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Perfect Plant Partnerships

© Jane Hollis

Creating imaginative plant associations is one of the secrets of successful gardening and every gardener has their favourite combination. Some of the best partnerships come about by chance, but there a few guidelines you can follow to make success more likely.

One maxim I find helpful is that the plants should be alike, but not too alike. For example, lavender and gunnera do not make a good combination (in my opinion), because there is no common ground between them. The gunnera has huge leaves, whilst the lavender has tiny ones, gunnera is green, whilst lavender is silvery, gunnera prefers moist conditions whilst the lavender likes it dry. On the other hand, some plants can be two alike - for example, iris and crocosmia have similar sword-shaped leaves, and do not bring out the best in each other if planted side by side, they are best separated by a low, mound-forming plant for contrast. A good combination, however, is Santolina chamaecyparissus and Rosemarinus 'Miss Jessop's Upright' - both are sun-loving, drought resistant herbs with small leaves, but the Santolina is dome-shaped whilst the rosemary is upright in form and the silvery tones of the Santolina complements the blue tones of the rosemary foliage.

Colour can just as easily come from leaves, stems or fruits as it can from flowers. Foliage colour is particularly important as it is present in the garden for much longer than the shades of transitory blooms. Use variegated foliage sparingly and wisely. One variegated specimen, such as Elaeagnus pungens 'Maculata', will look stunning surrounded by plain green shrubs. If it was planted, however, with other variegated plants it would lose its emphasis and the whole picture would appear too busy.

Colours can either contrast or harmonise. Harmonising colours are close together in the spectrum - blues, pinks and purples or yellow, oranges and reds. Contrasting colours are green and red, blue and yellow or purple and orange. Colours can be affected by the quantities used and the diluting effect of green foliage. For example, a few self-seeded orange marigolds around the base of a pink Lavatera can look attractive, because the foliage of the Lavatera acts as a buffer between the pink and the orange. On the other hand, neighbouring blocks of pink petunias and orange marigolds will have you reaching for the sunglasses.

Another point to bear in mind is to check the flowering time of the plants you wish to combine. If you are hoping for a blue and yellow association, for example, it is no use choosing a spring-flowering yellow plant and a summer-flowering blue one. Using colour wisely can help to show off a plant's greatest assets. For example, the Himalayan birch, Betula jacquemontii, has a very white trunk, which can only be seen to best advantage against a dark background, such as a yew hedge. Don't forget that light can change colours dramatically. A plant combination that looks good in full sun, may look dull in a shaded area, particularly if colours are dark. Shaded areas can