Beautiful Plant Combinations for Difficult Sites

After I fell in love with gardening (after your first hydrangea blooms and you think, “This is amazing! Why do people make it complicated?!” and BEFORE the next ten plants you buy wither and die.). I imagined myself sashaying along the nursery rows, admiring each plant and noting its perfect location in my garden. I thought that I’d spend the rest of the weekend admiring my beautiful new beds.

In real life when I shop for plants, I’m both dazzled and overwhelmed the sheer number of plants to choose from! I zip from one aisle to another, distracted by new options at every turn.

I try to calculate sun and soil requirements and sizes in my head (“was that viburnum 8’ or 6’ tall? Part sun or part shade?! ). I straggle home with a hodge-podge mix of plants and spend the day trying to figure out what to plant where.

This happens because there are an impossible number of things to consider all at once.

For instance, bloom color and season (will it compliment your existing plants or clash?), texture, shape, size at planting and maturity, soil and sun requirements …it’s enough to make you want to give up and forget this whole gardening thing after all.

So, how do you get started?

First you learn from a master, then you make it your own.

You could do what I do: visit gardens all over the state, read a gazillion books, garden every single day so that you can see the plants through each season, and visit native plant communities in the wild. You could get a very long list of potential plants and mark them off as you consider each element. OR, you check out your friend’s very helpful plant blog. ; )

Here are some of my favorite plant combinations for tricky sites:

DIFFICULT SITE # 1

Wet & Sunny (wet soil in full to part sun)

Many wet sites are naturally shaded so this combination lacks ready-made solutions. Yet, plenty of stream banks, ditches, and simply low areas need plants that love “wet feet”—aka wet roots. Planting these spots is a win-win, not only do you get blooms, but you can slow water flow which reduces runoff, erosion, and helps filter containments.

Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica) or Copper Iris (Iris fulva) and
Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis)

*Shrader Stone Garden. Amber Mae Photography*

This is a great combination near a stream or pond or other drainage area. Irises are very adaptable, but thrive best in moist soil to standing water. Lady’s mantle is another beauty with scalloped leaves that hold water and sparkle in the sun. It produces tiny yellow blooms that appear while the iris blooms, but last most of the summer. The strap-like iris is a perfect combination for the delicate, wavy lady’s mantle.

New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) and
Culvers Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)

For a wilder or meadow planting, these two tall flowering natives are perfection. The ironweed’s bold purple is striking with the more delicate white culvers root. Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) or Joe Pye (Eupatorium fistulosa) add a range of purple and violet shades for more color and support for pollinators.

New York Ironweed

Culver's Root

Joe Pye

Swamp Milkweed

DIFFICULT SITE # 2.
Hard Clay Soil (Full sun to light shade)

Welcome to Central Virginia. Everyone needs a plant that will actually thrive in our hard, red dirt.

Yucca (Yucca filamentosa) with Hardy Ageratum Eupatorium coelestinum) or Nepeta (Nepeta faassenii)

The mounding and branching ageratum soften the strong vertical yucca. The contrast of yellows and deep purple attracts attention, but is natural enough to blend in any space. Sunflowers or coreopsis could also echo the yellow variegation in Yucca ‘Color Guard.’

Baptisia (Baptisia australis) and Asters (Symphyotrichum leave, Aster novae-angliae)

Aster sets the world on fire in the fall with never-ending cascade of lavender to purple blooms with yellow centers. Many asters support wildlife at a key time in the season by blooming from September through November.

DIFFICULT SITE # 3
Dry shade

I tend to favor cool colors in the shade where the tones can be appreciated, and warm colors in the sun where the bright hues shine. These combinations are a perfect mix of textures and tones for a shady spot and since dry shade is one of the hardest requirements to work with, they get extra points from me.

Blue Oat Grass (Helicotrichon sempervirens) and
Lamb’s-ears (Stachys byzantine)

The blue oat grass is the focal point with sharp blue foliage. The fuzzy lamb’s-ears contrasts the blue oat grass textures. Columbine brings more foliage texture and interest while it blooms in spring, but the planting remains interesting after it fades away in summer.

Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) and
Hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula)

These are two of quite possibly my favorite plants—both perfectly beautiful in their simplicity. Solomon’s Seal, with its delicate arches and tiny white blooms is an easy keeper that likes full to part shade. Native hay-scented ferns contrast the medium leaves of the Soloman’s Seal with delicate fronds that shine in the shade from spring to fall. If the site is part-shade, coreopsis adds delicate fronds and long-lasting summer blooms.

What tricky combinations do you have at home?

Marketing & Communications Strategist

Three Popular Garden Myths Busted