Great Companion Plants For Your Flowering Crabapples

Among nature’s most beautiful and interesting trees, conifers deserve a spot in most gardens. Adding year-round beauty and structure to your landscape, these shapely and statuesque evergreens include Spruces (Picea), Firs (Abies), Cedars (Cedrus), False Cypresses (Chamaecyparis), and many others. The contrast of pink or white flowering crabapples against a background of blue conifers, such as blue spruces, is particularly outstanding.

Hardy and vigorous, early flowering lilacs (Syringa x hyacinthiflora) are terrific shrubs that reward us with an abundance of exquisitely scented flowers in mid-spring, about 7-10 days earlier than common lilacs. But this is not their only charm. Their foliage often colors up to shades of red, purple, and gold in fall, extending their season of interest. Easy to grow, Hyacinth Lilacs are low-maintenance shrubs that will grow and flower profusely without much attention.

Flowering dogwoods (Cornus) are excellent landscape choices for all four seasons and wonderful crabapple companions. Awakening in spring with their delicate bracts, their foliage turns glorious shades of gold, red, or purple in fall and their brilliant red berries attract winter songbirds for the pleasure of all.

Magnolias are outstanding early flowering trees of great beauty and help create glorious combinations with crabapples. Pale yellow magnolias enhance the beauty of pure white or pale pink flowering crabapples, while pink and purple magnolias look stunning with white flowering crabapples.

The large, showy leaves of Hostas complement the blooms and fruits of the crabapples nicely. Large-leaved blue hostas will lend charm to your blooming crabapples. Edge their bed with smaller golden-leaved hostas to create an excellent background for the cascades of red fruit the trees produce in the fall. An amazing number of hostas are available in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and colors, and they create striking combinations!

Hemerocallis (Daylilies) are colorful, spreading perennials that grow in sunlight or under the dappled shade cast by the crabapple trees. Often called the perfect perennial because of their numerous qualities: showy flowers, a wide array of vibrant colors, drought tolerance, ability to grow in most areas, and low care requirements, they are remarkable and stunning additions to the garden where they bloom vigorously for weeks and weeks. They parade their attractive blossoms in summer under the green canopy of crabapples.

Herbaceous peonies and tree peonies (Paeonia) are wonderful companions to crabapples with their brilliant colors. They are compatible in color, fragrance, and form and make each other look better. Plant peonies along a garden walk and savor the beauty and pervasive perfume they lavish on those who pass by.

Underplant your crabapples with low-growing plants such as Periwinkle (Vinca minor), Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon japonicus), and Liriope. Small Violas, Creeping Veronica, Creeping Phlox can also create very fine color combinations.

Some perennial bulbs do well under trees, such as Snowdrops (Galanthus), Crocuses (Crocus), Grape Hyacinths (Muscari), Winter Aconites (Eranthis), Siberian Squills (Scilla siberica), Snowflakes (Leucojum), Bluebells (Hyacinthoides) and early blooming Daffodils (Narcissus). They all look stunning, forming a carpet of flowers dancing in the dappled light under crabapple trees.