Creeping Jenny, botanically known as Lysimachia nummularia, is a ground cover prized for its bright, coin-shaped foliage. Selecting the right companions for this fast-growing perennial is the secret to creating a stunning and harmonious garden display. This guide offers practical advice on pairing Creeping Jenny with other plants that share its environmental needs or provide compelling visual contrast.
Understanding Creeping Jenny’s Ideal Growing Environment
Creeping Jenny is a resilient plant that prefers consistently moist to almost wet soil, often found along stream banks and moist meadows. This soil preference is a defining factor when choosing suitable neighbors. The plant is adaptable across a wide range of light exposures, from full sun to partial shade.
The light level directly influences the foliage color. When grown in full sun, provided the soil moisture is maintained, the leaves develop a brilliant golden hue. In partial or dappled shade, the plant exhibits a more lime-green or chartreuse tone. This perennial features a dense, trailing growth habit, spreading rapidly by rooting along its stems, requiring companions robust enough not to be entirely smothered.
Companion Plants for Moist, Shady Areas
Pairing Creeping Jenny with plants that share its need for moist soil and shaded conditions ensures a successful planting. Shade-tolerant perennials with different leaf structures provide a beautiful textural contrast against the ground cover’s small, smooth, rounded leaves.
Hostas are a natural fit, as they also prefer damp, humus-rich soil and thrive in partial to deep shade. Selecting varieties with blue, variegated, or deep green foliage allows the bright chartreuse of Creeping Jenny to stand out against the hosta’s broad, corrugated leaves. The combination of their different leaf shapes and sizes adds significant visual interest.
Feathery-fronded Ferns, like the Lady Fern or the Japanese Painted Fern, offer a delicate texture that beautifully complements Creeping Jenny’s dense mat. Ferns flourish in damp soil and shaded spots, creating a lush, layered effect. Another excellent companion is Astilbe, a perennial that sends up tall, colorful plumes of red, pink, or white flowers. Astilbe provides vertical dimension and a soft texture, sharing the requirement for moist, permeable soil.
Creating Visual Interest with Contrasting Plants
The vibrant yellow-green of Creeping Jenny is an excellent accent, making it ideal for pairing with plants chosen for their contrasting color, texture, or height. The most striking aesthetic contrast is achieved by using plants with deep purple, burgundy, or nearly black foliage.
Heuchera, or Coral Bells, is a superb choice, particularly cultivars that feature very dark, ruffled leaves. Placing the bright green trailing stems next to these dark, mounding perennials creates a high-impact color pairing that draws the eye. Dark-leaved varieties of Coleus or purplish-red Cordyline also offer dramatic height and rich color that intensify the ground cover’s brightness.
For a textural pairing, upright plants like the Japanese Barberry or deep red Sedums can be used, provided their slightly more moderate moisture needs are managed. These contrasting elements prevent the garden from becoming visually flat, using the bright ground cover as a visual “pop” against the darker, more substantial background. This strategy leverages the color wheel, where the yellow tones of Creeping Jenny stand out dramatically against purple and burgundy opposites.
Planting Strategies: Containers and Edging
Creeping Jenny’s vigorous, trailing habit makes it suitable for various planting applications beyond the garden bed. It is frequently employed as a “spiller” in container gardening, where its stems cascade over the pot’s edge. It pairs well with taller “thriller” plants, such as upright ornamental grasses or annuals, and mounding “filler” plants, creating a balanced and multi-layered arrangement.
As a ground cover, it is often used for border edging or to soften the hard lines of pathways, such as planting between stepping stones. This application showcases its dense, low-growing mat and provides a smooth transition from lawn or pavement to garden bed. Because of its rapid, spreading growth, trim back any stems that encroach on smaller companion plants. Regularly pruning the spreading stems helps manage its growth, ensuring it remains an accent rather than a dominant feature.