Blue companions with my many pink roses: lavender, nepetas, hardy geraniums, violas, groundhugging veronicas, sage (10 varieties of Salvia nemorosa) and delphiniums. Lady's mantle and the paler kinds of anthemis (Sauce hollandaise and Wargrave) with reds, lamb's ears with everything. I prefer the nonflowering Silver Carpet although it is a little less silvery than the species. Maroon Greek scabious is a weaver that goes very well with yellow roses. I love dark blue violas with white roses in the garden and in a vase.

I garden in Sweden with cold and snowy winters, dry springs and early summers, wetter summers and autumns. Annual precipitation in my region is 500 mm (20 inches). I grow albas, gallicas, damasks and centifolias, bourbons, HPs, spinosissimas, multiflora climbers, rugosas and other species roses. Most of my moderns are floribundas and hybrid teas, fewer of the latter, a few modern shrubs and hardly any Austins.

Lots of hardy geraniums, epimediums, Siberian iris and ornamental grasses live here. Between the big trees and the big roses, most of the garden is semi-shade, and real sun lovers suffer. I try to move plants that really struggle with too little sun around, since sometimes a few feet is all it takes to make them happy. The roses tend to be hardy once-bloomers in the usual shades of pink. For contrast, a lot of the perennials are either blue or white.

The climate here is typical northeastern non-coastal. Average annual rainfall is between 40" and 45". The drought warnings go up if we are only going to average around 30". Winters are cold, but usually not painfully so. Persistent snow cover makes them bright, and very different from the gloomy brown of slightly further south. Summers can be cool enough that getting a ripe full size tomato is a challenge.

Ingrid i would add to your excellent list Geranium 'Rozanne' or 'Jolly Bee', and a plant called Morocco Daisy, Pyrethropsis hosmariense -- tough as nails, heat and drought tolerant, but neat, tidy, perfectly well-mannered, and cute! Blooms most in winter and spring, but forms a small silvery dome for the rest of the year with the occasional flower.

Also a plant called Teucrium chamaedrys, most excellent rose companion in a hot dry climate, and Chrysocephalum aplicata, marketed by Proven Winners as "Flambe Yellow", also outstanding in a hot dry climate, silver foliage, masses of yellow flowers 365 days/year.

Lambs ears were miserable here.

Here is a link that might be useful: blog post on morocco daisy

Oh, gosh. We're Zone 7-8, on the cusp between Mediterranean and continental climate; rainy and chilly late fall through early spring, warm and dry summers, about 40" annual rainfall. Heavy soil, sloping ground. The roses are mostly old or older varieties: once-blooming European old roses; some Bourbons, HPs, Portlands; lots of Teas and Chinas; various ramblers, climbers, species and their hybrids, Hybrid Musks.
Well, the plants. Lavender, rosemary, tall bearded iris, Phlomis, pinks, thymes, especially T. longicaulis, culinary sage, clary sage and others, Nepeta, lamb's ears, Teucrium hircanum, sweet violets, Kniphofia, foxgloves, tall autumn asters and goldenrods, herbaceous peonies, Centranthus ruber, four o'clocks, spring-flowering bulbs: daffodils, muscari, scillas, chionodoxas. These are mostly for sunny or partly sunny areas; then hellebores, heuchera, Iris japonica and I. foetidissima, Persicaria, cyclamen for woodland or dark conditions. We also have our native herbaceous plants: the deadnettle and annual euphorbia are delightful right now, and others I don't know the names of. The garden wouldn't be the garden without all the little plants.
Melissa

As my mama puts it, I'm a garden "snob". She thinksthat because I demand that my companion plants look good for as long as my roses look good- spring to frost. I water with a drip system and I don't have enough water for the perennials to get any, so as you can imagine how hard it is to find plants that look good here. These are 0 care, awesome plants, that you put in the ground and forget:
Lipstick salvia
Blue salvia
Tennessee echinasea (love this because the petals are held horizontal instead of droopy like other echinaseas)
Purple trailing lantana
White trailing lantana
Ajuga (it gets shady under those big roses)
Sedums
Euphorbia (I don't know which kind I have but it is great filler)
Some sort of purple leaved creeping plant that has spread throughout my garden in a good way and provides an awesome burgandy color throughout.
Grasses, especially white ones.
Butterfly Gingers in the background

Catmints are a great alternative to lavenders. Mine is still flowering since Dec last year. However, they spread very quickly and my Russian Sage has been gobbled up by them. Foxgloves looks great with roses, but their leaves turn yellow in late summer so it's not a pretty sight.

