Skip to main content

What to plant with tulips: 9 gorgeous flowers your garden needs

Tulips are beautiful, low-maintenance flowers that add color and elegance to any garden. If you’re trying to maintain a garden year-round, then tulips are a great, hardy spring perennial to plant. You can even cross-pollinate your tulips for new colors and patterns! While you can have a garden of just tulips, they pair well with many plants, as long as they have the same love of full to partial sun and dry soil.

If you’re wondering what to plant with tulips, we’ve selected nine amazing plants that pair well with tulips for different reasons. No matter what you’d like out of a companion plant, some of these plants are sure to appeal to you.

Brunnera and hostas

After tulip blossoms fade, their leaves are left standing for a while. Over time, the leaves dry out, turn yellow, and die. It’s necessary for the tulips, but it isn’t very pretty. This is one area that these two companion plants can help. Both brunnera and hostas have large, lovely leaves that can help cover the tulip leaves as they die. You can plant both in early spring, but with hostas, you can plant in early fall as well.

During the spring, while tulips are blooming, hosta flowers rise above them, creating a layered look to your garden. Brunnera, also called false forget-me-nots, put out swaths of bright blue flowers that contrast nicely with many tulip varieties. Both hostas and brunnera prefer partial shade over full sun, which makes them suited for tulip beds beneath large trees. If you plant smaller varieties of hostas and brunnera, then the tulips will offer them some shade as well.

Brunnera siberian bugloss flowers

Crocus and Virginia bluebells

If you’re looking for companion plants that look beautiful blooming beside your tulips in the spring, then crocuses and Virginia bluebells are two fabulous options. Crocuses are one of the earliest spring blooming flowers, so they tend to bloom just before tulips. If you want a lovely lead-in for your tulips, then crocuses are a great choice.

Crocuses grow from bulbs, much like tulips, but they are smaller, so you can mix them with your tulips without worrying about crowding. Virginia bluebells are a little bigger, but they’ll bloom at roughly the same time as your tulips. However, both crocuses and Virginia bluebells die back and go dormant during the summer. Although they look lovely in the spring, you’ll need additional companion plants to keep your garden vibrant during the summer.

Crocuses use cold weather to signal when it’s time to begin growing, so plant them during the fall — six to eight weeks before a hard freeze or frost is ideal. This gives them time to establish roots before the cold weather puts them into dormancy. You can plant Virginia bluebells in the fall or spring. You may even be able to find Virginia bluebell seedlings at your local nursery.

Crocus flowers blooming in snow

Columbine and speedwell

If you’d like to keep your garden vibrant throughout the summer, but want something a little flashier than foliage, then columbine and speedwell might be the right choice for you. Both of these gorgeous flowers bloom just after tulips, keeping your garden colorful even after your tulips fade. Columbine flowers come in a wide array of colors, including two-toned shades, so you can match them to your tulips with ease.

Speedwells, also called Veronicas, come primarily in blue and purple, but they’re available in many sizes. There are short, ground-cover speedwells and those that grow tall flower spikes. You can plant both speedwells and columbines in the early spring, and you can plant columbines in the fall as well.

Purple and white columbine flowers

Catnip, sage, and rosemary

Catnip, sage, and rosemary make up the last category of companion plants on our list. All three are herbaceous perennials, and they offer benefits to your garden year-round. They enjoy the same conditions as tulips, but they grow quite a bit larger. For this reason, they make great backdrops for your tulip garden. They have beautiful light blue flowers, but most gardeners grow them for their scent and herbal uses.

Catnip is a favorite of many cats, of course, but it’s edible for humans as well. Catnip tea is a common home remedy for sore throats. Sage and rosemary are both flavorful herbs that you can add to many dishes. As companion plants, they are sedate but steadfast. While the tulips are in bloom, catnip, sage, and rosemary won’t steal the show from them. During the summer; however, when the tulip leaves are drying out, these herbs draw plenty of attention.

These nine amazing plants make great company for your tulips. They all enjoy full sun and well-draining, drier soils. They’re low maintenance as well, so you don’t need to worry about draining your resources to care for extra plants. Whether you decide to partner your tulips with one of these plants, several of these plants, or your own personal favorite companion plants, we wish you luck getting your garden started this year!

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Cayla Leonard
Cayla Leonard is a writer from North Carolina who is passionate about plants.  She enjoys reading and writing fiction and…
Loquat trees provide flowers, fruit, and even herbal tea! Here’s what you need to know about growing these useful plants
Loquat tree care guide
Ripe loquats on a loquat tree

Sweet, juicy, and fruit fresh from your garden is a treat unlike any other. If you’ve tried growing some of the typical garden staples such as blackberries or apples and are looking for something new, then loquat trees should be your next garden addition.

Native to southern China, this tree offers beautiful flowers, tasty fruit, and even leaves that can transform into herbal tea! Interested in all this tree has to offer? Use this simple care guide to get started growing your own today.
Planting a loquat tree
Start by choosing your planting site, since you may need to take extra steps to prepare it before planting. Choose a location in full sun or partial shade with well-draining, slightly acidic soil. Adding compost, pine straw, or peat moss to your soil can help adjust the pH.

Read more
Angelonia is excellent for containers, borders, and more – how to grow this beautiful and sweet-smelling flower
An angelonia care guide for growing these flowers in your garden
Light purple angelonia flowers

Angelonia is a beautiful flower with a sweet scent that some say is reminiscent of apples. It grows short flower spikes that bloom in shades of purple, blue, pink, and white. Angelonia’s smaller size and lovely colors make it exceptionally popular for use in container gardens and garden borders. To help you get started growing angelonia for yourself, here is a simple care guide.
Planting angelonia
When growing it outdoors, begin planting your angelonia in mid-spring. Although mature angelonia plants can tolerate some cold weather, colder temperatures slow down the germination of their seeds.

You can start angelonia indoors at any time, as long as you keep the seeds and seedlings warm. You can transplant the seedlings in your garden once the weather warms up. If you live north of zone 9, you’ll either need to grow your angelonia in a container or grow it as an annual. Whether indoors or out, make sure your angelonia is growing in full sun and rich, well-draining soil.

Read more
How to care for crocosmia – get stunning red and orange flowers all summer long
Caring for your own crocosmia flowers
Orange crocosmia flowers

A summer garden full of bright, vibrant flowers is a delight to behold, and there are so many colors to choose from. From sunny yellows to cheerful pinks, there are flowers in practically any color you could want. If you’re looking for orange and red flowers that really stand out, then crocosmia might be just what you need! Also called coppertips, these flowers are easy to grow and lovely to look at. Just follow these tips to grow your own.
Planting crocosmia
Begin planting your crocosmia in mid-spring, after the last chance of frost has passed. If you want to get a head start you can plant them in starter pots indoors or in a greenhouse. Then, transplant the crocosmia into your garden once the weather is warm.

Choose a planting site that's in full sun or light shade. Crocosmia does best in rich and well-draining soil. You can improve your soil before planting by adding compost or leaf mulch. The organic matter breaks down, leaving gaps in the soil for water to flow through as well as adding nutrients to the soil for your plants to use.

Read more