OT - blue and lavender companion plants in the garden
jacqueline9CA
7 years ago
I just went out to take a picture of my Belle Portugaise, and noticed lots of blue and lavender stuff blooming. Some of them are volunteers (the forget-me-nots and the lunaria/silver dollar plants just show up on their own). Others which I planted as "companion plants" have been inspired by our FIVE FEET of rain since Oct 1 to completely take over the bed they are in - the cerinthe has never done that before. As a matter of fact, in prior years it was very wimpy - now it is shading out about 8 small polyanthas, so I will have to take it out, but it is so pretty...
Jackie
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Jasminerose, California, USDA 9b/Sunset 18
7 years ago
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoRelated Discussions
Companion plants for romantic garden
Comments (18)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...See MoreHow Can Roses and Lavender Be Companion Plants???
Comments (16)Oh, I just stick my lavenders wherever I feel like it. Not under the watering zone of a rose, but pretty much anywhere else in the garden that is full sun. Then I ignore them. My entire rose garden has heavily-amended soil that is very rich, but the lavender seems to do fine. The only time I've ever lost one was after that extremely cold winter a few years ago. I grow Mustead and Hidcote, possibly the only ones that are reliably hardy here. Except for two seedlings I got from the historic reproduction garden I was working in. I'd never seen anything like it--the lavenders in that garden actually seeded themselves all over. I figured it must be pretty hardy to seed itself and withstand our winters. I was worried they wouldn't like their new home in my rich soil after being pulled out from the cracks in the brick path, but they've done wonderfully. I grow a few nepeta, and I do like them because they bloom all summer, but boy do they flop. Probably due to the rich soil. My aim is to sheer them after each bloom, but they are so thick with bees morning noon and night I can never bring myself to stick my hands in there....See MoreCompanion plants for Blue Atlas Cedar
Comments (6)Its hard to know without seeing pictures, but I'm assuming you have a sunny and a shady side to this bed with a 25' tree in it, correct? I would go for a mixed planting. On the shady side you could have hostas, rhododendron, ferns. A red-leaved weeping Japanese Maple would provide a nice color contrast. On the partly sunny to sunny side azaleas, dwarf nandina, smaller grasses, especially something with striped leaves would be good. Chamaecyparis 'Gold Mop' would provide a pleasing gold contrast, and there are a number of smaller conifers that might fill the bill. Globe shaped Picea orientalis 'Barnes' or Picea abies 'Little Gem' might be nice. You should probably check your local garden centers if you want larger specimens - the mail order stuff is usually quite small and may take forever to fill in a large area....See MoreCompanion plants for an Oklahoma garden (under 6 foot)
Comments (26)Sammy, I split my time between living in Sand Springs and in Wichita, and I'm amazed at how differently the plants grow in the two places. Hydrangea will need shade from noon on, no way can it survive out in the sun. My roses are all mixed with perennials, and I try not to leave any ground uncovered! A good place for you to shop for cool shrubs is Bustani Plant Farm just outside Stillwater. He carries a variegated Beautyberry that works well in mixed beds. Tiger Eye sumac is really an eye catcher in with yellow or purple roses. I use black elderberries and ninebark quite a bit to set off pastel colored roses. The newer hardy hibiscus have a much longer bloom period, stay shorter, have interesting foliage, and bloom all along the stem, not just at the top. You might check out some of the smaller varieties of viburnum also. I have some that handle the sun very well. The tall snapdragons are easy to grow from seed, and mine come back every year. You should be able to grow nice clumps of cannas without having to lift them in winter. Nepeta (catmint)...newer cultivars such as Kit Kat and Purrsian Blue, are a great replacement for May Night salvia, as they require almost no deadheading to stay in bloom all summer. The red greggii salvia do well here and bloom from May until October. The new Russian Sage is much neater in form. Coreopsis do well in lean rocky soil, as do veronicas, baptisia, penstemon and achillea. Check out some of the newer baptisias! They are wonderful! I include iris, daylilies, lilium and phlox in my beds, and most summers do not irrigate and somehow they all survive. I think planting intensively helps because the roots are shaded. Small trees/or skinny shrubs that also work well are amalanchier (serviceberry) and aronia. Vitex blooms for a long time, starting well before the crape myrtles. Weigela handle the heat and sun, except for variegated varieties. They do require a bit more water than the other plants I've named. I keep the abelias and beauty bushes in the shade, and even so, they grow very large. Rose of sharon also gets too big for flower beds. I use a lot of ornamental grasses, but I'm careful to find ones that won't seed about. Rudbeckia, heliopsis, gaillardia, echinacea all work for the first year or two, but if you have enriched soil, you may end up with seedlings everywhere and big floppy plants. I allow larkspur and zinnias to drop seed and welcome them back every year. Asclepias, butterfly weed, is a terrific native perennial in our area. Torch lily, kniphofia, is also a heat lover. Right now, the beds are bursting with naked lily (lycoris) blooms. There's lots more that can take our heat and sun...that's all I can think of without walking outside to jog my memory!...See More
portlandmysteryrose
7 years ago
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
jacqueline9CA
7 years agojerome
7 years ago
Dara McKay
7 years agojerome
7 years agoerasmus_gw
7 years agoI appreciate the blues and purples also. I have a lot of pink and white tall phlox but am thinking about buying some lavenders and purples. Phlox blooms for such a long time in mid summer up into fall. The only trouble is that it comes up too easily from seed. We have lunaria coming up also..it's a biennial. It's a nice violet purple early bloomer but is a coarse looking plant. I love forget-me-nots. Am planning to buy some Russian sage this spring. One reliable lavender and purple self -seeder is larkspur:
Vicissitudezz
7 years agoerasmus_gw
7 years ago
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
7 years agorose_crazy_da
7 years ago
User
7 years agoportlandmysteryrose
7 years ago
John (PNW zone 8)
7 years agoportlandmysteryrose
7 years agojacqueline9CA
7 years agoYears ago I tried to plant rhododendrons in our garden - they hated it. Finally, I found a place they liked, under the trees:
Jackie
altorama Ray
7 years agoClematis Rogucci
Betty Corning
Unknown clematis
Salvia
Liatris
Unknown clematis
 Balloon flower
 Iris
Phlox
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John (PNW zone 8)