Here on the southern plains, the hot summers are long and the winters can be cold. The fall is the best season here, lasting into November. If your not careful and blink, you might miss spring. A common denominator of all the seasons is dry and windy. It rains sometimes, but not much and you can't predict when.

The best perennials for me are salvias(particularly Greggii "lipstick"), lavender, agastache, ornamental grasses, artemis, sages, rosemary, catmint. Lambs Ear does well, but I don't want to spend the time grooming it.

I plant onions amongst the roses, I like the spiky seed heads for a stalky accent. They are complimentary plants, supposed to intensify the scent of the roses and help deter critters. Not to mention there's nothing better than a crisp onion, fresh from the rose garden!

I don't plan color schemes, everything just kind of goes together. I have only OGRs they seem to go with pretty much anything.

My best companions are:

1. Artemesia
2. agastache
3. coneflowers
4. day lilies
5. nepeta
6. amsonia
7. verbena
8. veronica
9. agapanthus

10. Salvias
11. plumbago (the ground cover kind)

I'm trying some reblooming iris and I have 2 really nice lavendars. There are probably some other really great companion plants in my garden but I can't remember them right now.

good question. I hope to learn of some really good things to try.

Well, it's taken a while but I think I have a handle on this companion thing. I have a handful that please MY eye so that makes them perfect. :))

1. Echinacea - how interesting and diverse we are. I prefer the 'medium droopy' kind.
2. Coreopsis - I think I love it partly because I got about 4 other plants out it this winter, but I'm partly afraid of it because it multiplies into such a mass - after blooming.
3. Dianthus - Freezes don't faze it; heat doesn't faze it; it just keeps on blooming and stays green.
4. 'Summer Carnival' hollyhock - those double flowers are to die for, and one baby seedling has been alive and healthy for a year, and now it has at least four stalks that will bloom big and tall between Bermuda's Anna Olivier and Enchantress. Really cool.
5. Gaura - long wispy, wiry stems filled with tiny pink flowers fluttering in the breeze
6. Daylilies - almost all solids in pastels, reds, mauves
7. Larkspur - delicate & beautiful shiny deep blue
8. Salvia farinacea - non-invasive, soft foliage, glistening silver blue flowers
9. Plumbago (bush form) - lovely blue late in the summer

10. 'Giant Apostles' Iris (Walking Iris) - first year, we'll see how long they bloom.
11. Verbena bonariensis - reseeded everywhere but easily removed where not wanted or moved to better spots.

I'm trying old-fashioned mustard, 'Tutti Fruitti' lupin, 'Foxy' foxglove, stock and snapdragon for the spring this year. May have started them too late, and they'll perish in the heat before they really get going. Hope not since it's still very early. A few of last years' short snapdragons survived the summer and winter and are blooming again.

Well, it seems to be a big handful.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

It's interesting that the same plants are appearing on these lists. Some plants are just great performers and go well with roses.

