Plant Pairs

I try a lot of plant pairs because they are easy to manage in my head. They don't require much thought and if they work out... the garden seems to come together based on them. This makes overall planning less thought too. I am not really the most thinking gardener. The rest of my life requires too much thinking and I don't like gardening to feel like work. Plant as you go is my entire gardening strategy. That is why it is such a delight when pairs work out.

I have two pairs in the front yard, one old and one new that work perfectly together. At the front walk, for years now, we are welcomed by tricolour sedum paired with hens and chicks sedum. The tricolour rises up and blooms above the hens and chicks which are well established but slow to spread.

Last year, along the lawn edge, I planted a new pair. Speedwell and Summer Phlox look great together. Even better than I hoped. And while it may seem odd that plants this tall were planted along the lawn edge, it is because from my view out the windows, the lawn edge is the back of the garden.

I am planting honeysuckle with delphinium this year. It will be my new plant pair next year.

Backyard Pair

I'm always happy when a plan works out. I have my big Japanese iris blooming with an unknown dahlia and they really look great together.

iris ensata Royal Robes

unknown dahlia

This dahlia may be Glenbank Twinkle, but our dahlia story is a bit confusing.

Yellow and Blue

There is a period in my garden where everything is yellow and blue. I used to think I didn't like yellow. Until I discovered it was just a particular shade of yellow that I don't like. There are LOTS of yellows that I love. All my yellows are in that category and the blues run from the burgundy of the lady slipper, through the royal purple of the german purple iris, to the pale, true blue of Nova's Little Blue iris.

The first of the pink flowers opened this week, as did the first of the white flowers. Other colours are on their way! Sometimes I think I should make a concerted effort to add other colours earlier in my spring garden. But I like my season of yellow and blue.

The Maid of Orange

This iris is Maid of Orange, and what a pretty maid she is with that bright orange beard. She sits beside my Mandarin Orange azalea. The plan is to have purple blooming here with them next year.

Favourite Spring Combo

dicentra spectabilis with brunnera macrophylla 'Hadspen Cream'

One of my favourite combos - bleeding heart and variegated brunnera. The bleeding heart is just starting to open. The two are planted side by side and grow together as they continue to bloom, with the hearts arching above the tiny cornflower blue brunnera flowers. These two like a bit of shade from the afternoon sun.

Heaths in Bloom

My heaths were swarming with bees all day so I decided to tidy the rock garden on another day. Some bloom late summer through fall, others later in the spring, and these two together early spring. Heathers and heaths are best planted together in groupings because you need to keep the soil much more acidic than other plants like.

This Year's Starring Couple

Last year, Nicky phlox was my perennial pick of the season.  This year, it's grown taller and pairs up beautifully with my Opus One Oriental lilies.  These lilies are over my head!  And the scent of these two together is awesome - spicy and sweet.

Coincidence Gone Right

Sometimes Linda and I think the same. This red daylily came from her garden, a division I brought home last year. I had thought I brought one red daylily from her garden but as it turned out, there were two varieties that were red. Since I thought I only had one variety that was red, I expected this to be 'Stella D'Oro'. I planted it with my other 'Stella D'Oro' in a patch. My first stroke of luck was that I planted the two of these at the back of the patch since they are taller than 'Stella D'Oro'. My second stroke of luck was that the golden yellow in this variety matches the 'Stella D'Oro' quite nicely. Apparently Linda thought so too because a few days ago I noticed that one shoot coming from the middle of this plant clump was, in fact, a 'Stella D'Oro'. When I mentioned to Linda that I have no idea how one got in the middle of the other she told me that she knew how... they are planted together in her garden too! I must have gotten a bonus root piece.

A Pair

Every so often a plant pair in my garden turns out to look exactly as I had planned it to look. My 'Therese Bugnet' roses and Siberian Iris are a perfect example of this today. I had to wait three years for this show. This is the first year the iris patch was big enough to have this impact against the three rose bushes. It was worth the wait and I couldn't be happier with the result. They provide a spectacular view out my dining room window that I appreciate several times a day.

I fell in love with the Siberian Iris in the neighbours garden and planted it before I even knew what it was. The buds made me think of bird of paradise and it buds for a long period to enjoy. Then when the blooms opened to be a totally different colour than the buds, I was immediately smitten. I still am.

