Spring-blooming perennials help to bridge the season between spring bulbs and summer-blooming herbaceous plants. Candytuft is a reliable perennial that appears just as the bulbs of spring begin to die back. It is excellent at crowding out annual weeds without competing with nearby perennials and shrubs for nutrients and moisture. It works best as a low-growing edging or moderately spreading ground cover under trees and shrubs.
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Candytuft’s flowers resemble sweet alyssum but it lives much longer and is semi-evergreen in USDA zones 7-9. Candytuft tolerates late-season frosts and will bloom well even during cold spring weather. This perennial requires rich, well-draining soil that retains moisture. It is not a heavy feeder, but appreciates an annual top-dressing of organic compost. Candytuft is fairly drought resistant after fully establishing, although newly planted specimens require regular deep soaks to help them develop a strong root system.
Dividing Candytuft every 2-3 years helps boost growth and prevents the clump from dying out from the center. Water divided plants well in the first year to help them establish.
Shrubs To Plant With Candytuft
Candytuft makes a wonderful ground cover for deciduous and evergreen shrubs, including viburnum, cotoneaster, and rhododendron. The fresh white flowers pop against the deep green foliage of dwarf conifers. You can also plant candytuft with spring-blooming lilacs, forsythia, deutzia, and weigela, which have overlapping bloom times and grow well in the same conditions as candytuft.
Perennials To Plant With Candytuft
Candytuft makes a lovely addition to a cottage garden with various herbaceous perennials blooming at different times. It will grow well with sun lovers like coreopsis, sedum, bee balm, coneflowers, dianthus, and shasta daisies. Many early spring pollinators rely on candytuft for nutritious nectar. The foliage remains lush and deep green all season and will fill in empty spots when spring ephemerals and bulbs die back in the summer.
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Annuals To Plant With Candytuft
Candytuft pairs easily with hardy annuals, which are the first annuals available in the spring. Plant it with sweet alyssum, primrose, pansy, violas, and lobelia, which continue to bloom through summer with regular deadheading. These plants tolerate brief periods of frost and look good against candytuft’s deep green foliage. The bright white flowers of candytuft harmonize with bright colors and offer a fresh and inviting look.
Best Companion Plants For Candytuft in Containers
Candytuft grows well in mixed containers and makes an excellent filler or spiller plant. Use it to highlight thriller plants like caladium, colocasia, Egyptian papyrus reed, or tuberous begonias. The white flowers of candytuft help tie together bright, exciting combinations, such as fuchsia, ivy leaf geraniums, and coleus. The deep green foliage will continue to look fresh after blooming ends.
Candytuft is also a good candidate for window boxes near an outside seating area. Try combining it with bright gold creeping Jenny, tricolored creeping sedum, and deep marooned-colored sweet potato vine for an interesting departure from the usual multilevel planting scheme.
Plants Not To Grow With Candytuft
Candytuft is in the Brassica family of plants, which includes edible plants like cabbages, broccoli, and kale, as well as ornamental plants like stock, wallflowers, sweet alyssum. Brassica plants can stunt the growth of plants in the nightshade family, such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and potatoes. Avoid planting candytuft close to these crops to prevent any unwanted allelopathic effects.
Best Plants To Grow With Candytuft
Candytuft is undeniably at its best while blooming in the spring alongside other early bloomers like spring ephemerals and bulbs, and hardy annuals like pansies, primrose, and violas. It makes a robust ground cover for broadleaf evergreens including rhododendrons and most viburnum shrubs. It can also be used to attract early pollinating insects to a kitchen garden containing early crops like snap peas and strawberries.
Sources: “Plant of the Week: Candytuft.” The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. uaex.uada.edu