# 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=gray-dogwood

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.

## Gray Dogwood grows in old fields and edges, stream banks, dry uplands, rocky ground and the forest understory

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

- [**Common Hackberry** Celtis occidentalis shares stream banks, rocky ground, dry uplands and old fields and edges](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/)

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

- [**American Hazelnut** Corylus americana shares the forest understory, old fields and edges and dry uplands](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-hazelnut/)

- [**Black Huckleberry** Gaylussacia baccata shares dry uplands, rocky ground and the forest understory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-huckleberry/)

- [**Blackhaw Viburnum** Viburnum prunifolium shares the forest understory, dry uplands and old fields and edges](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/blackhaw/)

- [**Carolina Buckthorn** Frangula caroliniana shares rocky ground, the forest understory and dry uplands](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-buckthorn/)

- [**Common Hoptree (Wafer Ash)** Ptelea trifoliata shares rocky ground, the forest understory and stream banks](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hoptree/)

- [**Deerberry** Vaccinium stamineum shares dry uplands, rocky ground and the forest understory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/deerberry/)

## Trees to plant it under

Gray Dogwood takes some shade, so it can live beneath these.

[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/)

[Fall colorHoney tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-gum/)

### [Black Gum (Tupelo)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-gum/)

Nyssa sylvatica

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

[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/)

[Fall colorDrought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sassafras/)

### [Sassafras](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sassafras/)

Sassafras albidum

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

[EdibleHoney tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-persimmon/)

### [American Persimmon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-persimmon/)

Diospyros virginiana

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

## Beside it

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

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

### [Blackhaw Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/blackhaw/)

Viburnum prunifolium

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

[RareFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-buckthorn/)

### [Carolina Buckthorn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-buckthorn/)

Frangula caroliniana

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

[EdibleFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-hazelnut/)

### [American Hazelnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-hazelnut/)

Corylus americana

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

[Showy flowersFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/arrowwood-viburnum/)

### [Arrowwood Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/arrowwood-viburnum/)

Viburnum dentatum

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

[EdibleFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-huckleberry/)

### [Black Huckleberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-huckleberry/)

Gaylussacia baccata

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

## 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.