7 plants you should always grow next to succulents, for thriving and stylish arrangements

There is some skill required to make succulents look less like an office windowsill plant and more like a beautiful, tasteful, sculptural houseplant. It lies in artfully staging and curating the planting by choosing companion plants that will make the vision as a whole an aesthetic success.

Unlike other houseplants, where often much time and effort are spent trying to maximise their wellbeing and abundance, the best indoor succulents require very little care, and little watering, to thrive. When it comes to companion planting, the plants that will be happy bedfellows with succulents must require the same levels of water, light, and nutrients, as well as be aesthetically complementary.

Here are seven plants you should always grow next to succulents for maximum visual impact and minimal work.

Seven plants to grow with succulents

All of these plants will want around 6-7 hours of light per day. An east, or preferably south-facing, windowsill should guarantee your succulent and its companion get enough sunlight.

You can make your own succulent potting mix, too, which is easy and really is the best soil to grow your plants in. This recipe will work for all of the plants I have included here, too, so they can live in the same pot together without issue.

1. Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)

Rosemary is at the top of my list of must-grow essential herbs, for its culinary uses but also for its aesthetic ones, since it is superabundant, utterly delicious, and very beautiful.

Success with rosemary can be achieved when grown in direct sunshine and with good drainage. Too much interference and fuss from the gardener can cause it to throw a tantrum, so, like succulents, it's best left alone for the most part.

If left to do its own thing, rosemary is one of the easiest-going plants that thrives on neglect. Rosemary and succulents, both being so introverted and acquiescent, make for terrific allies and will live harmoniously together for years.

Rosemary is generally hardy in USDA Zones 8–11, but brought indoors, it will thrive anywhere so long as temperatures don't plummet.

Rosemary plants are available on Amazon.

2. Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber)

Red valerian likes very sharp drainage and very little watering. It can grow outdoors, where it will self-seed readily, or indoors, where it can be picked and used as a cut flower.

If growing indoors, using a pot with good drainage is essential. Be sure to add perlite to any pots to ensure good soil aeration. Perlite, like this organic perlite from Amazon, will enhance the drainage without compressing the roots.

It works well planted alongside larger succulents as it resents being overwatered and thoroughly enjoys staying dry for prolonged periods.

You may well find that what you consider a light watering causes root rot, so proceed with caution when watering. If you are growing in pots, putting them onto pot feet, such as these non-slip ones from UFelice at Amazon, can help reduce the risks of root rot.

Red valerian thrives in USDA zones 5–9, though indoors it should germinate and grow in any area, so long as it is in a full-sun position.

You can purchase red velarian seeds at Amazon.

3. Santolina virens 'Lemon Fizz'

Santolina Lemon Fizz, commonly known as 'Cotton Lavender', is the most gorgeous, luminous shade of acid green and looks completely beautiful with succulents.

It's one of the very best rock garden plants, or plants for a dry border, since it loves light watering. Its soft feathery fronds are a wonderful foil for more structural drought-tolerant plants such as succulents and sedums, and it loves to live with herbs, like creeping thyme, lavender, and sage.

Santolina is a true sunworshipper, so if you are growing it outdoors, it will need to be in zones 6 and above, and pick a sunny spot.

If you're growing indoors, note that it will only thrive in an extremely sunny position, so ensure it lives in a sun-drenched spot and the soil drains effectively.

It will only enjoy an indoor life if it has lean, gritty soil, so I highly recommend using some bonsai pumice available at Amazon in the potting mix.

But on a kitchen island at home, where the sun pours in all day long, my black-purple potted succulent (Aeonium arboreum 'Atropurpureum') and santolina, which is beautifully aromatic, simply thrive.

4. Pennisetum setaceum 'Fireworks'

Perfect for adding texture and for complying with succulent needs, Pennisetum is a wonderful drought-tolerant ornamental grass that can be grown both indoors and outdoors, and is a doddle to grow and keep happy.

Pennisetum, often known as 'Fountain Grass', provides year-round color in the form of beautiful soft plumes, which serve as a necessary contrast to succulent's beefy qualities.

It can be grown as a perennial year after year in zones 9 - 11, or indoors if placed in a sunny spot and potted up with a quality soil like this Rosy Soil fast-draining potting soil available at Amazon, which is fortified with beneficial fungi & microbes.

Pennisetum setaceum 'Fireworks' available at Nature Hills and Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' is also available at Nature Hills.

5. Mammillaria bombycina

Mammillaria bombycina, commonly known as the Silken Pincushion Cactus, can be kept on a similar regime of near-total neglect and is quite a showstopping, statuesque beauty.

The bright-green to grey-green stems are covered in spines, and in the spring, the most darling rose pink flowers erupt from them.

Generally, it is grown indoors, where it can live its life without want for anything, though it can be grown outdoors in zones 9-11. Still, it requires sandy, well-draining soil.

6. Pelargonium dasyphyllum

This pelargonium is a stem succulent species within the Pelargonium genus, belonging to the Geraniaceae (Geranium) family.

The best way to think about it, to my mind, is that it is a pelargonium that behaves like a succulent, making it an excellent roommate for succulents.

Both Pelargoniums and succulents need bright, direct light, so place them in the sunniest window in your home. Suitable outside only in USDA hardiness zones 10 -11, but usually grown indoors. Their main requirements are warmth and sunshine, and of course, as I keep rhapsodizing about all of these plants, well-draining soil.

7. Lemon Thyme (Thymus citriodorus)

Succulents and herbs are the perfect companion plants. Lemon thyme's cultural and care needs are very similar to succulents'; they like plenty of sunlight and prefer low-fertility soil with very good drainage.

As befits its Mediterranean roots, lemon thyme is a very drought-tolerant herb, so it won't sulk that the pot is getting little water.

The dainty, beautifully fragrant leaves of lemon thyme contrast wonderfully with the stocky, thick leaves of succulents, and cascade down the side of pots.

Knowing how to grow thyme indoors is extremely easy, so long as there is, you guessed it, good drainage. Outside, it can be grown in USDA zones 5 through 9, and indoors, it will survive anywhere so long as it is kept warm.

Other aromatic herbs that would work fantastically well with succulents, other than the aforementioned rosemary and lemon thyme, are oregano and marjoram, which would also love life teamed up with succulents and cacti. Herbs like basil and parsley should not be potted up with succulents, for they are far too much of a diva to tolerate such conditions.

You can purchase lemon thyme as a live potted plant from Amazon.

If you grow succulents already, then you will know how to grow succulents successfully, which, by default, means you will know how to grow these seven companion plants successfully too. Relish that thought.

These are all genuinely easy indoor plants and tend to look their best not as a solitary plant but when planted en masse. Filling a shallow round planter bowl looks beautiful. This planter pot from Amazon is perfect for the job, and looks stunning when planted with deep, rich reds and bright citrus green tones.