Companion plants for iris?

I've been pouring on the corn glutten meal for a few years to reduce weeds in my iris beds. This does help and it additionally fixes nitrogen into the soil. I think it is time to begin considering companion plants for iris to cut down the weeds. I also get tired looking at the spent leaves of iris that are not rebloomers. I don't want to trim them back as the plants do need to draw upon that stored up energy but they really don't look the greatest right about now and haven't for quite a while. Does anyone have any suggestions of companion perennial plants?

i have some mixed with columbine-they look nice together

I have the same question. I find that most plants get too large and then shade the rhizomes, thus rotting them. I think columbine would be good, but mine seem to die back after a year or so. How do you keep yours going, Dori?

Yup, my columbine died back too. They do better in partial to bright shade but my iris are in full sun. I companion planted my columbine with Giant Solomon's Seal and that seems to be working but they are in shade. I have a particular fondness for Columbine. I'd love to be able to plant some in by the iris.

the sages are good if kept in small grouping .i use salvia greggi and keep it cut back which helps it bloom but both need little fertilizer and full sun low water.

Ya know, Salvia azurea would be a good choice for me. Thanks for mentioning Salvias.

I just planted a new iris bed and I noticed the weeds are terrible! I will try the corn gluten meal. I used peonies, oriental poppies (the foliage dies back in the summer) and low growing perennial geraniums. At this time of year I cut back the leaves into 6-7" fans, to neaten them up but also leave them some remaining foliage.

You could also try various types of low growing seedum (which may be evergreen for you) and Thyme (not a solid mat creeper but one of the lower loose varieties like "wooly"). I've also found letting vines like Morning Glory and moonflower wind their way amongst foliage and along the ground helps, the large leaves block a lot of the sun getting to the soil which helps deter weeds. As they will die off quickly in the cold and won't come back in the spring...they shouldn't rot the bulbs.

Maybe creeping phlox would be nice and It blooms at about the same time.

I use jolly jump ups. (violas). Self seeding, bloom from early spring till heavy frost and very easy to pull up if getting too near to iris rhz.
Inanda

What about plants with very narrow leaves that let light through to the iris like dwarf white cosmos and/or white nemesia with reblooming pink iris (or reverse the colors) or blue larkspur or blue nierembergia with yellow iris or blue nigella with apricot/orange iris? or chartreusey/yellow/green, low 'Fernleaf' dill with red iris? Papaver atlanticum or dwarf P. nudicaule among blue iris? Just sow the seed right alongside the iris.

For perenials, silvery, grassy leaved pinks are a classic edging - easy to start from seed. Dianthus alpinus did beautifully for us - have not seen seed of this for a long time. Purple leaved sage is gorgeous with white iris. Asters in the back, but not too close to the iris, would give a nice filmy contrast to the blades of iris while extending the season of bloom.

Wow bluespiral! Holy Cow! Great ideas. I never thought of dianthus. Thanks so much for all of your ideas!

The dianthus 'twarnt my idea - it was Gertrude Jekyll. I can't remember exactly where I read this reference, but facsimiles of her books were reprinted in 1983 by The Ayer Company. A good one is entitled, Colour Schemes for the Flower Garden. I don't think she used the same dianthus I'm talking about - there are so many lovely ones to try, and they are very easy from seed.

In addition to her own garden, she designed hundreds of gardens in the British Isles as well as in America, many with the landscape architect, E. Lutyens. She revolutionized how color and plants were used in gardens and is so much more than what was being taught in a local community college horticultural course I took recently.

It really is fascinating to study how she thought and then apply those principles to whatever your local "conditions of site" are. You often won't use the same plants, nor an army of gardeners, but the ideas translate very well.

Hi, Equilibrium and Bluespiral....The Gertrude Jekyll Estate has a website http://www.gertrudejekyll.co.uk/ that gives lots of interesting Jekyll info and links...They talk about her writings on plant combinations which must be legendary in the garden world. I think Gertrude used roses and iris together a lot, which is a lovely combintation but sounds like it might shade/crowd out your iris plantings...t.

