Good gardens are made one successful plant combination at a time. How much less intimidating to figure out a small composition of plants that play well off each other, and have similar cultural requirements, than to envision an entire bed or border. Create one satisfying combination after another and pretty soon you have a garden.
I've often cut a bouquet, and only then seen how certain flowers and foliages set each other off. Which sends me right outdoors to move plants around. But mostly we learn from other people's great ideas...so how about sharing one or two of your favorite combinations? What's really working in your garden this season?
You can post your photos (along with plant names) at the end of this post, and please tell us where you garden. Or you can send them to me in an email (valeaston@comcast.net) if that's easier, and I'll post them in a gallery of great plant combos. Don't worry about the quality of the photo - I took the one below with my Iphone!
I'll start this out... and continue to add combos from my own garden, and others I visit through the season: Below is Ligularia dentata 'Othello' and Hydrangea macrophylla 'Lemon Daddy' (the leaves are just coming on) growing in a semi-shady, well irrigated spot in my Langley garden. From now until frost, the hydrangea's golden foliage is set off by the big, dark leaves of the ligularia.
