When choosing plants for your garden it's important to consider how they'll work together. Combining colour, shape and texture can be a daunting task, so we've chosen seven great midsummer planting schemes to inspire you.

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Whichever plants you opt for, keep the display going by following our advice on deadheading flowers in summer and watering plants effectively.

Discover seven great midsummer plant combinations, below.

Aeoniums and pelargoniums

This container planted combination is dominated by the dramatic Aeonium 'Zwartkop', a great contrast to the rich red pelargoniums. Both are easy to propagate – follow our advice on taking aeonium cuttings and cuttings from pelargoniums.

Aeoniums and pelargoniums
A deep-bronze Aeonium 'Zwartkop' surrounded by rich red pelargoniums

Banana and grasses

The red abyssinian or Ethiopian banana is a real showstopper, and is combined here with dramatic grasses, including Stipa gigantea. The banana isn't hardy, so be sure to protect it over winter.

Banana and grasses
Bronze-tinged huge Ethiopian banana leaves, with contrasting tall grass Stipa gigantea

Veronicastrum and salvias

This pairing of Veronicastrum virginicum 'Album' and purple-flowered salvia makes strong use of vertical, linear forms. Both are great plants for attracting wildlife.

Veronicastrum and salvias
White veronicastrum flowers aligned with purple salvias

Purple hazel, kniphofias and stipa

Using a dark backdrop is a great way to highlight brightly coloured plants. In this scheme, purple hazel (Corylus maxima 'Purpurea') is the perfect foil for fiery kniphofias and golden Stipa tenuissima.

Purple hazel, kniphofias and stipa
Fiery kniphofias and golden grass set off by a background of purple hazel

Kniphofias, cosmos, perovskia and eryngium

This combination has an unusual palette of white, yellow and purple. Bright yellow kniphofias draw in the eye and are set off to perfection by a haze of cosmos, eryngiums and perovskia.

Kniphofias and perovskia growing together in a border
Bright yellow kniphofias amongst pale yellow cosmos and blue eryngiums and perovskia

Heleniums, echinacea, achillea and deschampsia

This mixture of plants uses prairie-style plants to great effect. Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty' provides vibrant dots of colour, offset by white echinaceas, Achillea 'Fanal' and tufted hair grass (Deschampsia cespitosa).

Heleniums, echinacea, achillea and deschampsia
White echinecea and tufted hair grass contrasting with orange-red heleniums and pink achillea

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Echinacea and salvia

This rich mix of Echinacea 'Magnus' and Salvia 'Silke's Dream' will be a big hit with pollinating butterflies and hoverflies. Here are some ways to make your garden bee-friendly in summer.

Echinacea and salvia
Hot pink of Echinacea 'Magnus' mixed with deep coral pink of Salvia 'Silke's Dream

Don't forget house plants

With so much going on outdoors, it can be easy to forget about house plants. If you have room, keep them outside in the summer months. If you're going away, take a look at our guide to holiday care for house plants.
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