried to grow so I love seeing the photos of them! :) Dee
...See More
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
12 years ago
Geranium 'Rozanne'
{{gwi:290081}}

Clematis 'Perle d'Azur'
{{gwi:290082}}

Anagallis monelli
{{gwi:290084}}

Yes, purple and purple-blue and blue. They go with everything.

Here is a link that might be useful: my blog
canadian_rose
12 years ago
Wow - I've never heard of anagallis monelli. It actually has blue pink and yellow on it with a fantastic green. That is so bright - it doesn't look real. Love it!!

1. Any type of coneflower
2. delphiniums
3. bellflowers - love them!!!

Carol
queenbee_1
12 years ago
My favorites are Shasta daisies, cone flowers and "Black and Blue Saliva"
vissara
12 years ago
I also like the shasta daises or any daisies really, they do a great job covering legginess.

outside of the box a little I also quite like chives and garlic

this year I planted hop vines on the fence behind them and I am rather liking the effect
landperson
12 years ago
Clems (to mingle and twine)
Dahlias (for drama)
Hardy Geraniums -- not Pelargoniums (to bring the eyes down and brighten the ground level)

Susan
toronto_girl_zone_6
12 years ago
"My favorites are Shasta daisies, cone flowers and "Black and Blue Saliva"

queenbee_1 7: I hope you meant "Salvia" and not "Saliva"
harmonyp
Original Author
12 years ago
Ah - now this is my kind of thread. Thank you for putting up with my arbitrary restriction!

I already think I'm going to try some of the hardy geraniums, and really like Rozanne. And OMG - Anagallis Monelli is absolutely incredible. Must find that.

And hoovb I went to your blog. Your photo of Bolero about brought tears to my eyes. WOW. That is a must have rose. WOW again.

I've been afraid of Clematis in my acidic sand. Should I try it anyways?

And of course - blue "saliva". How can that not attract interest ;)
queenbee_1
12 years ago
Sorry--Toronto Girl.. I let it get past me and I don't know how to correct it..
toronto_girl_zone_6
12 years ago
queenbee_1, don't apologize. You made me smile. :D
amalthea
12 years ago
1) Violas. They give color when the bush isn't blooming yet.

2)Daylilies. I love their strappy foliage, especially with old fashioned roses.

3)Salvia. The blue shades go with everything.
seil zone 6b MI
12 years ago
I don't have anything else planted in the main top tier rose bed. The bottom tier is a mix of minis, bulbs and perennials of all kinds. I also have a couple of clems with my climbers. And last year I had a ton of volunteer petunias come up in all my rose pots. I decided to let them grow and it was so pretty that I let them grow again this year. They're mostly pinks and purples and they go really well with the roses, fill in the empty messy dirt in the pots and work just like mulch in keeping the soil cool and moist. I just have to be careful with some of the smaller roses. The petunias have a habit of out growing the mini's and shading them. The street bed has some iris in one corner. I'm not sure how that's going to work out because the iris are multiplying rapidly and I may have to pull them out before they take over the roses. It sure was pretty this spring when they were in bloom at the same time as the roses though!

Ok - another favorites: 3 Top Companion Plants

Comments (13)

michaelg

kathy9norcal

Related Discussions

hoovb zone 9 sunset 23

canadian_rose

queenbee_1

vissara

landperson

toronto_girl_zone_6

harmonyp
Original Author

queenbee_1

toronto_girl_zone_6

amalthea

seil zone 6b MI

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Ok - another favorites: 3 Top Companion Plants

Comments (13)

Related Discussions

harmonypOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

harmonyp
Original Author