Plant Pair - Catmint & Dropmore

Plants: Catmint, also known as Nepeta, unknown variety in the herbaceous perennial group. Growth habit: Mounding to about 1 ft. high. Dropmore Honeysuckle, Lonicera x brownii 'Dropmore Scarlet'. Growth habit: climbing vine to 20 ft.

Conditions: Catmint is drought hardy and can grow in most soil conditions, Dropmore Honeysuckle prefers average to evenly moist soil and will not tolerate standing water. Both are full sun but will do well in part shade which is where I am growing them together.

The down side: Although Catmint is considered aromatic, I find that it is only so if you rub or step on the leaves. Dropmore Honeysuckle has no scent so this pair does not provide a fragrant spot in the garden.

Why I like them: Catmint has grey-green foliage and a serated edged leaf with a lacey appearance. The lavender/blue flowers bloom on spikes. The Dropmore has wide, smooth edged leaves that appear a light, bright green and darken with age. So when neither are blooming, which is only in early Spring, the foliage keeps them interesting. The flowers of the Dropmore, although called Scarlet, are more orange in appearance and bring out the lavender flowers of the Catmint in a way you don't notice them on their own. The Dropmore will climb to 20 ft. but it will also crawl along the ground, or in my case, rock edges and fill in open spaces for quite a distance. It will also tolerate regular pruning to keep it smaller which is how I grow it. It is given a space here and anything beyond, I regularly chop off but it never misses a beat. Dropmore can get leggy at the bottom of the plant, particularly when it climbs. Catmint is just the right height to cover this. Both bloom from early Summer through to frost so I am never without blooms in this spot eventhough the Catmint blooms come in waves throughout the season.

Plant Pair - Laura and Nora

It was undoubtedly one of my best planting decisions when I put Nora Leigh next to Laura.
Plants:  Both are phlox paniculata, 'Laura' (on the left) and 'Nora Leigh'.  Commonly called tall phlox or garden phlox, these both grow to about 3 feet.  Each stalk wears a big bunch of small flat blooms on top, like a shower cap.
Conditions:  Tall phlox thrives in full sun but will grow in partial shade.  I've grown it in average garden soil and it does fine for me.
The down side:  Powdery mildew, but it doesn't affect either of these as much as some others.
Why I like them:  Where do I start?  The heavenly scent overcomes me whenever I walk out back in August - I have 13 varieties.  The masses of bright colours bloom over a long period.  These two in particular provide a nice contrast side-by-side.  Some phlox are like chameleon, changing colour depending on time of day and temperature.  Laura changes from bright fushia to mauve to dark purple.  Nora Leigh's blooms are a little smaller but she makes up for it with striking green and cream foliage.

Possible Pair?

I'm thinking of moving these two lilies together for next year.  What do you think?
They are both oriental x trumpet - the first is Red Hot, the second is Touching, and they are both blooming now.

Seed Sowing Success

On May 22, I raked the Combine Garden and threw down several varieties of seed. It should have happened much earlier than that but this year, we went from frost, into a rainy season that lasted through most of June. It was a season of guerilla planting that demanded I be at my most creative. Some days I would run out in the rain, plant and run back in to dry off, leaving all the tubers and roots inside to sort. Some days I would work outside all day in a steady drizzle, weeding when I couldn't dig. In the end I was doing two things I would never recommend: planting in ground with bagged soil and potting up over 50 variety of dahlia. It was an unusual year requiring equally unusual tactics. In addition to sowing late, I had forgotten how much Yarrow was in that garden. Having only recently discovered it was my garden and not being the person who planted it, I am forgiving myself for the memory lapse. Despite the terrible odds my best intentions produced for the poor little seeds, 10 weeks later I am rewarded with the first blooms. Bachelor's Buttons 'Black Ball' (above) are blooming right beside Marigold 'Citrus Mix' containing this Lemon Yellow and this Orange. This is one of the true joys of gardening. Just when Mother Nature convinces me I should give up hope, a new colour shows up across the yard. This Fall, the Yarrow is being brutally thinned so the Bachelor's Buttons can self-seed happily.