# 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=sweet-birch

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.

## Sweet Birch (Black Birch) grows in rich moist slopes, the Appalachians, rocky ground and dry uplands

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

- [**Blue Ash** Fraxinus quadrangulata shares rocky ground, dry uplands and rich moist slopes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/blue-ash/)

- [**Mountain Laurel** Kalmia latifolia shares dry uplands, the Appalachians and rocky ground](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mountain-laurel/)

- [**Allegheny Serviceberry** Amelanchier laevis shares rich moist slopes and the Appalachians](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/allegheny-serviceberry/)

- [**American Mountain Ash** Sorbus americana shares the Appalachians and rocky ground](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-mountain-ash/)

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

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

- [**Carolina Silverbell** Halesia tetraptera shares rich moist slopes and the Appalachians](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-silverbell/)

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

## Under its canopy

Shrubs and small trees that take the shade a sweet birch (black birch) casts and like the same soil.

[EvergreenShowy flowers](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mountain-laurel/)

### [Mountain Laurel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mountain-laurel/)

Kalmia latifolia

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

[Showy flowersEdible](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/allegheny-serviceberry/)

### [Allegheny Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/allegheny-serviceberry/)

Amelanchier laevis

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

[Showy flowersFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-mountain-ash/)

### [American Mountain Ash](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-mountain-ash/)

Sorbus americana

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

[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/)

[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/)

[Showy flowersDrought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/deerberry/)

### [Deerberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/deerberry/)

Vaccinium stamineum

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

## Beside it

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

[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 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 flowersHoney tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sourwood/)

### [Sourwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sourwood/)

Oxydendrum arboreum

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

[Showy flowersFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/yellowwood/)

### [Yellowwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/yellowwood/)

Cladrastis kentukea

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

[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/)

[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/)

## 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.