Succulents are replacing parched lawns in many dry-climate zones and street medians, and residential front and backyards. While landscaping exclusively with succulents and hard cape is doable and attractive, companion plants that complement the form and color of succulents and have comparable maintenance requirements should be considered.
You should not confine yourself to the succulent world while building a succulent garden. Various companion plants will bring out the best features of your succulents while also peacefully sharing their space. During the times when your succulents aren't blooming, these companion plants will give contrast and interest. These companion plants, whether ornamental grasses, perennials, annuals, or shrubs add richness to the overall succulent look.
Because succulents thrive in desert and savannah environments, they require strong sunshine, little water, great drainage, good air circulation, dry air, and high temperatures. A selection of lovely shrubs that share the majority of these growth needs may be seen below.
They'll bring out the best in succulents and their surroundings:
The ideal method to organize a container garden, according to Fine Gardening, is to employ a "thriller" plant in the center, "filler" plants surrounding the main plant, and "spiller" plants to flow over the sides. These might be perennials, annuals, or a mix of the two. Consider how your plants will appear as the season develops, whatever you pick. Some plants lose their blooms or leaves as they grow older, while others bloom only once, for a few weeks or perhaps a few days. Choose plants that bloom continuously if you want your container's appeal to persist. You can also use sola wood version of natural flowers along with succulents.
Many perennials, especially native wildflowers, are easy to grow in a succulent garden. Native wildflowers are naturally adapted to your area's wetness, and if you pick kinds that withstand full sun and sandy soil, they'll do well with your succulents. California poppies bloom in the spring and summer and self-sow, making them an excellent choice for a casual border in larger succulent gardens.
Bulb flowers, like succulents, may be placed close together in your garden or container to create a virtually continuous bed of color. Because many bulbs decay in wet soil, they benefit from the same well-drained soil and occasional watering as your succulents. Grow several plants in a cluster in your yard for enormous, firework-like flowers. You can also plant rain lily as a border of your garden or along the edge of huge pots for a succulent rock garden.
This is another large group of plants where the selection is mostly based on personal preference and the planting circumstances. Small shrubs such as junipers, Hinoki Cypress, and Barberry bushes provide a soft background for your succulents.
You'll want to keep an eye on how your companion plants develop together if you use them. Make careful that bigger, more aggressive types don't cast too much shadow on your succulents or starve them out completely. Companion plants will enhance the otherworldly appearance of your succulents and help you construct an outstanding arrangement.
These woody-based perennials, native to South Africa, have a mounding or trailing habit and produce many daisies over a lengthy period in warmer or milder climes. Their blooms open in the morning and shut at night. While they are drought resilient, they benefit from good soil and frequent watering to look their best. Deadheading and tip-pinching are helpful.
Mexican Daisy is a beautiful, trailing, woody-based perennial with an almost year-round supply of tiny daisies. The tiny blooms start white, then become soft pink, fade to purple, and attract butterflies and bees. This attractive groundcover develops a low mound of thin, hairy gray-green leaves that hug the ground. It's perfect for raised beds, walls, hanging baskets, and containers because of its lovely cascading habit.
Dietesiridioides (Fortnight Lily) is a rhizomatous evergreen perennial with beautiful blooms that resemble tiny Japanese Irises and is native to eastern and southern Africa. They bloom on branching stalks for a very long period, from spring through fall and, in warm regions, occasionally well into winter. Flowering happens in bloom bursts that appear to happen every two weeks, so the popular name Fortnight Lily. Each stalk has an unlimited supply of buds. Thus the blooms only last a day before being replaced by fresh ones. They stand above bunches of short, sword-shaped, stiff, evergreen leaves in fan-shaped clumps.
Lavenders appear lovely, growing alongside succulents in a garden, with their grey, gray-green, and yellow-green leaves. These Mediterranean, Canary Islands, and Madeira natives are noted for their fragrant smell and purple flower spikes.
This shrub is endemic to southern and eastern Asia and blooms profusely in the summer and fall. The spirea flower, sometimes known as Bluebeard, has clusters of powder blue blooms that attract bees, butterflies, and other helpful insects. It requires water, but once established, it is drought resistant.
Another Mediterranean native, rockrose, is a low-maintenance shrub that blooms profusely from early spring through late summer. Their silvery, grey, or light green foliage complements succulents and adds complexity to the environment.
The evergreen ground cover Santolinavirens 'Lemon Fizz' has aromatic leaves. It's a vibrant green that contrasts nicely with the red tones seen in many plants. Its brilliant yellow summer flowers also attract pollinators to the garden. 'Lemon Fizz' has a luxuriant, mounding habit and looks great as a border plant or a single specimen.
Sinningia 'Invasion Force' is a perennial herbaceous. The foliage is blue-green in color, elongated, and fuzzy in appearance. It blooms in pink tubular flowers from early summer to late autumn. Once established, this cultivar thrives in full sun to part shade and is drought resistant. This plant is almost as much a favorite of hummingbirds and bees as it is of me!
This plant, also known as the Uruguayan Firecracker Plant, is attractive and attracts hummingbirds and bees. From July through October, it blooms with orange flowers. The foliage of Dicliptera is luxuriant and velvety blue-gray. It will entice you to touch it.
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