Some people use the term “plant marriages” to describe winning combinations of flowers that bloom at the same time and complement each other in terms of color or form. The photos below depict another kind of plant combo, one that I always think of as a green tapestry when I see it.

In this composition, there are so many textures and colors all woven together, yet the result is complete harmony. I shot this photo at the home of Atlanta landscape designer Paula Refi — among the plants I can name are a burgundy colored ajuga, strawberry begonia, hosta, aspidistra, Japanese painted fern (silvery foliage), an unidentified variety of green fern, and a tiny variegated shrub that might be boxwood or privet. The mossy stones add yet another pleasing element.

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Autumn ferns and a variety of evergreen shrubs provide contrasting shapes and textures around the base of a Japanese maple. The upright shrub in the right corner is the Japanese plum yew, Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Fastigiata’ — an amazingly versatile evergreen that looks good in all seasons. I can identify Fatsia japonica in the very back, behind the tree trunk, and the whorled foliage in the foreground is a hellebore.

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So many shades of green! A soft mound of feathery, silvery artemisia consorts with a bluish-green variety of euphorbia in a sunny border.

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Gold clubmoss (Selaginella kraussiana ‘Aurea’) lights up a shady area and contrasts beautifully with the dark ribbons of black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’). I shot this photo in the woodland garden of landscape designer Sandra Jonas.

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Ajuga and strawberry begonia (Saxifraga stolonifera) always play well together — though they both can spread to cover a wide area, they never overpower each other. Here, a fern is happy to make it a threesome.

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This is a beautiful combo for shade. The gold-leafed plant in the forefront is creeping jenny (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’). In the rear, a variegated hosta mingles with self-sown impatiens. I’d actually prefer to see white impatiens here, to play off the white variegation in the hosta leaves — but for some reason, impatiens only ‘volunteers’ in shades of red and orange.

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