Mario Bautista
Hydrangeas are one of the most beautiful flowers to add to your garden, and one way to ensure they thrive is by planting them next to a few of their favorite companions. Companion planting is growing different plants together for their shared benefit. When determining what makes a good companion plant for hydrangeas, it’s important to find plants that share similar growing requirements and conditions to the beloved shrub. Most hydrangeas prefer moist, well-drained soil and partial sun.
To help, we chatted with a master gardener to find out which plants make the best companion plants for hydrangeas.
Dee Dee DeBartlo, garden designer and co-owner of Westport Botanica, a landscape design firm that specializes in outdoor and indoor container gardening. She is a certified Master Gardener.
Alliums
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Alliums, like hydrangeas, offer showy blooms that make a big statement in a cottage garden. “They’re pollinator magnets, and because they’re a member of the onion family, their scent can protect hydrangeas from deer, aphids, and other pests,” says Dee Dee DeBartlo, certified master gardener and garden designer. Alliums also come in similar colors to hydrangeas and prefer well-drained soil, making them great companion plants.
- Zones: 4 to 10
- Size: 1 to 4 feet tall x 3 to 10 inches wide
- Care requirements: Full sun; well-draining soil
Astilbe
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Astilbe is a great companion plant for hydrangeas that prefer shade. Aesthetic-wise, astilbe also offer a nice juxtaposition to most hydrangeas, given the plant’s feathery plumes in hues of pink, red, white, and purple and their fern-like foliage, says DeBartlo. “Low-maintenance, easy to grow, and deer and rabbit resistant, astilbe, like hydrangeas, brighten up a garden that doesn’t get a lot of sun,” she says.
- Zones: 3 to 8
- Size: 6 to 24 inches tall x 6 to 60 inches wide
- Care requirements: Partial to full sun; loamy, moist soil
Anise Hyssop
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Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) pairs beautifully with hydrangeas. “Also called hummingbird mint, [anise hyssop] attracts beneficial pollinators in droves and deters deer, groundhogs, rabbits, and other pests,” says DeBartlo. “With tall, sturdy stems that don’t require staking and dense, terminal spikes of small, tubular, bright blue flowers, they are one of the hardiest and longest blooming flowering plants to have in your garden,” she says.
- Zones: 3 to 8
- Size: 2 to 4 feet tall x 1 to 3 feet wide
- Care requirements: Full sun; chalk, loam, or sand
Boxwood
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Boxwoods (Buxus) add visual interest and physical support to hydrangeas. “In many landscapes here in New England, you’ll see hydrangeas behind or completely boxed in by a boxwood hedge,” says DeBartlo. “Boxwoods are easy to grow, low-maintenance, long-lived and, like hydrangeas, it is one of the most popular shrubs in the landscape.”
- Zones: 5 to 9
- Size: 2 to 8 feet tall x 2 to 8 feet wide
- Care requirements: Partial to full sun; loamy, well-draining soil
Begonias
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Begonias feature beautiful blooms that come in many colors and do well in the shade, making them good for growing in a pollinator garden next to shade-loving hydrangeas. Begonias are also easygoing and low maintenance. They can also replant themselves.
- Zones: 6 to 9
- Size: 1 to 2 feet tall x 1 to 2 feet wide
- Care requirements: Partial shade to shade; well-draining soil
Ferns
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While not flowering, ferns offer a nice bit of greenery to a garden full of hydrangeas. Like some hydrangeas, ferns like to be in a shady spot. And because hydrangeas only bloom part of the year, the ferns will add interest and color during the seasons the flowers don’t bloom.
- Zones: 3 to 10
- Size: 1 to 3 feet tall x 1 to 3 feet wide
- Care requirements: Partial shade to shade; well-draining soil
Coral Bells
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Coral bells (Heuchera) are known for their pretty foliage and tiny clusters of bell-like blooms. “Coral bells are striking without being too showy, providing an especially lovely counterbalance to the big white pompoms of mophead hydrangeas,” says DeBartlo. Coral bells also cover plenty of ground, which can help suppress weeds, adds DeBartlo.
- Zones: 4-9
- Size: 8 to 18 inches tall x 12 to 24 inches wide
- Care requirements: Partial to full sun; well-draining soil
Purple Coneflower
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These plants work great with hydrangeas. “Echinacea purpurea, also known as purple coneflower, has a deep tap root that helps aerate soil, providing hydrangeas and other companions with the well-drained medium they need to thrive,” says DeBartlo. More than that, echinacea is a perennial beloved by pollinators.
- Zones: 3 to 8
- Size: 2 to 5 feet tall x 1 to 2 feet wide
- Care requirements: Partial to full sun; well-draining soil
Geranium Rozanne
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Flowering from early summer to early fall, geranium Rozanne are semi-evergreen. “They can also serve as a weed suppressing groundcover, especially when planted en masse,” says DeBartlo. They are deer- and rabbit-resistant, making them great companion plants for hydrangeas.
- Zones: 3 to 9
- Size: 6 to 36 inches tall x 1 to 3 feet wide
- Care requirements: Partial to full sun; well-draining soil
Nepeta
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Nepeta, or catnip, is great for hydrangeas that can thrive in full-sun or mostly sunny gardens. “A member of the mint family, their aromatic gray green foliage and purple flowers benefit pollinators, repel aphids and other pests, and are truly deer resistant,” says DeBartlo. Â
- Zones: 4-8
- Size: 10 to 24 inches tall by 1 to 2 feet wide
- Care requirements: Partial to full sun; acidic, neutral soil
Prairie Dropseed
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Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) is a wonderful companion plant for hydrangeas. “Prairie dropseed is a large, graceful ornamental grass that attracts butterflies and birds but is deer-resistant,” says DeBartlo. She adds that this plant is also gorgeous when planted in hedge-like rows between hydrangeas of similar sizes. “With a subtle fragrance reminiscent of toasted coriander, it has fabulous winter interest.”
- Zones: 3 to 9
- Size: 2 to 3 feet tall x 2 to 3 feet wide
- Care requirements: Partial to full sun; dry, rocky soil
Double Reeves Spirea
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A dense shrub blooming with small white flower clusters, double reeves spirea (Spiraea cantoniensis) are nice complements to hydrangeas. This plant attracts butterflies, bringing more pollinators to your hydrangeas. And because it grows so tall, it can provide protection from the sun for shade-loving hydrangeas.
- Zones: 6 to 9
- Size: 4 to 6 feet tall x 4 to 6 feet wide
- Care requirements: Partial to full sun; well-draining soil
Lamb’s Ear
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Typically used as a ground cover plant, lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina) is a pretty foliage plant to add to any garden. It does great with hydrangeas because it can handle varying shade and sun conditions. It is also a quick-spreading perennial, filling any spaces between your hydrangea blooms.
- Zones: 4 to 9
- Size: 12 to 18 inches tall x 12 to 36 inches wide
- Care requirements: Partial to full sun; well-draining soil
Japanese Maple
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Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) fits in well next to hydrangeas in a rain garden. The tree provides shade to shade-loving hydrangeas, while their leaves give a pop of unexpected color.
- Zones: 5 to 9
- Size: 2 to 25 feet tall
- Care requirements: Partial to full sun; well-draining soil