1. Tall bearded irises
2. More tall bearded irises
3. Lamb's Ear
4. Pelargoniums
5. Calla lilies, canna lilies, daylilies, and bulb lilies.
6. Paludosum Daisies
7. Larkspur
8. Columbines
9. Foxgloves
10.Golden Sage

I limited myself to ten :).
Renee

Good companion plants in my yard (San Diego, inland) are:

1. Agapanthus (very drought tolerant, almost not to kill and reliable bloomer).
2. Dusty Miller (the whitish-light gray leaves look stunning with white roses and dark rose foliage. They go also very well with all pink roses)
3. Alstromeria (need to be watered regularly, but other than that very easy to grow)
4. Dianthus (love the silver-gray foliage together with pink blooming roses)
5. Irises
6. Nemisia
7. Scabiosa, different varieties
8. Lambs'ear
9. Heucheras (love the ones with chartreuse colored leaves)

10. Salvias (my current favorite salvia 'Black & Blue')

I am eager to try out more companion plants and I got already some ideas from others posting here and garden in a similar climate (Larkspur, Sea Lavender, Penstemon, Gaura, Catmint). Thank guys!

Christina

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Garden Dreams

I love peonies but dug some up for more rose space. I still have one. Here's what I grow and most of these are good in my garden except for the invasive ones:

Siberian iris
bearded iris
artemesia Powis Castle - I cut it back
artemisia Silver King invasive but I like it
plumbago groundcover " "
Cape plumbago
duranta have overwintered some under my house
crocosmia
catnip
salvias
rose campion reseeds a lot, takes drought
larkspur reseeds prolifically
clematis
guara
hardy geraniums
pineapple grass
coreopsis
daylilies
foxgloves sometimes
hollyhocks
buddliea
lavender
chrysanthemum
thermopsis
corydalis
hellebores
ferns
lamium
lambs ears
spirea
althea
creeping phlox
woodland phlox
obedient plant this is one I don't want
tall phlox nice but invasive
columbine one of my favorites, can take some drought
daffodils, tulips and grape hyacinths
four o'clocks spread a bit much
cannas
verbena bonariensis
rudbeckia invasive
valerian
alstroemeria I have a variety that I transplanted from MS. It is spreading very well and blooms a long time. It's red with green throats.
spider lilies
baptisia
pentstemmon
lilies
hydrangeas
Japanese maples
dicentra
mahonia
caladiums
I like campanula but it doesn't like me
hardy ageratum is pretty but invasive, taller than annual kind , blooms in fall
heuchera the purple leafed kind
ruella ...I wouldn't plant this again as it is too invasive. I keep hoping the cold will kill it.

I also like angelonia in pots or in the ground, scented geraniums, and have seeds of annuals I will plant, like bachelor's buttons, hyacinth bean, and zinnias. I like a lot of annuals like violas, pansies, dianthus, coleus, petunias, licorice plant, Diamond Frost euphorbia, and calibrachoa. Passion flower vines have been coming up unasked for, and they are interesting but can take over.
Also the morning glories and honeysuckle want to take over.

We have had some cold winters lately, sometimes with a couple of weeks of solid freezing weather. In summer we're getting into a pattern of no rain for a month or more at a time. Still, the roses and these plants have been doing well.

My current favorite is Siberian Iris. They enjoy the same conditions as roses but are a contrast in appearance and care requirements. The fact that they require just about zero care here is the most important factor. The spear-shaped foliage stays green and full throughout the season. They look very relaxed and natural next to roses.

SI on left, daylily in center, SdlM just opening on right:

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Other companions found in the rose beds:

Sages, monarda and other hummingbird attractants
Mums (where bed is raised)
Daylilies
Lilies
Japanese Iris
Lythrum (sterile hybrids)
Catmint
Black-eyed Susan
Clematis
Violas (self sowing but always welcome)

Bedroom garden with roses, sage, lythrum and clematis:

{{gwi:230389}}

Great thread, Ingrid! I second hoovb's recommendation of Moroccan daisies, but this would appear to be one of those species that suffers from a major identity crisis. Or perhaps taxonomic schizophrenia is more to the point.
I don't know this plant as Pyrethropsis hosmariense (which truly sounds like a disease with no cure whatsoever). It was sold to me as Leucanthemum hosmariense, with Rhodanthemum in parentheses as the alternate Latin name. (Don't know about you, but to me, both of those sound less like terminal illnesses than Pyrethropsis.) "Spring Silver" is the cultivar I grow, and yes, it's virtually indestructible, and looks lovely with roses or virtually anything else, for that matter, even when it's not blooming.

