Home » Plants & Animals » English Country Gardening » Perfect Plant Partnerships - Page 2

Perfect Plant Partnerships - Page 2

© Jane Hollis

benefit from golden or variegated foliage and white or light flower colours.

Plants come in many different shapes - spreading, upright or rounded, symmetrical or irregular, neat or untidy. Leaves also add another element to plant form, from the inconspicuous leaves of a broom to the giant leaves of a Gunnera. A variety of plant forms will make a border more interesting. Think about the winter form of deciduous trees and shrubs as well. Some trees have a pleasing shape even without their leaves, whilst other may just appear to be a tangled mess of brown twigs.

Most plants have some faults, but well-chosen planting can disguise them. For example, a leggy shrub that has gone bare at the base can be improved by planting a low growing shrub in front of it.

Plants that come from similar natural habitats associate best in the garden. Planting a moisture-loving bog plant, for example, next to a sun-loving herb would make it difficult to provide ideal growing conditions for both plants and would also be unlikely to form a pleasing visual picture.

We have been concentrating on the visual effect of plants, but their scents are an important factor, too. You might like to surround a strongly scented plant with unscented varieties, so you can enjoy the fragrance unadulterated by competing scents, or you may prefer to mix your fragrant plants together and sit amongst a heady mix of perfumes.

Whilst some plants are grown together because they flower at the same time, others may associate well precisely because their peak periods of interest are different. For example, if you underplant lupins with tulips, the growing lupin foliage will conceal the dying tulip leaves. Hardy geraniums can be overtaken by penstemons whilst lupins can be succeeded by achillea. A deciduous tree can be underplanted with early spring- flowering bulbs, such as snowdrops or crocuses, to brighten it up whilst the tree branches are still bare.

If a plant association looks good, then it will look even better if repeated. For example, a clump of chives may look pleasing next to a clipped rounded Santolina, but a row of Santolinas interspersed with chives would have stronger visual impact.

These are some of my favourite plant partnerships:

Golden marjoram (Origanum vulgare 'Aureum') underplanted with snake's head fritillaries (Fritillaria meleagris). The delicate maroon flowers of the fritillaries bloom just as the marjoram is forming a contrasting golden carpet beneath them. Later in the season the marjoram grows up to engulf the bulb leaves.

The copyright of the article Perfect Plant Partnerships - Page 2 in English Country Gardening is owned by Jane Hollis. Permission to republish Perfect Plant Partnerships - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.