I believe that the most engaging plant combinations are able to strike a delicate balance between having enough different-ness to capture our attention versus enough same-ness to hold the scene together. In this video, I walk you through a plant combo in my personal garden as an example of this principle.
I’ve also written about this idea on the blog, and you can read that here:
https://www.egardengo.com/blog/combo-making-tip-celebrate-differences-and-find-common-ground-110716
eGardenGo (https://www.egardengo.com) is devoted to helping gardeners be more successful and have more fun when combining plants in their gardens. The site is loaded with hundreds of plant combination recipes and many include planting plans to help you get the spacing and quantity right.
PLANTS (alphabetically by botanical name):
Agastache ‘Blue Boa’ – HYSSOP (https://www.egardengo.com/explore-plants?keyword=agastache)
Hibiscus Syracuse ‘Azurri Blue Satin’ – ROSE OF SHARON (http://popl.ink/HibiscusBlueSatin)
Carex oshiomensis ‘Everillo’ – EVERILLO SEDGE (https://www.egardengo.com/plant/carex-oshimensis-39-everillo-39)
Echinacea purpurea ‘Green Envy’ – CONEFLOWER (https://www.egardengo.com/plant/echinacea-purpurea-39-green-envy-39)
Lathyrus odorata ‘Wiltshire Ripple’ – CLIMBING SWEET PEA
Lavandula x intermedia ‘Niko’ – PHENOMENAL FRENCH LAVENDER (http://popl.ink/PhenomenalLavender)
Loropetalum ‘Crimson Fire’ – FRINGE FLOWER (http://popl.ink/CrimsonFireLoropetalum)
Phormium ‘Jester’ – NEW ZEALAND FLAX (https://www.egardengo.com/plant/phormium-39-jester-39)
Rosa ‘Radtko’ – DOUBLE KNOCK OUT® RED ROSE (https://www.egardengo.com/plant/rosa-x-39-radrazz-39)
Salvia greggii ‘Mirage Hot Pink’ SAGE (http://popl.ink/SalviaMirage)
Tsuga heterophylla ‘Thorsens Weeping’ – DWARF WEEPING HEMLOCK (http://popl.ink/TsugaThorsensWeeping)
6 Comments
Lovely! What is the dark foliaged ground cover in the middle of the bed?
Love the Jester . The color and leaf shape is gorgeous❤️😊❤️
Agastache Blue Boa is my all-time favorite perennial. Such a work horse in the garden.
I’ve learned more from you in 5 minutes than all my research in a year. Being a beginner Gardner trying to work color thru a a new landscape is challenging and you make it easier to understand. Thank you!
Love the thought process. Learning lots. Thank you.
Darcy, thank you so much! I recently discovered you and the videos/website and find them extremely educational! I have the exact same size bed that I am designing for and could not figure out the vertical elements to us, so these suggestions were awesome! A quick question – how do you determine plant spacing in this bed? Everything seems to be closely spaced for a tight look , which is great but does that increase maintenance (for air circulation, moving crowded plants etc)? Thanks!