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Pitch-Perfect Pairings for Companion Planting

Because plants are happiest when surrounded by their leafy friends, here are some beautiful low-maintenance and low-water pairings.

Johanna Silver

We’ve all heard “what grows together, goes together” when it comes to food and wine pairings, but it also applies to the garden. Here are a few of our favorite companion plantings to inspire your selections of what likes to grow together.

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Dream Palettes

We might be biased, but members of the Sunset Western Garden Collection are the perfect candidates for beautiful companion planting. With bright colored foliage and just the right amount of flowers, your landscape will look great year-round.
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Cool As Ice

Silver-gray blades of Festuca glauca 'Beyond Blue' make the perfect foil for the variegated foliage of Lavandula allardii 'Meerlo'. We love this lavender for its fragrant and brightly-colored leaves.
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Foliage Fountain

A lime green potted pomegranate looks lush and wonderful next to a grass-like Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty'. Additional lime players— Ligustrum sinense 'Sunshine', Carex ‘Everillo’, and Cistus ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ also make appearances. ‘Highlights’ ceanothus adds dark green to the base of the planting.
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Complementary Chic

Magenta blooms of a Love and Wishes salvia look just smashing against the lime green foliage of a Ligustrum sinense 'Sunshine'. Cheery Santa Barbara daisies soften things up below.
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Envy-Worthy Edging

Carex oshimensis 'Everest', a variegated grass-like perennial, makes a handsome bed edge for a limey ‘Lemon Lime’ Nandina and ‘Kaleidoscope’ Abelia, purple-hued Viburnum ‘Coppertop’, and dark green Camellia sasanqua ‘Orchid’. In the distance, a Nectar Blue salvia shows off its cool blue blooms.
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Make It Pop

Salvia Love & Wishes’ nearly glows against a planting of variegated ‘Meerlo’ lavender.
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Purple Power

Purple veronica flowers look perfectly at home growing between blades of Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty'.
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Shades of Blue-Gray

The strappy leaves of a Dianella 'Clarity Blue' are framed perfectly by the blades of similarly-hued Festuca glauca 'Beyond Blue’.
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Succulents and Friends

Pair structural succulents with similarly low-water perennials for a more sophisticated look. Here, variegated Lavandula allardii mixes nicely with agave and euphorbia.
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Speak for the Trees

A stunning Lagerstroemeria indica 'Delta Fuchsia' is the perfect small tree to mix in with perennials. Here it mingles with a Pittosporum tenuifolium.