# Companion species

> Pick one native tree or shrub and see the plants that share its ground in the wild, live under its canopy, or pair with it in a yard.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/?species=arrowwood-viburnum

Pick one plant and see what grows with it: the natives that share its ground in the wild, and the ones that pair with it in a yard because they want the same sun, soil and climate.

## Arrowwood Viburnum grows in stream banks, the forest understory, rich moist slopes and the coast

These natives share that ground, so they will look right together and want the same care.

- [**Bladdernut** Staphylea trifolia shares stream banks, rich moist slopes and the forest understory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bladdernut/)

- [**Eastern Leatherwood** Dirca palustris shares rich moist slopes, the forest understory and stream banks](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-leatherwood/)

- [**Pinxterbloom Azalea** Rhododendron periclymenoides shares the forest understory, rich moist slopes and stream banks](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pinxterbloom-azalea/)

- [**White Fringetree** Chionanthus virginicus shares stream banks, the forest understory and rich moist slopes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/white-fringetree/)

- [**Mountain Camellia (Mountain Stewartia)** Stewartia ovata shares stream banks, rich moist slopes and the forest understory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mountain-camellia/)

- [**Witch Hazel** Hamamelis virginiana shares the forest understory, rich moist slopes and stream banks](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/witch-hazel/)

- [**Gray Dogwood** Cornus racemosa shares stream banks and the forest understory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gray-dogwood/)

- [**Nannyberry** Viburnum lentago shares stream banks and the forest understory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nannyberry/)

## Trees to plant it under

Arrowwood Viburnum takes some shade, so it can live beneath these.

[Evergreen](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-holly/)

### [American Holly, select line](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-holly/)

Ilex opaca

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-holly/)

[Showy flowersFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-silverbell/)

### [Carolina Silverbell](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-silverbell/)

Halesia tetraptera

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-silverbell/)

[Drought tolerantEdible](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/)

### [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/)

Celtis occidentalis

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/)

[Drought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/hop-hornbeam/)

### [Hop Hornbeam](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/hop-hornbeam/)

Ostrya virginiana

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/hop-hornbeam/)

[Showy flowersDrought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-catalpa/)

### [Northern Catalpa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-catalpa/)

Catalpa speciosa

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-catalpa/)

[EdibleRare](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-mulberry/)

### [Red Mulberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-mulberry/)

Morus rubra

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-mulberry/)

## Beside it

Plants that want the same sun and soil, for a bed, a hedge or a grove.

[Showy flowersRare](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bladdernut/)

### [Bladdernut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bladdernut/)

Staphylea trifolia

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bladdernut/)

[Showy flowersRare](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-leatherwood/)

### [Eastern Leatherwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-leatherwood/)

Dirca palustris

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-leatherwood/)

[Drought tolerantTolerates wet soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gray-dogwood/)

### [Gray Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gray-dogwood/)

Cornus racemosa

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gray-dogwood/)

[Showy flowersEdible](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nannyberry/)

### [Nannyberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nannyberry/)

Viburnum lentago

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nannyberry/)

[Showy flowers](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pinxterbloom-azalea/)

### [Pinxterbloom Azalea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pinxterbloom-azalea/)

Rhododendron periclymenoides

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pinxterbloom-azalea/)

[Showy flowersFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/witch-hazel/)

### [Witch Hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/witch-hazel/)

Hamamelis virginiana

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/witch-hazel/)

## How the matches are made

Every species we grow is tagged with the natural communities it lives in: floodplain forests, swamps, stream banks, rich slopes, dry ridges, sandy barrens, rocky ground, old fields, the forest understory, the mountains and the coast. Wild neighbors are the species that share one or more of those tags, with the closest matches first. Yard pairings use the plant's own needs instead: overlapping hardiness zones and soil moisture, and for the shade pairings, a size difference of at least two classes and a smaller plant that tolerates part shade or shade.

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](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/) for the spot itself, and the [growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/) for how much room each one will want in twenty years.