Encore® Azalea planting season is here, and garden centers are stocked to the hilt. We’d like to help you select companion plants that make the home landscape a true garden. Choosing companion plants can sometimes cause a little fear and trepidation. Relax – with Encore Azaleas, it’s really hard to get it wrong.
Hollies
If your landscape is a blank canvas, then consider choosing dark green evergreens. Not only can they serve as the bones or structure of your garden, but also as a backdrop for your favorite colors of Encore Azaleas. Hollies are the workhorses of the landscape, and the Southern Living® Plant Collection features several different varieties, such as Oakland®, Golden Oakland®, and Robin™ Holly.
Cleyera
Cleyera is another great evergreen shrub or small tree that would partner well in a garden with hollies, while serving as a companion to Encore Azaleas. Many gardeners are stunned when they first see a mature Bronze Beauty™ or LeAnn™ Cleyera. Glossy deep green and bronze-colored foliage on a 10- to 12-foot shrub will take your breath away, while your Encore Azaleas dazzle below. You’ll also find beautiful new variegation in the other Southern Living Plant Collection cleyera varieties Romeo
® and Juliet
®. Abelias
Variegated foliage artfully creates different textures in your garden. Imagine an informal drift of seven or nine red Autumn Bonfire® azaleas, or maybe the award-winning purple Autumn Royalty®. While their blooms are exhibiting unimaginable beauty, the look would be even more riveting if grown next to a sweep of one of the incredible variegated abelias like Miss Lemon™ or ‘Kaleidoscope’. Each of these Southern Living Plant Collection abelia varieties offers colorful variegated foliage that lasts all year. Glowing with white to light pink blooms in spring, these shrubs are a winning addition no matter your favorite Encore color.Carex or Sedge
Texture or color will be unsurpassed if you partner your Encore Azaleas with one of the Carex from the EverColor® series. The fine-leafed texture and bright chartreuse of ‘Everillo’ or variegation from ‘Everest’ will give absolute magic to all of your azalea plantings, whether used in the foreground or alongside as a cluster. Seven choices of color and variegation will amaze when grown with your Encore Azaleas.
The key to matchmaking Encore Azalea varieties with companion plants is to select plants that have similar exposure, soil, and water needs. Soon, you’ll find you’ve created a beautiful garden full of friends!
