Plant and gardening discussions, questions and comments

	Search Posts		Posts By Category		Recent Posts

Questions, Answers and Comments by Category

My HMF:

☐ POST COMMENT

Discussion id : 3-682 most recent 2 SEP 04 SHOW ALL

Initial post 11 SEP 03 by tom hooper

Reply #1 of 1 posted 2 SEP 04 by lizzie

no allysum wont worry your roses. infact it is a prefered ground cover. unlike pansies and violets wich attract red mites.let it grow!	REPLY

Discussion id : 326 most recent 14 MAY 05 SHOW ALL

Initial post 18 MAR 03 by Anonymous-797

Last Spring I started a small rose garden. But it looks pretty sparce especially around the higher rose plants. What are other plants that look good and are compatiable around roses?	REPLY

Reply #1 of 8 posted 30 MAR 03 by Anonymous-797

Lots of things look good, depends on the colors of your roses and your tastes. Because your rose garden is hopefully in sun, you have a broad selection of perennials. I like lavender, irises, peonies, veronica, hollyhocks, phlox and of course, baby's breath. You could also include some annuals such as nicotiana, snapdragons, statice.	REPLY

Reply #2 of 8 posted 31 MAY 03 by Charles

I live in Andrews,NC,in the Mountains here,are a type of wild lilly called Aletris farinosa,most people call it unicorn plant or star root. I also plant Ginseng around roses,thier berries are beautifully red in the fall! I have both Aletris and Ginseng seeds and root-stock for sale. charles@webworkz.com	REPLY

Reply #3 of 8 posted 6 JUN 03 by Joanne Morgan

Reply #4 of 8 posted 24 AUG 03 by Elaine

Clematis is beautiful for climbing roses,but if you can find perennial Baby's Breath to plant close under your roses,it will grow up through them and bloom beautifully with your roses! Make sure it's not the creeping kind.Baby's Breath is a loose blooming plant and your roses just seem to be floating on a soft,fluffy cloud! It's great together! It comes in white or pink,I believe,but am not sure about the perennial plant.I have only got white.Good luck!
(Also,the Giant Pacific Delphiniums are gorgeous with roses!)

Reply #5 of 8 posted 9 MAR 05 by Renella

You could underplant with nepeta (cat mint) - especially the larger variety, Six Hills Giant, is pretty, providing cover for any bare rose stems. It flowers for a long time in summer - longer than lavender for example, and is easy to grow. The flowers are blue-ish, purple, so depending on taste it may not blend well with the colours of your roses. Disadvantages are that some cats (not all!) are mad about nepeta and will lie on the plants, and the plants die back in winter.

Renella

Reply #6 of 8 posted 13 MAR 05 by Anonymous-97434

Something to consider...if disease is a problem in your area, underplanting your roses will make it more difficult to clean the fallen leaves, and hence, the disease spores, from your beds. Personally, I've been more satisfied by using a good, organic mulch under the plants and bordering the beds with either annuals, or more mannerly perennials. When I prune, I defoliate and wish to remove all the fallen leaves. "Stuff" under the plants require more effort and care to remove these infected leaves. It's up to you.

Reply #7 of 8 posted 12 MAY 05 by The Kaki

I love my herbs with my roses. They all need lots of sun and water, and the herbs have small roots so they don't interfere with my rose roots. North Carolina	REPLY

Reply #8 of 8 posted 14 MAY 05 by Gina Stepp

I don't know if you can grow lantana in your area, but in southern california the trailing variety (not the bush) looks lovely under roses and covers quickly, eliminating weeding. (Always my first goal). It blooms from spring to fall, and unlike some ground covers, it doesn't put down roots everywhere, so it's easy to keep a circle pulled back around the base of each rose, for the purposes of fertilizing, etc. Lantana doesn't take a lot of water away from the roses, butterflies love it, and you can get it in white, yellow, purple or a combination. The clusters of flowers have a nice scent and it is easy to care for. Just keep it where you want it using hedge clippers. In 7 years of growing roses in Lantana, I don't have a single bad thing to say about this ground cover.