Yellow Buckeye
Aesculus flava Large tree Zones 3–8 50–75 ft
Shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and stream banks in the wild.
Companion species
Pick one native tree or shrub and see what grows with it. The matches come in three groups. Some species share its ground in the wild, and others live under its canopy or are the trees it can be planted beneath. The rest suit the same yard because they want the same sun, soil and climate. Every match is explained on the page, so you can see why a species is listed.
Black walnut is left out. The Morton Arboretum lists rhododendron among the plants its juglone harms.
What to plant under a black walnut tables the shrubs and small trees that two or more lists call tolerant and none calls sensitive.
In the wild
Pinkshell Azalea grows in the Appalachians, rich moist slopes, stream banks and rocky ground
These natives share that ground, so they will look right together and want the same care.
Hydrangea radiata Shrub, 3–6 ft · shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and rocky ground
Diervilla rivularis Shrub, 3–6 ft · shares the Appalachians, stream banks and rocky ground
Ilex collina Shrub, 10–13 ft · shares the Appalachians, stream banks and rocky ground
Leucothoe fontanesiana Shrub, 3–6 ft · shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and stream banks
Eubotrys recurva Shrub, 3–12 ft · shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and rocky ground
Clethra acuminata Shrub, 8–20 ft · shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and rocky ground
Stewartia ovata Small tree, 10–20 ft · shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and stream banks
Philadelphus inodorus Shrub, 6–12 ft · shares rich moist slopes, stream banks and rocky ground
In the yard
Trees to plant it under
Pinkshell Azalea takes some shade, so it can live beneath these.
Sweet Birch (Black Birch)
Betula lenta Medium tree Zones 3–8 40–70 ft
Shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and rocky ground in the wild.
Carolina Silverbell
Halesia tetraptera Medium tree Zones 4–8 30–40 ft
Shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and stream banks in the wild.
Yellow Birch
Betula alleghaniensis Large tree Zones 3–7 60–75 ft
Shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and stream banks in the wild.
Northern Red Oak
Quercus rubra Large tree Zones 3–8 50–75 ft
Shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and rocky ground in the wild.
Fraser Fir
Abies fraseri Medium tree Zones 4–7 30–55 ft
Shares the Appalachians and rocky ground in the wild.
In the yard
Beside it
Plants that want the same sun and soil, for a bed, a hedge or a grove.
Piedmont Rhododendron
Rhododendron minus Shrub Zones 5–8 3–10 ft
Shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes, stream banks and rocky ground in the wild. Hardy in zones 5 to 7 of the pinkshell azalea's 4 to 7.
Mountain Witch Alder
Fothergilla major Shrub Zones 4–8 6–10 ft
Shares the Appalachians, stream banks and rocky ground in the wild.
Catawba Rhododendron
Rhododendron catawbiense Shrub Zones 4–8 6–10 ft
Shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and rocky ground in the wild.
Sweet Azalea
Rhododendron arborescens Shrub Zones 4–8 8–20 ft
Shares the Appalachians, stream banks and rocky ground in the wild.
Pinxterbloom Azalea
Rhododendron periclymenoides Shrub Zones 4–9 3–6 ft
Shares the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and stream banks in the wild.
Wild Hydrangea
Hydrangea arborescens Shrub Zones 3–9 3–6 ft
Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks and rocky ground in the wild.
Plan the planting
- When these flower and fruit, in the bloom and fruit calendar.
Be first
Email me when Pinkshell Azalea or a companion is ready to order
For Pinkshell Azalea, Yellow Buckeye, Sweet Birch (Black Birch), Carolina Silverbell, Yellow Birch, Northern Red Oak, Fraser Fir, Piedmont Rhododendron, Mountain Witch Alder, Catawba Rhododendron, Sweet Azalea, Pinxterbloom Azalea: one email per plant when it is priced or back in stock, and nothing else.
How the matches are made
- Natural communities. Every species we grow is tagged with the communities it lives in: floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats, stream banks, rich moist slopes, dry uplands, sandy barrens, rocky ground, old fields and edges, the forest understory, the Appalachians and the coast.
- In the wild. Up to eight natives that share one of those communities with it and grow wild in one of its states. The most communities in common come first, then the native range most like its own. A species in a yard list is not repeated here.
- Under its canopy, or trees to plant it under. Up to six species at least two sizes apart, the smaller one taking part shade or shade: shrubs under a medium tree, shrubs and small trees under a large one.
- Beside it. Up to six that share a sun with it, the same size first.
- The order of a yard list. Every yard pick shares a zone, a soil and a state of native range with it. A shared community counts two points, and a shared sun or soil one. Under a canopy, a species of the forest understory counts two more, and one that takes full shade one more. Of equal scores, the one hardy in more of its zones comes first.
- Your zone. With a zone chosen, the yard lists keep only species rated hardy in it.
- Black walnut. The 37 species we grow that the Morton Arboretum lists as sensitive to its juglone are left out of its answer, and it is left out of theirs. Under a walnut, the species on Morton's tolerant lists come first and are marked.
- Eastern red cedar. The 25 crabapples, hawthorns, serviceberries, chokeberries and mountain ash we grow are left out of its answer, and it is left out of theirs: the cedar-apple, hawthorn, quince and juniper broom rusts live on both, and the University of Minnesota Extension says to keep them a few hundred yards apart.
- A tree we do not grow. The note under the menu names a relative we grow, in the words of its page.
The communities are our own tags. The states of native range are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, read on 2026-09-23, as the native trees by state tool reads them. Zones, sun and soil are each species' own page. The juglone lists are the Morton Arboretum's, read on 2026-10-05, which warns that "any list regarding this topic is incomplete and some of the information may be anecdotal." The rusts' hosts are the University of Minnesota Extension's, read on 2026-10-06. What to plant under a big tree and the article on juglone cover the subject.
Sharing a habitat tag does not mean two plants always grow side by side, and a tag says nothing about how far apart to plant them. Use the planting-site check for the spot itself, and the growth estimator for how much room each one will want in twenty years.