I must admit I am not a fan of roses in my zone. They require far too many chemicals to keep them insect and fungus free. I've seen that combination though before and I like it very much. It just won't work for me in the Chicago land area without insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. I have quite a few insects around here and the kids would get upset if one of our praying mantids keeled over or if butterflies started being found on the ground dead.

I have a few icebergs that are holding their own but by the end of summer the poor things are virtually defoliated from all the little critters chowing down. I use horticultural oils and insecticidal soaps but those roses really need more than that. Poor roses!

That website you posted is awesome. That woman was way before her time.

I like the dianthus too. I also find the coreopsis varieties, especially moonbeam, work well. Their foliage is light and airy and doesn't bother the rhizomes. If it infringes too much, you can pull it out. I also like the annual alyssum (the white one - carpet of snow, I think) - it will take very cold temps here in zone 5 - good to mid 20's and actually looks better when the temps are cooler (spring and fall). Mine looks great right now, and we've had 3 hard frosts. Also the short white zinnia - I can't remember the variety, but it only gets 6" tall or so and looks like a very small daisy.

Ohhhhh... I wasn't even thinking along the lines of annual alyssum. My neighbor has some of that along with hardy mums and they are still going strong. Neat idea.

Bluespiral I love your ideas, I'm going to try some of them in my new iris bed. Thanks for sharing them!
I like the idea of using allysum, too , Linda.
I think blue or white scaevola holds up really well in the cold and would be pretty in the beds too. We just pulled a bunch out of customer's gardens today and it was still beautiful. (We haven't had a hard frost yet, but temps have been as low as 35 at night.)
Cindy

What a neat plant! I found one called 'zig zag'. It is really neat! Never even seen that offered in my area before! Found a proliferation of sites offering it online.

Hi,


I have had Cerastium, Snow in Summer planted in front of my iris for 5 years now and love them together. Even though the Snow in Summer can get rambunctious and readily self sows, I have let it spread at will horizontally in front of the iris beds and mound it up onto itself by the end of summer to keep it off the iris. A good early spring haircut keeps it in check. Never had a problem with this plant choking the iris and the soft silvery foliage helps soften the look of the upright iris leaves. They have been excellent partners for me. Try a small clump, it is lovely!

Cam

I mix iris with my daylilies Coreopsis, dwarf asters, snapdragons and other plants about the same height as iris or shorter. if the foliage gets too dense, the iris like to rot. Speedwell can be pink or blue and gives color when the iris are resting. Daisies are light & airy too.

Asians lilies like iris to cover their feet. Peonies look good with them too.

Thank you for those magical garden photos, Wanda. When lowering winter skies put me into a Neanderthal mood, I will moon over these pictures.

Wanda, your garden is beautiful. I heard Monet used daisies in with his iris to get that impressionistic look... It does make the picture look like a painting...

Drool dangling out of my mouth! I should take a photo of the area of iris I am trying to work with but after seeing those photos... I am thinking I would be embarrassed. Wanda, those pictures are really nice.

I think that I was limiting myself by trying to pick just one plant with the iris. Now I am thinking that a mix of 4 from above is going to work for me as well as extending the bed another foot to get more in. What I have right now is very narrow and won't accommodate the look I now want. I often overlook annuals and I don't know why I repeatedly do that. I did have a problem with Snow all Summer. It jumped across my driveway and ended up on the other side but I did like it while it lasted. I realized I am not all that great on deadheading and figured I had better acknowledge my laziness and let that plant go.

So far I am liking the Salvia azurea, dianthus alpinus, Scaevola 'zig zag', and maybe some of that annual alyssum in the white for down close to the ground. I just love it when people think for me! Brings out plants that I would not have even thought of using!

One thing, what does everyone think of Lamium maculatum or rather the White Nancy in place of the white alyssum? I know this plant does well in shade but I planted it in sun (before I read the tag) and it seems to be fine.

Lamium would be pretty.
I didn''t mention the scaevola is an annual..sorry... but it is a workhorse, does great in cool weather- just does not like to dry out. It is still blooming here in November!

Oh, I loved that scaevola! Looked as if it had mini Japanese fans stuck to it everywhere.

