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Thompson & Morgan · Affiliate Partner

Shade & Woodland Companion Plants

The plants that share a border with hardy orchids

Hardy orchids grow best in company. These shade and woodland companions — sourced from Thompson & Morgan — thrive in the same part-shaded, humus-rich ground as your Cypripedium, Bletilla and Dactylorhiza, and fill the border while orchids are dormant.

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Filter: Hostas Ferns Hellebores Primulas Anemones Fritillarias Snowdrops Corydalis Erythroniums

Hostas (103)

Shade-loving foliage plants that thrive in the same humus-rich, part-shade beds as Cypripedium and Bletilla — plant them together and the hostas fill in while orchids take their season off.

Ferns (66)

Ferns share an orchid's preference for cool, moist, well-drained shade, and their year-round structure covers the gap while deciduous orchids die back.

Hellebores (44)

Winter and early-spring flower when little else moves — hellebores bridge the season before your hardy orchids emerge.

Primulas (38)

Woodland and candelabra primulas share the same moist, part-shaded ground as Dactylorhiza and Epipactis, and flower earlier to extend the display.

Anemones (64)

From spring wood anemones to autumn Japanese anemones, this genus fills a border with colour either side of the orchid flowering window.

Fritillarias (25)

Species fritillaries naturalise in the same damp, dappled ground that suits woodland orchids, and flower before the canopy closes.

Snowdrops (14)

The first bulbs up each year — plant them through the same beds as your dormant hardy orchids for late-winter interest.

Corydalis (5)

Low, ferny, shade-tolerant spring colour that asks for nothing and spreads gently without competing with orchid roots.

Erythroniums (3)

Woodland trout lilies for the same cool, humus-rich shade as Cypripedium — a short but striking spring display.