Some times an “a ha” moment hits when you least expect it.

My gardening “a ha” hit me about 6:00 AM on a ridiculously hot week day morning back in July. I was drenched to the bone in sweat, my hands were covered in blisters and I was trying to fight through one head rush after another as I continued to slam the shovel back into the ground. I was working on my new and improved garden bed along the back deck and it hit me.

“Dude, you are up at the crack of dawn on a work day putting yourself through hell for what reason?”. “Hmmmm … good question” I said out loud as I pounded away at the impenetrable clay soil. I thought for a moment and then the skies opened up, I danced the waltz with the deer, the Coors Light train passed through my backyard and I cried out “Because I like the way plants look together!”. What? You expected something more profound? Nope, it’s as simple as that.

I know the trend is to grow your own food and I’ve started doing just that. I can be a plant geek just like the next guy, but that isn’t enough for me. I am driven by the never ending search to combine plants in the best way possible. As I finished the garden bed renovation and started to place the plants together, I could feel the pleasure in my blood. Put me on Oprah and I’ll cry about it. It’s my first gardening love and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

Am I great at this companion plant thing? Not really. But damn it is fun trying. Every plant I own has been moved at least three times and while that may stunt their growth, so be it. I need to find plant combination nirvana and the only way to get there is through trial and error. With that said, I thought I would share some of my “plant combos” with you from the past year. Some were the result of hardcore analysis and others the result of complete luck. Onward             

This combination includes Daylily ‘Happy Returns’, Russian Sage, Purple Coneflower and Weigela ‘Wine and Roses’. I have managed to not touch this grouping for three years now as they have all thrived with very little care. I hope they are all ready for a change because I know I am. Nothing drastic, just some “tinkering”.   

Some times it is simply two plants that ended up next to each other and it was fate that they “connected”. This is Sedum ‘Red Carpet’ and Spirea ‘Little Elf’. I still can’t get enough of the red/scarlet foliage next to yellow/gold foliage. It has to be limited and subtle to work for me, and that is what I ended up with here.  

I love me some ornamental grasses and I love how this Panicum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ breaks up the surrounding perennials including Black Eyed Susan, Lobelia Siphilitica and Sedum ‘Matrona’. The contrast in texture works and the grass moving with each subtle wind adds a whole new element to the grouping. 

More grass love. The flower heads of the Eupatorium ‘Gateway’ (Joe Pye Weed) and the foliage of the   Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ are another pairing that work due to their contrasting shapes and textures.     

I still have my work cut out for me with containers, but I kind of like this combo. You can tell I didn’t take it too seriously as I don’t know the name of the purple annual I used and I don’t know the cultivar name of the yellow Arborvitae either.