Try Coreopsis 'Nana', Wal-Mart has it all the time - 6'' tall, great for under rose bushes, and comes back year after year. Easily devided and split-up to make more plants. It's a winner - Jay

I live near San Francisco, California near the coast where it is moist enough for violets to thrive around rosebushes, where they get a half a days shade, I love violets because they keep c. 90% of weeds from growing.
My favorite 3 companion plants for roses are
1. violets, the fragrant purple type.
2. white or purple blends of alyssium , I planted two rows of the white type in two long beds along the entry side walk. Alyssium blooms during each of the 4 seasons, when cut back by a third after a bloom cycle.
3. forget me not, produce 3 bloom cycles a year here, when cut back after each bloom cycle by c. a third.

Favorite fragrant bushes to grow with roses:
lavender, all types, spanish, french and english
rosemary,
Breath-of-Heaven, blooms in winter, here and I love its scent which reminds me of expensive French bar soap.
wild white Hydrangea
Honeysuckle

German chamomile, has white daisy shaped flowers and soft ferny foliage. I planted dozens of seeds in September and now in mid-March the plants are already 6 inches tall around two "Mlle. Cecille Brunner" which flank my entry walkway.
I've planted seeds of snow-in-summmer as a groundcover in a mostly red rose plot where "Crimson Glory" and Souvenir du Dr. Jamain and the red moss "Mel Hulse" are growing with "Simplex" a white wich. hybrid.

Bulbs
-Iris, I forget what they're called, the big ones with falls, I love their fragrance.
-Orienpet and Trumpet lilies.
I also grow a pale ivory colored fragrant daffodil named "Thalia" which has blooms as finely defined as some orchids with great substance, and is as fragrant to boot, these bloom during March and are planted in front of paperwhite narcissi that bloom in the fall.

others: sweet peas, especially the Spencer cultivars, mexican honeysuckle
cosmos
clematis I just planted 2 Jackmanii to go on either side of "Mermaid" to completely cover one side of my house.

great question, thanks!
Luxrosa

Harryshoe, your gardens are exquisite.

I love daylillies, Louisiana Iris, Lavendar and White society garlic, grasses, gardenias, and wild violets with my roses. I also have Golden Experanza (for the hummingbirds) and small Pink Fringe Trees with them.

I love annuals mixed with roses, but they are a lot of work. Larkspur is my favorite in shades of pink, blue, white and purple, followed by Delphinium and Snapdragons. I also grow: Baby's Breath, Foxy Foxglove (the only one that will bloom here), Statice, Pinks, Allysum, Rudbeckia, Queen Ann's Lace, Phlox, Violas, Pansies, hybrid Gallardia, Summer Carnival Hollyhocks (the only kind we can grow here), Lupines--all grown from seed. What I call a scatter garden. I love to edge my beds in Petunias which I usually buy, but this year I started double ruffled petunias from seed. They are beautiful in shades of orchid, purple, violet, and pink. I'm really pleased with the way they look.

I have serious envy of those who can grow Huecheras, Lady's Mantle, Lamb's Ears and peonies.

Some plants mentioned above are too invasive here like Lantana, Cannas, and Plumbago. This year I also seem to be overrun with Rubeckia, which has never happened before.

A bit inland in Livermore (hot summer, slight coastal influence, 12-14" rain per year), I can second Luxrosa's daffodil "Thalia" (exquisite!) and alyssum ("Easter Bonnet violet" a favorite). Purple violets have also been great, this year at least. They more or less died out where I first planted them, but seeded themselves in places they preferred better, mostly under roses, and the scent has been heavenly.

Some plants not mentioned specifically by others:

Yucca filamentosa "Bright Edge": dwarf, manageable, looks good with yellow roses.

Salvia x sylvestris "May Night": very sturdy, best bloomer of the type here.

Dianthus "Rose de Mai": withstands clay and heat, bloomed all summer last year, scent to die for.

