Lady’s mantle is a classic cottage style plant that creates a lovely, relaxed atmosphere in any garden. The almost lime green flowers it produces in the summer are something special, and the apple green leaves are always worth admiring. But these colors can often conflict with other plants in the garden. Add in that lady’s mantle grows best in the sun or part shade, and you start to see why so many people struggle to find the best lady’s mantle companion plants.
Lady’s mantle companion plants
What looks best and what actually grows best with this beautiful plant? We’re here to cover that for you today, so you’ll know exactly which plants work best!
1. Alliums
Alliums create an almost pompom like flower that’s almost violently mauve. A mauve colored flower like alliums might not be your first thought, but the lime green flowers of the lady’s mantle cry out for something a little bolder. And that’s why alliums work so well.
Besides that, alliums grow on tall stems and produce the pompom flower at the very top of that stem, so everything below the flower is a little lackluster. And that’s where the two-way relationship of the alliums and lady’s mantle really works well.
By using lady’s mantle to hide the foliage at the base of the alliums and covering up their shortfalls in the stem, you can make the two look great together.
Practically speaking, alliums prefer the sun or part shade too, so you can really use the two together to create an interesting look in the garden and improve the appeal of both of them.
2. Peonies
Peonies are plants that are going to look great no matter where you plant them, but it’s the amount of different peonies there are out there that make them so exciting.
With shades ranging from subtle pinks (which work great with lady’s mantle) to deep crimson (another great choice), peonies can be used in many different garden set ups to add contrast and drama in both loud and subtle ways.
What works especially well is, like with the alliums above, planting lady’s mantle beneath them. With peonies, the interest really is in their jewel flowers, so by adding lady’s mantle beneath, you can create a really exciting focal point.
Also, peonies prefer to be grown in the full sun, and their flowers can be used as partial shade for the lady’s mantle, which they love, so together they work surprisingly well.
3. Salvia
Salvias are very interesting plants because their flowers are tall and very vibrant. This is a wonderful combination with many different plants, but one that lady’s mantle seems to call out for.
Why? Well, lady’s mantle is beautiful, of course, but they do lack height. That can often result in them being cast aside as just the first plant in a flower bed, which inevitably gets ignored. But grow saliva amongst lady’s mantle, and you suddenly have interest.
The deep purple versions of salvia work especially well, but they come in pink and dark blue varieties too, which could also work depending on what other plants you have around.
Salvia loves the sun though, so if pairing with lady’s mantle, you’ll want to make sure they’re both in a spot where they can get sun most of the day. Remember, lady’s mantle can handle the sun too, so this combination still works brilliantly so long as you keep both plants well watered.
4. Hardy Geraniums
We might just have saved the best until last here, because hardy geraniums and lady’s mantle were almost made to be flowering buddies. Yes, as far as lady’s mantle companion plants go, this combination is probably our favorite.
Again, hardy geraniums come in all sorts of shades, but their blue or magenta varieties will work great with lady’s mantle especially. But more than their colorings, it’s their maintenance similarities that make these especially well-suited to one another.
Both plants like either the partial shade or the sun, so wherever you’ve got room in the garden, you can plant them. But more importantly, they both need to be cut back after flowering to produce more flowers the following year.
We don’t know about you, but keeping up with the maintenance needs of the different plants in your garden can feel like a chore, so often the best companion plants are ones that have similar needs so you can remember how to treat them correctly. Hey, it’s a good a reason as any to plant things together!
Lady’s mantle companion plants: Final Takeaway
We’ve not covered every plant here today – roses, geums, penstemons – all these and more work just as well. But if we were to narrow it down to the absolute best lady’s mantle companion plants, then the four on today’s list would definitely be our favorite pairings!