14 Best Companion Plants to Grow with Tulips for Summer Blooms

If you want to paint your backyard garden with vibrant and elegant blossoms, then tulips are the perfect choice.

However, tulips start to lose their visual appeal after the blooming season. To extend the aesthetic beauty of your garden, start growing tulip companion plants.

These plants form a mix of different colours and textures, keeping your garden bright and beautiful even after tulips stop blooming.

Companion planting with tulips enhances the aesthetic of your garden and promotes a healthy ecosystem, ensuring your blooms remain stunning from spring through summer.

You can create a seamless transition of beauty and vitality in your outdoor space by carefully selecting plants that complement tulips in timing, colour, and growing needs.

Benefits of Companion Planting

Pairing tulips with the right companion plants enhances the beauty of your garden and keeps it vibrant beyond spring.

As tulip blooms fade, companion plants take over, filling the space with fresh colours and textures. This ensures a continuous display of flowers throughout the growing season.

Companion plants also improve garden health by deterring pests, enriching the soil, and providing shade or ground cover to help retain moisture.

Some flowers, like marigolds, naturally repel harmful insects, while others, like hostas, hide wilting tulip leaves, keeping your garden neat and attractive.

Thoughtfully choosing companion plants creates a balanced, thriving, and visually stunning garden.

14 Best Companion Plants for Tulips

These companions ensure your garden remains vibrant and healthy, carrying the torch of beauty from tulip season into the heart of summer.

1. Crocus

Crocuses are early bloomers that pair beautifully with tulips, often flowering just before or alongside them in spring.

These small, cup-shaped flowers thrive in well-drained soil and full sun to partial shade. They prefer a slightly acidic to neutral pH and require minimal watering once established, making them low-maintenance companions.

Plant crocus bulbs in fall, about 3 inches deep, in a spot where they can naturalize and return year after year.

2. Grape Hyacinth

Grape hyacinths add spikes of tiny, bell-shaped blue or purple flowers that contrast nicely with tulip hues. They grow best in full sun to partial shade and well-drained soil, tolerating various soil types from sandy to loamy.

These hardy perennials need moderate watering during growth but can handle dry spells once dormant in summer, making them an easy match for tulips.

3. Daffodil

With their cheerful yellow or white trumpets, Daffodils bloom in tandem with tulips and help deter rodents that might dig up tulip bulbs.

They flourish in full sun and well-drained soil, preferring a neutral to slightly acidic pH. Plant bulbs 6 inches deep in fall and water moderately during the growing season—daffodils are drought-tolerant once established and transition smoothly into summer.

Check this: 27 Best Pink Flowering Plants to Beautify Your Garden

4. Allium

Alliums, or ornamental onions, bring dramatic spherical blooms in purples, whites, or pinks that take over as tulips fade.

They thrive in full sun and well-drained soil, tolerating poor conditions with good drainage. Plant bulbs in fall, 4-6 inches deep, and water sparingly—their pest-repellent properties protect nearby tulips from unwanted visitors.

5. Pansy

Pansies offer a burst of colour in shades like purple, yellow, and white, bridging spring and summer with their delicate blooms.

They prefer full sun to partial shade and rich, well-drained soil with consistent moisture. Cool temperatures suit them best, so plant them in early spring or fall, ensuring they get regular water to keep flowering into summer.

6. Snapdragon

Snapdragons add vertical spikes of flowers in a rainbow of colours, picking up where tulips leave off. They grow well in full sun and fertile, well-drained soil with a neutral pH.

Water regularly to keep the soil moist but not soggy, and pinch back early growth to encourage bushier plants that bloom through summer.

7. Shasta Daisy

Shasta daisies bring classic white petals and sunny yellow centres to the garden as summer begins. They thrive in full sun and well-drained soil, tolerating a range of pH levels but preferring slight acidity.

Water moderately, allowing soil to dry between sessions, and deadhead spent blooms to extend their flowering season.

Also Read: 27 Best Fall Flowering Plants to Beautify Autumn Garden

8. Zinnia

Zinnias are summer stars, offering bold, bright blooms in nearly every colour imaginable. They love full sun and well-drained soil and handle heat and drought better than tulips.

Plant seeds or seedlings after the last frost, water consistently at the base, and avoid overhead watering to prevent mildew on their dense foliage.

9. Daylilies

Daylilies provide a succession of trumpet-shaped flowers in warm tones, blooming reliably into summer.

They adapt to full sun or partial shade and prefer well-drained, slightly acidic soil enriched with organic matter. Once established, water deeply but infrequently, as their thick roots store moisture well.

10. Nasturtium

Nasturtiums spill over with vivid orange, yellow, or red blooms and edible leaves, adding charm and pest protection (repelling aphids).

They thrive in full sun and poor, well-drained soil—too much fertility reduces flowering. Water moderately, letting the soil dry out slightly, and enjoy their sprawling growth through summer.

Also Read: 19 Best Indoor Flowering Plants

11. Hostas

Hostas are prized for their lush foliage rather than flowers, providing an incredible green backdrop as tulips fade.

They prefer partial to full shade and rich, moist, well-drained soil with a slightly acidic pH. To maintain their broad, textured leaves, keep them consistently watered, especially in summer heat.

12. Marigold

Marigolds bring sunny yellows and oranges to the summer garden while repelling nematodes and other pests that might harm tulips.

They grow best in full sun and well-drained soil, tolerating a wide pH range. Water regularly, but allow the soil to dry slightly and deadhead to keep blooms coming.

13. Sweet Alyssum

Sweet alyssum forms a low carpet of tiny white, pink, or purple flowers with a honey-like scent, perfect for edging tulip beds.

It loves full sun to partial shade and well-drained soil, and it needs consistent moisture to bloom through summer. Trim back after the first flush to encourage more flowers.

14. Dianthus

Dianthus, or pinks, offer fringed flowers in reds, pinks, and whites, with a spicy fragrance that lingers into summer. They thrive in full sun and well-drained slightly alkaline soil.

Water moderately, avoiding sogginess, and shear back after blooming to promote a second wave of colour.

What to Plant with Tulips for Summer Blooms?

Since tulips bloom in spring and fade by early summer, it’s essential to pair them with plants that take over the display once their flowers die back.

Perennials like daylilies and coneflowers are excellent choices, as they provide vibrant summer blooms while their foliage helps hide the yellowing tulip leaves.

Similarly, alliums can extend the color palette, with their tall, globe-shaped flowers bridging the gap between spring and summer.

For a more layered garden, consider planting dahlias or black-eyed Susans, which bring warm hues and continuous blooms into late summer.

Ornamental grasses like blue fescue or hostas can add texture while maintaining an attractive garden bed.

By mixing these with tulips, you ensure a seamless transition from one season’s beauty to the next.

Conclusion

Choosing the right companion plants for tulips helps keep your garden lively and blooming even after tulips fade.

These plants add colour and texture and have practical benefits like pest control and improved soil health.

You can enjoy a flourishing and vibrant garden throughout the seasons with thoughtful planning.