What to Plant with Lupine – A Colorful Companion Planting Guide

Lupines are stunning perennial flowers that bloom in late spring and early summer. Their spiky towers come in a variety of colors like purple, yellow, white, pink, blue, and even bicolors. Lupines grow 1-3 feet tall and wide, making them ideal for backgrounds and cottage gardens.

While lupines make beautiful standalone plants, they also pair wonderfully with other flowers, herbs, and vegetation. The key is choosing plants with compatible growing needs and visually complementing colors and textures. Here are some of the best companion plants for lupines:

Shrubs That Complement Lupines

• Lilacs – These spring-blooming shrubs reach 4-15 feet tall. Choose compact varieties under 6 feet for borders. Their purple flowers pair nicely with purple and pink lupines.

• Weigela – Weigela shrubs grow 4-6 feet tall with pink, red, or white spring flowers. They contrast well with blue and yellow lupines.

• Rose of Sharon – At 6-12 feet tall, rose of Sharon serves as a mid-border background shrub. Its summer blooms coordinate with late-season lupines.

• Roses – Bush roses and climbing roses offer a variety of flower colors. Focus on varieties under 5 feet tall for borders.

Perennials That Flower Alongside Lupines

• Bee Balm – With its shaggy pink, red, or purple blooms, bee balm complements lupines in cottage and prairie gardens It grows 2-4 feet tall.

• Sea Holly – The unique prickly texture of sea holly’s blueflower heads contrast nicely with lupines’ smooth leaves and flowers. It reaches 1-3 feet tall.

• Garden Phlox – Phlox paniculata offers summer-blooming white, pink, purple, and red flowers on 2-4 foot tall plants. It suits casual cottage gardens with lupines.

• Blazing Star – These late summer wildflowers have purple, pink, or white spikes reaching 1-5 feet tall. They extend the season after lupines finish blooming.

• Peonies – The lush, full blooms of peonies complement lupines’ vertical spikes. Choose herbaceous or intersectional peonies in white, pink, red, or yellow.

• Bearded Irises – Tall bearded irises come in a huge range of colors. They make ideal partners for lupines since they bloom at the same time and grow 1-3 feet tall.

Annuals For Colorful Lupine Companion Planting

• Sunflowers – Cheery sunflower flowers pair perfectly with lupines. Choose short varieties like ‘Elf’ or ‘Honeycomb’ for borders.

• Marigolds – Marigolds are available in orange, yellow, white, and multi-colors. The compact French marigold varieties work well with lupines.

• Zinnias – These heat-loving annuals bloom through summer in colors like red, pink, orange, yellow, white, and striped. Try the ‘Profusion’ series 6-12 inches tall.

• Angelonia – Sometimes called “summer snapdragons,” angelonia produces purple, white, or pink flowers on 12-30 inch upright plants suited for backgrounds.

• Salvia – The tall flower spikes of salvia nicely echo those of lupines. Look for purple, red, pink, white, or blue varieties like ‘Evolution Violet’ or ‘Mystic Spires Blue.’

Herbs and Vegetables That Grow Well With Lupines

• Chives – The round lavender flower heads of chives contrast with pointy lupine spikes. The grassy leaves also make a nice texture pairing.

• Oregano – Bushy oregano plants bear pink or white flowers in summer. The bees will thank you for planting oregano and lupines together!

• Thyme – Low-growing creeping thyme suits the front of lupine borders. Go for lemon thyme or silver thyme for colorful foliage.

• Mint – Choose compact mint varieties like Corsican mint. The tiny mauve flowers and fragrant foliage complement lupines’ colors and bee popularity.

• Beans – Pole beans and bush beans fix nitrogen in soil, benefiting nitrogen-loving lupines. Plus, the bean flowers attract pollinators.

• Carrots – The ferny foliage of carrots contrasts nicely with lupines’ bold leaf shapes. Plus, lupines’ roots help loosen soil for the carrots.

Best Companion Plants for Lupines In Containers

Container plantings let you combine lupines with trailing plants like:

• Ivy geraniums – Red, pink, purple, or white ivy geraniums spill attractively over pot edges, contrasting with upright lupines.

• Calibrachoa – Also called million bells, these prolific bloomers come in blue, purple, pink, yellow, orange, red, and white.

• Bacopa – This low-growing trailing plant bears abundant tiny white blooms. It handles heat well.

• Dichondra – The small, rounded silver or green leaves of dichondra make a living mulch under lupines. Choose ‘Silver Falls’ for its cascading habit.

• Thyme – In addition to its culinary uses, thyme makes an attractive lupine container companion. Go for trailing woolly thyme or elfin thyme.

Plants to Avoid Growing with Lupines

While lupines pair well with many plants, a few options are best avoided:

• Shade lovers – Lupines need full sun, so don’t plant them near trees/shrubs that will block light as they mature.

• Water-lovers – Lupines prefer drier soil, so bog plants won’t work well. Avoid cardinal flower, astilbe, ligularia, and other moisture lovers.

• Aggressive spreaders – Lupines self-seed readily, so avoid pairing them with mint, lemon balm, Jerusalem artichokes, or other fast spreaders.

• Short plants – Lupines grow tall and may overwhelm slow-growing, short plants. Don’t combine lupines with creeping phlox, primroses, or violas.

Tips for Successful Lupine Companion Planting

Here are a few handy tips to get the most out of combining lupines with other plants:

• Stick to the same soil, sun, and watering needs for the happiest plant pairings

• Limit companions to under 3 feet tall to prevent crowding and shading of lupines

• Deadhead faded lupine flowers to reduce self-seeding

• Amend soil with compost to provide nutrition for both plants

• Mass lupines together with companions for a cohesive look

• Repeat key companion plants throughout the garden for cohesion

With their vibrant, vertical flower spikes, lupines make showstopping focal points and backgrounds in borders, cottage gardens, prairie gardens, wildflower meadows, and even containers. Pair them with shrubs, perennials, annuals, herbs, and vegetables in harmonizing colors and forms. Using compatible, complementary companion plants allows the beauty of lupines to shine while creating a rich tapestry in your landscape.