Zone 9 Thanks so much for the ideas! I plant Iris with almost anything. The picture is Euphorbia, Statice, And Ajuga. This Iris is next to a Mugo Pine and among grasses, mums, (which aren't blooming now) and next to a birdsnest spruce. You can see the dry creek in the back of the picture. I also have coreopsis, grasses, well, almost anything among the tubers. I have used Punica, and where they are next to structures, vines. This year I'm going to try rambling Clematis.

Wanda's cottage garden is breathtaking. Here is another approach - simple composition.

Oh neat. What kind of spurge do you have shown the photo? I have a little bit of chocolate chip ajuga here and that's a pretty little ground cover.

I guess spurge is Euphorbia? Unfortunately, I don't know the cultivar. It is deciduous here (zone 9) and has yellow flowers. It is a prolific self-seeder but easy to control. It is only about 9" tall, being in front of a border Iris - "Lenora Pearl" which is lightly (just right) fragrant and reblooming. This picture was taken in August and the Iris bloomed in the spring and just finished at the end of October. The euphorbia only blooms early spring. Anyone know what it is? Maybe I'll put it on Dave's garden "name that plant" and find out.

Great pictures and wonderful ideas here.. I will have to refer back to this thread a few times before I can assimilate all the information... Loved the link to Gertrude Jekyl... amazing lady... thank you all for sharing...

Just wanted you to know that I posted the picture of the Euphorbia on the plant id forum. Hopefully some kind soul will come to our rescue. I'll follow up. Shame on me for suggesting a plant and then not knowing the name of it! But don't forget the Statice. It blooms and blooms and blooms after the Iris are over.

doss--love your plant combinations! I really enjoy trying to create a "picture" with my gardens while ensuring year round blooming. Need deep beds to get the plant variety in. But worth the effort.

Love the picture of the garden with the great iris. In the first picture you are looking at a corner which is about 50 feet radius. It is also on a slope so that it helps with depth perception. I have about 100 bearded iris and I have had heard the comment that they are ugly so much of the year - but they took it back when they saw the garden. They are such a great vertical element in the garden. My reblooming ones really make a difference at this time of year when only the Dahlias and Cannas are blooming - and well, we have some beautiful hydrangea heads. The two reblooming now are "Harvest Of Memories" (bright yellow and very fragrant) edging the lawn - I grow them there with their stunning selves all alone - and "Lenora Pearl" (a Pale peach with a light fragrance) -You've seen that one in the picture. I planted quite a few rebloomers this year so I'm looking forward to beautiful flowers two times a year, although I'm sure that you agree, one time is enough to make these beautys worthwhile.

I do try to plant them in all the settings in the garden. They are in a very asian garden setting, the dry creek situation, by the pool (they are perfect for pool settings) and right smack in the middle of my perenial garden. I also have some next to the street with two olive trees and a Fuyu persimmon. I love them with fruit trees because they don't get bugs or diseases that have to be treated. Then they are anyplace where there is enough sun to put them. Although the Iris are in the background in this picture, I think you get the idea.

Excellent plantings doss!

I have enjoyed looking at both gardens! Great shots, Wanda and Doss. My sister is into Oriental. I bought her a pagoda for her birthday this year.

Yes, very nice to both of you. That contrasting color of the multi colored iris up against the pinks was great as well as all that green foliage in the last photo with the basin/sphere element. Very classy looking.

I like each of my clump of iris to stand on it's own, so keep the color contrasts strong. When I group all my orange on yellow, it seems as if there is only one--it makes it hard for me to appreciate the subtlties of each bloom. Deep colors "pop" better when seperated by light ones.

Found out what the Spurge is : Euphorbia E. Cyparissias
You can find more pictures of it in the Plant Database.

Here's the scoop. Everyone agrees that it's pretty and makes a nice ground cover. They ALSO agree that it is toxic (even to touch - wear your gloves) and invasive. I think that it's just assertive. Where it is near the lawn I am careful to use pre-emergent. It's not hard to pull. You can see that it's not overwhelming the other plants. Seems to grow in sun or shade and has a pretty wide zone coverage. Who knows - for you deer people - it might be just the ticket!