Yes, Lass, white features massively in my idea of a romantic garden. Also airiness and generosity are essential themes so....prime amongst romatic plants are the umbellifers. What a range - from the silvery architecture of the common eryngium, E,giganteum (or Miss Wilmott's Ghost)to the lush astrantias, including the common cow parsley and the delicious annuals, Orlaya and Ammi. Fragrance also essential. Sticking with white, the little night phlox, Zaluzyanskya ovata, the ordinary nicotiana affinis (not the horrid little dwarf forms) and , better imo, nicotiana suaveolens, all glow in the evening. For the last few years, I have been nursing a little dierama obsession - these graceful angel's fishing wands are a delight. The most romantic lily of all, ordinary L.regale has elegance and a fragrance less cloying than the oriental lilies. Finally, this has been a poppy year for me, trying a number of species (heldreckii, rupifragum, pilosum) as well as some new oriental poppies. Even the fleeting annuals such as the shirley poppy (rhoes) has a romantic resonance in it's ephemerality. Oh yes, I am also chasing the elusive white willowherb, epilobium angustifolium album - another tall and graceful flower.....and I guess you could certainly add the dependable and easily raised gaura lindheimia. apols for all dodgy spellings.

I love Delphiniums with Roses, and even though they are a bit of work, they look very romantic to me :) Roses in pinks and purples mostly (some whites and apricots), Delphiniums in their various shades of blues and purples, some rose ones ... Daylilies, Hollyhocks for height, tall bearded Iris ... Clematis vining around everything ...

It is the plants that go in front that have always given me the most trouble. Finding shorter plants for the front of the border, that don't spread or reseed too much but look good throughout the summer ... Coreopsis would work but most varieties seem to have a lot of trouble making it through our cold Canadian winters. I have some Lavender, I have some Scabiosa/Pincushion flower ... not sure what else to try that is short and contained, lol!!

Oh ... forgot the second part of that question :)

I pick mainly for colour and form. I love the way other plants look poking up through rose branches ... the way they can all intermingle, so the colours become important.

I also don't like putting plants that spread or reseed too much around the roses. I hate poking around the thorny bases of the roses to pull out unwanted seedlings that chose the wrong place to grow! So I tend to like plants that are fairly self-contained.

Fragrance is not as important for the most part as, like you, most of the fragrance in the garden comes from the Roses themselves, and anything else is just a bonus!

Campanula - you remind me that I don't have enough lilies in my garden!!! I love them and that is one of my "projects" this summer, to try to add some more lilies.

I like plants that are easy to naturalize but not invasive. My most recent favorite is catmint even though it's a little vigorous, it's easy to yank out along with alyssum. The blue flowers are so nice with all roses. Lemon or citrus thyme, tarragon, lavender, achillea and nemesias are also very happy with roses. Also love russian sage and artemesia when it's young. Lately I've been tucking in some succulents (echeverias and others I don't know the names of). And angelonia for a punch of white. I just put some in next to a little solar fountain we added yesterday. Not a grand plan here, more of an evolution. It's "Gramma's garden", romantic in my view.

I'll leave out the trees and shrubs, though they're the backbone of the garden, and limit myself (mostly) to herbaceous plants and subshrubs. Clematis does surprisingly well in the droughty sunny big garden, once it gets through the first year or two; then there's the other big class of climbers for our climate, honeysuckles. I've had trouble finding climbers that will actually climb in the unfriendly environment there, but went in for honeysuckles in a big way last year, as their informal (weedy) nature and fragrance suit the character of the place. Aromatic plants are extremely valuable: lavender, rosemary, both valuable for hedging and discouraging weeds, then phlomis, sages--culinary sage and its yellow-variegated form 'Icterina', our native S. pratensis, clary sage; and S. guaranitica is a survivor--nepeta, hyssop, various artemisias, lambs ears, savory, lavender cotton, Russian sage, and probably more that don't occur to me at the moment. Common thyme and its varieties tend to get choked out, but creeping thyme (T. lungicaulis) is valuable as ground cover. Tall bearded iris, herbaceous and tree peonies. A noble, stately, vertical plant for a dry area is common mullein. I allow attractive annual herbaceous plants to grow in the garden: delicate little spurges and geraniums, and later wild peas and poppies. In shady areas hellebores and heucheras are essential and Japanese iris can take anything--the variegated kind is very handsome in a dark corner; and violets are generally welcome. Foxgloves and columbines, both self-seeding. Spring-flowering bulbs of all kinds.
I have areas of dry shade where I'm eager to try epimediums and Ruscus hypoglossum plus its relative Danae racemosum, and try to start a colony of Solomon's seal. But I'm wandering away from roses here. I have a sunny area of the garden (with roses) where a mystery herbaceous plant I was given has gone mad, sending up six-foot jointed, partially variegated shoots and suckering all over its area, in heavy soil with moisture somewhere well down. I think it may be a kind of persicaria. Anyway, it's so bizarre, at least compared to the relatively staid occupants of most of my rose-dominated garden, that I'm thinking about adding other coarse and shameless plants to this one. I was just given some hardy begonias that might be just the ticket, and a large-foliaged something (I just hosted a plant exchange), and a striped grass-like thing which I think isn't grass; and there's some certified persicaria of a different kind, but with a decidedly weedy air, just below this one. And I may have a couple of other things. They can keep each other in countenance and startle passersby.
I've discovered I like goldenrods and tall asters with the once-blooming old roses: they're tough and good fillers and their color is a pleasure when fall comes. I think I might have places in the garden where I could grow delphiniums and aconites, though this is just a thought for now. I've never had any luck with Japanese anemones, and am really sorry for that.
Melissa
P.S. A few addenda: Verbena bonariensis, nigella, perilla, Viola tricolor, anthemis (it has a different botanical name now), Iris orientalis (= I. ochroleuca), agapanthus 'Headborne Hybrids', Kniphofia (not the common red hot poker, but other, much prettier colors), common dayliles.

