People often ask what plants to combine in a garden – How does a person choose? Take this clematis as an example.  What blooms would work with this simple stunner?

There are many factors that inform a decision about plant combinations.  One way to help the decision is to get to know the delicate intricacies of the colors of the plant.

Purple clematis – Clematis jackmanii – is familiar, sure.  It’s common and somewhat pedestrian – one of your neighbors probably has one scrambling along a mailbox. But if you look closer, it’s also remarkable: ruffled purple cross-shaped blooms, silvery-white and even bold hot pink.

Consider plants that could echo those color details.  Try it with Silvery-white lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina).

Or pair it with soft white and deep purple mountain bluet (Centaurea montana ‘Amethyst in Snow’)

You could also continue the purple-silver combination into deep summer with purple-pink sedum (Sedum ‘Matrona’) and artemisia (Artemisia schmidtiana ‘Silver Mound’)

The best part about thinking through all these choices?  Getting to enjoy the subtle details of your blooms.