Pleasurable Pairings for Spring Part 2
Native Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica, and native Celandine poppies, Stylophorum diphyllum, are two of my favorite plants for spring and are wonderful combined with almost anything. Very easy to grow in part to full shade and woodland conditions.
In April 2011, I wrote a post about beautiful spring pairings. To read it, click here. I always meant to continue the topic and have finally taken the time to photograph the garden. Some of the combinations are the same but that’s because I love them!
Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas. For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
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Virginia bluebells with emerging tassel ferns, Polystichum polyblepharum.
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Or how about blue on blue with Virginia bluebells and Siberian bugloss, Brunnera macrophylla?
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Native Celandine poppies are just as versatile, here with summer snowflake, Leucojum aestivum.
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Native Celandine poppies with ‘Sulphureum’ epimedium, daffodils, native cinnamon fern, and the leaves of winter aconite, Eranthis hyemalis.
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Gold hostas look so beautiful when they are emerging. Here ‘Paradise Island’ hosta with ‘Bowles Purple’ vinca. Although I don’t recommend planting vinca because it is so invasive, I couldn’t resist adding this purple variety to a contained space.
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One of my all time favorite combinations, the peach-colored spring leaves of ‘Magic Carpet’ spiraea with the similarly colored stems of ‘Goldheart’ old-fashioned bleeding-heart.
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Native ‘Purple Beauty’ moss phlox, P. subulata, with a sedum showing its winter colors.
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Checkered-lily in its white, Fritillaria meleagris ‘Alba’, and purple forms seed through out my dry, full shade woodland.
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Orange epimedium, E. x warleyense, with the emerging leaves of Hosta montana ‘Aureo-marginata’.
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That’s all for now but look for Part 3 soon.
Carolyn
Nursery Happenings: Our third open house, featuring ferns, hostas, and hardy geraniums is Saturday, May 16, from 10 am to 3 pm. However, don’t’ wait until then—you can stop by anytime by appointment to purchase these wonderful plants. Just send me an email at carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net with some suggested dates and times that you would like to visit.
Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a local retail nursery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S., zone 6b/7a. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.
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CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS 
April 27, 2015 at 10:23 pm
These are lovely combinations, and I’m glad to notice that I have several of them in my garden. I recently added three Epimediums to my garden after wanting some for many years. Now I’m in love with them, almost as much as my dear Hellebores. They both blend well with the many Hostas that were here when we moved in. I also recently added Virginia Bluebells from seed. They’re taking a couple of years to bloom, but they’re definitely spreading. Great post!
April 28, 2015 at 6:18 am
Beth, Glad to hear about your epimediums. If you want more Garden Vision Epimedium is a great mail order source. Carolyn
April 28, 2015 at 9:21 am
Another kind of combination to think about is ephemerals and things to interplant with them, that come up/out later. A couple of years ago I interplanted hardy begonias among my fading Va. bluebells, and it works like a dream. They don’t appear together, of course, but neither gets in the other’s way, since the bluebells disappear by late spring before the begonias really come out. I love them both.
Louise
April 28, 2015 at 10:55 am
Louise, That’s a good suggestion. The obvious other choices are hostas and ferns. I plant the begonias in among my hostas so when the hostas start fading the begonias will be blooming. Carolyn
April 28, 2015 at 2:26 pm
Golden ‘bleeding-heart’ with ‘spirea’; I’m going straight out to plant up that combo. I love your suggestions, many thanks:)
April 28, 2015 at 6:37 pm
It really is one of my favorites. I probably have 50 photos of it. The stems of the bleeding-heart match the spring leaves of the spiraea perfectly. Also looks great with the emerging foliage of Heuchera ‘Carmel’. Carolyn
April 28, 2015 at 7:07 pm
Thanks, I’ll look for that Heuchera:)
April 28, 2015 at 4:23 pm
Very nice combinations, Carolyn. I do like the bluebells, but am a bit concerned in my small garden. So many plants get frisky and bluebells are likely to do it too. That is what is wonderful about Hosta. They stay put.
April 28, 2015 at 6:35 pm
Donna, It takes years for VA bluebells to reproduce prolifically, and you really have to have a critical mass for them to start seeding. I planted a lot and it took 10 years for them to really take off. Great with hosta because the bluebells go dormant. Carolyn
April 28, 2015 at 11:34 pm
Hello Carolyn, may i please have a catalog of mini hostas and ferns.I will be attending a may open house and would like to preview.
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2015 00:49:32 +0000 To: cmcdev@msn.com
April 29, 2015 at 10:10 am
Chris, There is no special fern catalogue, but ferns are all described in the 2015 Spring Catalogue on the right side of my website under Pages. The mini hosta catalogue is not available yet. It will be sent out to all customers on my email list once it’s ready. Carolyn
April 29, 2015 at 7:10 pm
Hi Carolyn, you certainly have put together some lovely pairings. It must feel good to have Spring visit up you way. Susie
April 30, 2015 at 5:42 am
Susie, Yes, we have been having wonderful cool spring weather this year. However, it is going up to 80 degrees this week which I am not to happy about. I think I am enjoying the plants more than ever because of the long and very cold winter. Carolyn
May 2, 2015 at 9:05 pm
Some very striking color/plant combinations. I am off to see Part 1.
May 2, 2015 at 9:14 pm
Thanks, Jennifer, it’s a fun post to write. Carolyn
May 3, 2015 at 3:13 pm
I think my favorite of the combinations you show may be the very last with the epimedium and the hosta. I love the color combination.
May 3, 2015 at 9:34 pm
Deb, It is one of my favorites too. I love orange flowers no matter what but with the emerging green and yellow hosta, it’s amazing. Carolyn
May 3, 2015 at 5:39 pm
Carolyn you have such a collection of pairings…I have just about all of them and especially love the little Checkered-lilies…so adorable like little fairy lanterns.
May 3, 2015 at 9:33 pm
Donna, That’s a plant that I like more and more each year. It seeds in my full shade woodland. Carolyn
May 5, 2015 at 6:31 am
Very handsome pairings Carolyn. I have a particular soft spot for the Fritillaria meleagris.
May 6, 2015 at 2:24 pm
I love them too, Alistair.
May 7, 2015 at 2:07 pm
Beautiful! I love epimedium, lovely leaves and delicate flowers. I am still waiting (years and years) for my epimedium to flower for the fist time.
May 11, 2015 at 6:16 am
Denise, epimediums shouldn’t have any problem blooming. Maybe you should consider moving them. Carolyn