Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Plants that play nice and those that don’t
A listener asked about what plants get along with each other and what plants might not… Invasive plants really don’t play well with others.
IF you don’t mind a plant creating your garden, then buy that invasive or “easy spreader” as they are referred to in plant catalogs. If you want creative control, then be careful.
Now, who are the lovely plants that get along? You know my LOVE for ornamental grasses, they really do play nice with everything, although some will spread more than others, my switchgrass comes to mind.
What I love about them is the mixing of textures which adds another dimension. I like the big blooms of daylilies with the soft ethereal look of some of the panicum and switch grasses. Of course coneflowers also look lovely with grasses like my Big Bluestem ‘Blackhawks’.
In the shade garden, hostas are like the sun-loving ornamental grasses, they look good with anything, including Bleeding hearts, snakeroot, heuchera (which I’ll talk about more tomorrow) wild indigo and spiderwort.
And then there’s the Black Walnut tree.
I do not like it for a variety of reasons. The nuts are extremely annoying, or maybe it’s the squirrels who plant them EVERYWHERE.
It also produces toxic juglone. Tomatoes are really not a fan and neither are peonies.
Check out this link to the University of Wisconsin Extension with a list of more plants that Black Walnut doesn’t play well with AND who WILL grow near them.
Fennel is an herb packed with flavor! But it doesn’t play well with tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes, basil, parsley and others. It is still amazing.
