Mixed Plantation Beds

[aykhan]

I was thinking there is so much scattered information in tidbits all over our forum about which plants to plant together in beds for not only the compatibility perspective but also how one plant complements the other. For example

- Water loving plants cannot be planted with those which like it dry
- Plants for full sun cannot be planted in a bed with shade loving plants
- Too tall plants will hide smaller plants if planted in front
- If all the bulbs in a bed have a similar dormancy period then you'll have an empty bed
- Aggressively growing plants should not be planted with those which are too slow or need to be spaced appropriately

Etc etc

Imran Khurram pointed out the other day that Louisiana Iris can be planted with Canna since when the iris fade away the Canna start sprouting so something is always going on in the bed. Both these plants are OK with lesser light and love water. Similarly it is well known that Clematis complements roses.

I am starting this post in hopes of getting detailed feedback of people's experience in what are best combinations of plants/bulbs for soil beds so that there is something interesting in the bed throughout the year and also they complement each other rather than masking each others beauty.

[UMARKHANMARDAN]

Dr sb frankly speaking i have never tried mixed beds.the reason is i like mass plantings of annuals in single color schemes.thats also the reason i do not grow so many bulbs.i have seen Tulips in mass plantings in Holland & it needs too much space & thousands of bulbs.so i am out of the mixed beds.yes one thing i do i plant the tall annuls in the back border & short in the front.so i am out of this game brother ha ha ha.i am in learning stage ha ha ha.

[aykhan]

Lets see if we get an encouraging response for this Khan Saheb

[Hamad]

yes I m very interested in mixed plantation in beds I have been practising this for a while now the best that I had so far is the combination of Tuberose and Gul-e-nargis both are totally different flowers and season but my question is still there ironically dormant bulbs don’t get rotted and survive all the odds

and now Khurram gave a new idea of Lilies and Iris, I will try this combination because the good part is you dont need to plan or plant every season and you will get something throughout the year

Hamad

[aykhan]

Did you water your tuberoses heavily in the summer? I am not surprised that narcissus sprung back and didn't rot since my experience this season was the same. I think very narcissus I left in the ground came back despite the heavy rains. Also all the freesias in ground sprung back.

[Hamad]

Yes I watered them according to their requirement and according to the weather didn't stop watering just because of dormant plants and another combination could be Dahlia and mums

Hamad

[Farhan Ahmed]

I guess i can't be of any help as i have some knowledge of annuals only.