A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Companion plants for asiatic lilies

I am creating a round island bed for asiatic lilies and want a way to hide the ugly stems after they bloom. Does anyone have any suggestions for good companion plants? I'm hoping to find something that will hide the stems and bloom after the lilies are done. Thanks!

Joanne

I have daylilies, iris and galardia in my bulb garden.

I use a lot of Shasta daisies and lavender, but sometimes I will add different annuals to help hide the unsightly stems!

Cinta, I've been wondering what to do with my excess daylilies. Great idea!

Patches, I just happen to have the seeds for winter sowing shasta daisies and lavender. Sounds like a great combination, thanks!

Joanne

Joanne, here is a picture of some of my Shasta Daises which were planted in front of my Asiatic Lilies. You can still see one of the stems on the left next to the fence, but when the Lilies were blooming they went along the back of the fence from that stem to the Coneflowers.

This year I grew cleome. Mine are about 3 feet tall which would hide the lily stems and are such a full and pretty plant. They have been in bloom for several weeks now and are a really neat plant. Planning on putting them in my bulb garden next year to hide away the stems as well.

Joanne, one of my favorites is Mexican Petunia although some people hate them. I have the purple flower type and there is also a pink one. The foliage is very attractive and the flowers are gorgeous. They start blooming in May and keep on keepin' on until hard freeze. They do well in sun or shade, aren't fussy about water needs and rarely have bug or disease problems. My kinda plant!!!
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I have so many to choose from now! The cleome and Mexican Petunia pictures are both beautiful. Patches, the shasta daisy really do look great as well. I think I will try a clump each of shasta daisy, lavender, cleome, Mexican Petunia and day lilies and see which ones mix together the best. I might also throw in some catmint since I have a bunch of seeds. Thanks for all of the great ideas!

Joanne

Joanne, I used to have catmint in one of my beds. Personally, I didn't find it that attractive and it spread much more than I expected so it was crowding out some of my other plants. Plus, the neighborhoods cats found it very appealing, so I took it out. It must have some of the same properties as catnip. This is only my opinion, so I'm hoping other people can offer their input on it.

Thanks for the warning Patches. We have 3 cats and I don't want them rolling around in my garden. I also want to stay away from invasive plants. I have enough stuff I'm battling to get rid of without adding more!

Joanne

the mexican petunia is fantabulous!!! i've got to get some