My Romantic Four Seasons garden, (to be viewed with the same by Vivaldi): Winter, the entry walkway is in bloom with rows of Sweet Alyssium, and Paperwhite Narcissi, both sides of the sidewalk. In California this serves as a "winter snow-white" theme,in an area where snow never falls. The white Noisettte "Nastarana" and two "Westside Road Cream Tea" roses bloom through December. Dwarf Myrtle along the sidewalks share their fragrance with us when their foliage brushes against skirts and pant legs. Spring: fragrant purple violets, their green heart shaped foliage forms pretty clumps, forget-me-nots will come into bloom with Nicotiana mutabilis, and purple and white sweet peas, Sweet William, that I grew from seed this winter is already blooming. I have great masses of blue flowers that I forget the name of, their tasty black seeds are used on breads in the Middle east. Purple and white Petunias bloom beside "Mlle.Cecille Brunner". Summer: most of my roses are Old Garden Tea and Noisette roses and are pink and or white, so I'm adding dozens of purple Verbena among the roses, peach hued foxgoves and sky blue delphinium for color variation. I plan to plant a row of Pernetiana roses mingled with blue and purple delphinium and Monkshood. For fragrance I have Confederate jasmine, and Poets jasmine, wisteria, honeysuckle, Mexican mock orange vine and lavenders in every part of the property. I'm drawing up plans for a citrus tree to head a fan shaped herb garden and to provide shade for it. I love citrus because it has evergreen foliage and ornamental fruit in winter. I plan to have as many herbs as possible: bee balm, thyme in many forms, basil, lads love, tansy, spearmint and strawberries in crockery pots, English, Spanish and French lavender, parsley in abundance, lemon verbena, purple sage, chamomile, yarrow and an espaliered nobilis bay tree in a pot. Luxrosa

It is true that 6 inches is very narrow to plant perennials, but it would work if you don't mind the perennials spilling over the edges of your soil. Some of the sanguineum hardy geraniums might work well there, but they would would definitely sprawl over the edges of the 6" strip. 'Canon Miles' is a fairly compact variety or even 'Alpenglow', 'Max Frei' etc. The sanguineums are all very tough, grow in sun or shade, and are drought tolerant. There are other rock garden types that are quite compact, but they are not quite as tough as the sanguineums and their hybrids. These include 'Ballerina','Lawrence Flatman','Carol', 'Alice', etc. Even with selecting daffodils, I think that I would pick the shorter, sturdy varieties such as 'Tete a tete', 'Jetfire', or 'Feb.Gold'. The other benefit of these somewhat smaller cultivars is that they will have less foliage to look messy after bloom time. Small bulbs like crocus or chionodoxa would look great in this strip, too. I think it is too narrow for daylilies or tall bearded iris. You could plant dwarf iris, but my personal opinion is that their bloom time is far too short to give them space in a small garden. Don't forget that you can still plant some annuals in between the perennials and/or bulbs.

GREAT question!...I would also love to hear about companion plants..The combinations posted above sound wonderful...I would love to hear MORE MORE MORE from all you folks out there!:)...I am new to Peonies, so I cannot speak from "experience"....but just some thoughts I have are that I am going to plant some of my peonies along a fence I have, but maybe 2-3 feet away from the fence to give them better sunlight and to allow me room to plant whatever I want around them. Tall flowers or shrubs that flower at different times behind them, and shorter perennials and annuals in front. Here are some daydreamings I have had for shrubs or flowers: Lilacs- they may bloom before the Peony does, or before its even fully leafed out. Many Lilacs can get rather leggy looking, so the foliage of the peonies would hide the bottom of the bush. Taller varieties of Hybrid Tea roses, or even tall climbing roses, some tall growing flowers like Echinacea purpurea(Cone flower), Cosmos, Sunflower, Phlox, Delphinium, Foxglove, Hollyhocks, Achillea(Yarrow), or flowering vines like my favorite Clematis(many varied colors and sizes of flowers, but sweet autumn clematis is great for fall bloom), Morning Glory, Brugmansias(Angel Trumpet-if good for your zone), Silver Lace....and for in front or to the sides of the peony: I love Blue Mirror Delphinium/Larkspur, Candytuft, Sweet William, Balloon Flower, Hardy Geranium, Impatiens, DayLilies, Scabiosa, Alyssum, Viola....and bulbs of many kinds...you could plant later flowering perennials and annuals around very early flowering bulbs so they hide their foliage later as it dies back...I could go on and on....But some of these may be more appropriate then others for your garden scheme or zone. I think I will just make a list of flowers and shrubs I like that could be good companions to the Peonies, organize them according to how tall they grow and what time of year they bloom,...then just plan on having at least one companion plant at a time blooming around the Peony....and the flower that might bloom at the same time as the peony, should be a compatable color so they look nice blooming together. Since Nurseries get flowers in that may already be blooming from where they were grown, but may not bloom at exactly the same time once planted in your yard, driving around your neighborhood and taking a look at whats blooming early, midseason, and late will help, or also contact your local garden club as they will surely have some accurate advise applicable to your particular area about what flowers grow and bloom well and WHEN they bloom, what flowers seem to bloom at the same time, etc. Growing the Peonies in pots for awhile is a good idea...I will do that with some of my new bareroots, but I will also just put some of the potted ones I already have that wintered over last year, in the ground if I KNOW where I want them, then plant around them as inspiration hits me...Oh, one other thing to keep in mind is that Peonies planted near shrubs and trees may NOT bloom as well if they have to compete for water and nutrients...so that has to be compensated for with fertilization thats appropriate for the Peony and its surrounding companion plants, and the right amount of water to keep it happy...its quite a balancing act isn't it??....best wishes with your peony growing!...I would love to hear what others have to say about peony companions that have shown themselves to be beautiful and compatable growing together in their gardens...Take care all...GardenLove

I have a list here I've made up for my own yard. Info taken from various sources. I only included plants that are known to do well in Texas. I haven't planted any of these under roses, as I've just got those beds going and haven't gotten to the under planting yet. Blue pincushins under reds daisies, Marigolds.. Lantana, Verbena Mums, Salvias, Cosmos , Garlic chives, Dianthas, ferns, peonies, moss rose, Rosemary, yarrow, vinca, lambs ear, asparargus fern, Bulbine, sedum, low growing herbs, (thyme), Wave petunias this should get us both started.