Geranium pyrenaicum "Bill Wallis": cheery purple, blooms literally every month of the year, heat-tolerant, seeds itself around but not obnoxiously.

Yarrow taygetea "Anthea": tidy, does not run amok like other yarrows, softest pale yellow.

I had been thinking of asking this myself, wanting some new ideas, so this is great!

Debbie

*In front of the shed along with Konigin von Danemark are hardy geraniums (Brookside) and pink foxglove.

*Foundation bed with Mme. Plantier are white foxglove and blue Love-in-Mist.

*60 X 10 foot long border bordering my property is filled with pink roses, nepeta, Russian sage, white sweet alyssum, tall garden phlox (David), pink peonies, white bearded iris, baptisia, white asiatic and oriental lillies.

*Arch in front of my house covered with Ramblin Red, clematis (Huldine) and nepeta.

*Front garden with roses (Quietness), nepeta, hydrangea (Annabelle), tall garden phlox (David), hardy geraniums (Jolly Bee), lambs ear

*Hell strip in front of house has no roses just a hedge of peonies (Sarah Bernhardt) edged with white and light blue bearded iris.

The conditions here are extremely cold winters, lots of snow (usually), summers can get pretty hot. Minnesota Zone 4a.

I hope this isn't a hijack, but does anyone grow verbascum or sidalcea (I'm not sure of that spelling) in the south with their roses? They're perennial, make great cut flowers. I like the look of them, but I don't know how they would do in the deep south.

My favorite companion plants are hardy and deer resistant...and often purple :)

Hidcote Lavender
Catmint
Speedwell
Coneflowers
Butterfly Bushes
Lilacs (these last two are behind the roses, to keep the deer out of the garden)
Daisies
Cosmos
Stock
Alyssum

Floridarose,
I grow several Verbascum here with relatively hot summers: V. albiflorum, V. nigrum, "Southern Charm", and "Snow Maiden". All do well with the heat, rebloom if cut back, bees ADORE them, but I can't comment about how well they would do with high humidity. All need good drainage. I have a hunch "Southern Charm" might work (interesting range of colors; the yellow is nice). "Snow Maiden" is touchy about drainage, even here.

Thanks, Catspa, drainage is not a problem here, as where I live is called The Ridge. It was the first part of Florida that rose out of the sea when it was forming. I am concerned about the humidity, though. If they bloomed the first year, I could grow them as annuals but it doesn't look as though they do so reliably.

harryshoe your garden is so awesome.

organic, watch out for that 'Black and Blue' salvia--it spread everywhere in my garden. What a nightmare.

Yes the Morocco daisy has a lot of names--I went by the one on the tag that it came with. Rhodanthemum may be this year's name, or last years, or next year's...

Forgot all about Clematis. What is a climbing rose without a Clematis?

Thanks Hoov and Floridarose.

I grow Black and Blue Salvia as it is a hummingbird favorite but cannot get it through a winter. Some of the red greggii types make it though.

{{gwi:237815}}

Many of my favorites that I use a lot of have already been mentioned. Nepta, verbena bonariensis, shasta daisies (Becky)- these are my top 3...also use purple cone flower, daylilies, hollohocks, foxgloves, lots of dianthus, yarrow,and pastal shades of lantana. To me those are my best companion plants. Also use a lot of zinnias in summer in the pastal shades with some deeper purples and pinks. I just started some clematis last year and look forward to seeing how it does this year with my roses.~Meghan

Floridarose, Verbascum "Southern Charm" absolutely does bloom, and even rebloom, the first year -- could just as well be treated as an annual. I get my seeds from Park Seeds. "Snow Maiden" definitely doesn't.

Your contributions to this thread have all been so interesting not to mention very informative, and just plain fun. Harry, your garden is to die for, thanks so much for sharing it with us. Mine will never look so lush but I tell myself it's the rain, not the gardener (oh, sure!). How nice to imagine all these beautiful gardens with a wealth of color and shapes and sizes.

I hope this spring and summer we'll see many, many pictures of gardens to inspire us all. With everything going on in the world right now we need the beauty and peace of our own and each others' gardens more than ever.

