Hi James!

I know a little about companion planting but I use it only in my vegitable garden, to make them taste better and to protect them from insects.
I use many annuals in the garden like Marigolds, Basil, lettuce, Soya beans, mustard greens mixed in and many others, to make my veggies happy.
In your case you have listed mostly Trees, shrugs for foundation planting and perennials. Those do best if planted either in sun or shade. Plant colour combinations and textures to compliment each other.

hi wildflower :) tks for your message...im not planting any veggies (accept a cpl tomato plnts) - i was wondering if there is anything that lists which plants look best with which plants :) ... am i dreaming?

The thing about flowers is there are no hard and fast rules about what looks best with what but--I do not plant like leaves, heights or colors next to each other. I like to offset dark colors with light so the dark shows. If I don't like a plant in one place I make a note in the summer and move it the next year. I do keep a note book exclusively for my flowers and I note things down throughout the summer--this plant needs dividing--don't like this plant there move it to there--not flowering well move more into the sun--etc.

Hi James-I tend to agree with oilpainter-I tend to place my plants together depending on leaf style, colour and requirements. For example I have a few hydrangeas and with them I have planted some lamb's ears-they're no hassle, require little care and the different colour and texture of the leaves look cool against each other.
If you have hostas you probably have a more shaded area or at least dappled shade-with those, you could put some different types of ferns or jacob's ladder, solomon seal, bleeding heart, for colour...maybe begonias with morning light...you get the idea.
Play around, it's so much fun. And there are so many plants to choose from-depending on soil and water requirements and such.
Happy gardening, Kim

Do you live near a library? Check the gardening and landscape sections for the many books that deal with this subject. There are too many for me to list here. Pamela Harper has written several describing which colors to plant together. What you need to know as well are the amount of sun, shade, type of soil, moisture etc. that your plants need, and plant ones that have the same requirements together. That's more important than deciding which colors go well together. You can use the internet to search data on each of your plants and make some notes on each of them as to what conditions they prefer. I use "Google" with the scientific name of the plant and then summarize the info. on a paper where I have all my plants listed. That way I know the ultimate height and width of the plant, whether it prefers sun or shade, etc. Then I have all the info. I need to decide where to put it in my garden. On your paper list you should have marked color and blooming time as well, whether it is a shrub or perennial.

I have some books I bought at Chapters. They are about color in the garden. One is called Color Your Garden by Mary Keen and the other one is called Color for Adventurous Gardeners by Christopher Lloyd. I'm sure you can either see them there or as ontnative says, go to your local library and check them out there. Looking thru different books will give you some great ideas and don't forget the magazines. Marg