What Grows With Peonies?

Growing Habits

• Peonies are generally undemanding plants, happy to grow in a variety of soils and growing mediums. They prefer, however, nutrient-rich, loamy soil with plenty of room to expand their fleshy roots. Peonies tolerate dappled shade, but need full sun for abundantly brilliant blooms. For best results, peonies should be paired with other plants that thrive in similar growing conditions. Peonies can grow to be quite large over time, and dislike transplanting, so establish a permanent area in the garden. Add colorful smaller plants that grow less than 3 feet for a showy foreground, or grow low-maintenance flowering shrubs that grow 4 feet or more as a supportive backdrop.

Coordinate by Bloom Season

• Early-blooming bulb perennials, such as tiny snowdrops or grape hyacinths, pepper the garden plot with color while the peony develops buds. Daffodils and tulips overlap the bloom times of the early-blooming bulbs and the peonies. The peony's thick foliage will grow to conceal the messy leftover stems and leaves of the later-blooming bulbs. Later-blooming plants such as daylily, purple coneflower and turtleheads ensure that the garden is always vibrant long after the peony blooms have faded.

Coordinate by Color

• Most peony cultivars produce pink, red or white blooms, or a combination of colors. Consider plants such as the white foxglove or white iris with the Krinkled White or Green Halo peony for a harmonious white color scheme; a pink rose shrub paired with the lush blooms and foliage of the Sarah Bernhardt or Pillow Talk peony evokes the gauzy romanticism of an English cottage garden. The tiny indigo flowers and glossy green leaves of vinca minor ground cover or the purple bearded iris paired with the brilliant red America or Blaze peony provides a vividly contrasting palette of blue and red blooms.

Coordinate by Texture and Shape

• Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials recommends pairing peonies with classic border perennials such as the bushy iris and daylily and the spiky flowers of delphinium. These plants thrive in full sun and rich loam soil alongside peonies and provide a variegated shapeliness to the perennial garden. Ground covers such as creeping phlox grow prolifically under the peony's lush canopy. The butterfly bush, reaching heights of 5 to 6 feet at maturity, extends colorful rods of purple or white clusters over the peony without blocking too much of the necessary sun.