Ingrid

Thanks, Catspa. I think I will try it. I get my seeds at Swallowtail Seeds, and they had some drop-dead flower arrangements with it, but I'm not sure if it was Southern Charm. I will probably have to wait until fall to start the seeds.

Blue Black Salvia has also proved invasive here. It develops a huge woody partially above-ground root that is not at all attractive and spreads everywhere, by seed and rizome, I think, because it's jumped from one bed to another.

Floridarosez, I also like that Verbascum "Southern Charm" and saw it on the Swallowtail site, too. You'll have to tell me how it does for you.

Black & Blue Salvia is very invasive. I've dug it up twice and it's still sending up sprouts. A pain in the butt (!!) since it's coming up near a rose where I can't dig it out. It's also a bully here, size-wise.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Coleus, salvias, hearty geraniums,

Nemesias
Lobelia
Geranium in white and magenta
Iris
Verbena boneriensis
Salvia coral nymph
Thyme
Lambs ears
alyssum
Tarragon, Chives
Catmint (started a pack of seeds a couple of years ago in a small pot and now have it everywhere I want it.)
Artemesia Powis Castle
Russian sage
And this year, when I feel like it, some daisies in pink with more alyssum in different colors. I'm feeling very lazy and so far not inspired. My garden is happy anyway.

I'm still working on that comapnions for roses thing.... The perfect companion plants for mine are 6 ft tall delphiniums, but since they are essentially an annual in my garden, I am still looking for other flowers.

This year I am trying foxglove, which can also grow pretty tall when happy. I am also growing some salvia azurea and salvia transilvanica, but since I am starting the salvias from seed this year, I wont see flowers until next year.

I've killed a fair number of salvia greggii, trying to find the right spot for them... Someday I will get it right, LOL. I think I still have too much clay for them.

I grow sidalcea, it looks like little hollyhocks... I like it, but it only blooms for a couple weeks for me.

The best plant so far has been 6 Hills Giant nepeta. But I really want something tall and spiky for between the roses, so I am still looking.

Another plant I like in my garden is a weed, but not a very bad weed because it doesn't propagate itself too much. It's a wooly mullein, and it seems to be tough and drought tolerant. It has wooly grey leaves and sends up a stalk about 3 or 4' high with little yellow flowers along the stalk. I also like Queen Anne's Lace but it comes and goes here.

Lois, have you tried Larkspur? Sometimes called annual Delphinium. They are an annual, but they bloom for months here, especially if you do seedings every couple of weeks. Love, love, love them with the roses. I guess they would bloom spring and summer for you. Here, they bloom winter and spring.

We have a wild lupine that grows in Fl. that I want to collect some seeds from to try to propagate. They have beautiful silver-grey mounding foliage and tall purple spikes. They are in bloom everywhere right now, and we're in the middle of a two-month drought. Obviously, they're tough, and I think they would would be gorgeous with the roses.

Catmint
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I also like salvia or veronica
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I love the way lemongrass looks with my Nachitoches Noisette. It's so easy to grow and gets very lush when I grow it in good rose dirt. :) Ronda in carolina, your yellow looks like my Carefree Sunshine. So pretty. :)

I grow many of the plants listed above, but I love the "surprises" that show up in the garden. A couple of years ago, I harvested some California poppies .. of course, they don't transplant well, but I put them into a container and let them do their last gasp to spread seed to continue the species. Their glorious orange/yellow has shown up in places in the garden where nothing else would grow well. The funny thing was that I thought they were spring flowering only. To my surprise, if they get water throughout the season, they repeat bloom all season long with no care on my part.

Feverfew is another accidental plant that is providing "sparkle" to the garden with it's white blooms.

I have poor soil and when these accidental plants show up in places where other delibertly planned plantings have failed, I always find that they are a special sorce of enjoyment.

Yes, I have bulbs and am learning to grow irises and the texture of the garden is always changing. For me, that's the joy of gardening.

Smiles,
Lyn