Still planning and the above helps.
Garden on a small lot, but it has sun, shade, wet & dry soil, etc. Need plants that under the roses, next to them, and climbing the fence.
Likely adding:
Iris (black iris to accompany some of the pink roses), and old blues for near the white roses.
Hosta - maybe the blue mouse ears, although I like blue umbrella
Butterfly bush - maybe Ellen's blue
Maybe hoya's in pots (I don't know if these would do well outside)
Spanish bluebells
Herbs in pots - rosemary, chocolate mint
Star Jasmine (was wondering how to make this work, I like your idea of it in a pot)
And may try forget me nots, foxglove, delphinium, viola, and columbine.
Already have Virginia creeper along the fence.
And of course more roses - but since out of room except for very shady spots, and areas which are paved - in pots.

Vettin: I've tried for romantic in my garden. Fragrance is a big factor for me. Also I like little surprises in the garden--meaning turns or small plants kind of "hidden" so you can't see them unless you are right there.

One other thing that I think is essential to a romantic garden: a sheltered or tucked away area where you can steal a smooch without the nosy neighbors commenting later. I have some benches with somewhat taller shrubs nearby that create a nice tucked away spot for my DW and I to enjoy the garden and each other without feeling like we are exposed to the world.

I love the ideas I'm getting from this thread.
May I add hardy fuschia; fairy like and comes in many leaf and flower colors. I prefer the small dainty blossoms rather than large bulky ones and I like varigated foliage. The dainty pink Ballerina rose with a varigeted fuschia is very romantic.
Ladies Mantle with it's blue grey hairy foliage and wispy chartruse blooms adds mystery with the dewy drops of water that look like tiny mirros. It hides the roses knees, easy to contain. Note: Christensens Nursery in LaConner WA has a lot of David Austin Roses planted with Ladies Mantle throughout as a common thread. Wow!
Blue canterbury bells with yellow roses or campanula cherry bells with Mdm Carrie Testout..an OGR in medium pink and very fully petaled. You have me thinking now...
Smiles,
D...

Hi lavender lass, and all posters.

How interesting to read all the suggestions in this thread.

In spring I have trilliums, some of them are fragrant, and bloom at the same time as medium late tulips. I have a few alliums too, white, purple, pinks, that bloom in may.

Aconitum (Monkshood?) looks great in a cottage garden and with roses in general. I have a bicolored one I like a lot, but the species is just as showy when given a bit of care. Foxgloves can be very nice in a cottage garden too. These two are poisonous if eaten, but are no problem to handle other wise. It's a good opportunity to learn the kids to be careful with some plants.

I also like sweet peas, and sow them every year. There's lots of varieties from a foot tall to a couple of yards. Dwarf varieties are very good for pots, boarders and the taller ones a great for leggy climbers. Roses seem to like sweet peas, and shoot basals like never before with them around.

Snapdragons are good too. I sow them almost every year, and if I don't I buy some in pots. If they are green house cultivated they can bloom from may until frost comes. I cut the tip of the new growth to make them more "branchy", and they don't need support then. I also cut of the flower "stem", to prevent them going to seed, and new ones will appear. Some years they manage to survive winter even in my climate. These have become a favorite since slugs don't like them particularly.

I have found that the dianthus varieties are very underestimated in the garden. Slugs don't bother them, and they grow well under almost any condition as long as they get lots of sun and some kind of fertilizer. Many of them bloom year after planting, but are fully hardy plants, maybe even zone 4?

Best of luck with the companion search :-)

Good points, taoseeker. I've never tried sweet peas. I do let the clambering wild annuals with pea flowers scramble through the beds: they're pleasant and have no vices. I agree about Dianthus. I have a perennial pink that I scatter through the garden as I start new plants, and it's faultless: fragrant, pretty blooms, wonderful silvery foliage on a contained plant, utterly heat-, drought- and cold-tolerant. I'd like to know the variety name. I started it from seed, and it was supposed to be annual, but is as perennial as can be. It self-sowed in the first garden I had it in, but has never done so in this one, unfortunately.
Melissa

Vettin - I love the idea of dark/black Iris poking up through soft pink roses ... that would be quite a dramatic sort of romantic look and it's stuck in my mind now :)

A sheltered or tucked away area also sounds like a beautiful addition to a romantic garden spot ...

Dianthus is a suggestion I will take from this thread ... I was looking for shorter, contained plants for in front of the roses and dianthus seems to fit the bill. So many different colour choices too, it seems like you could pair it with anything!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Mad Dogs and Englishmen

My Romantic Four Seasons garden, (to be viewed with the same by Vivaldi):
Winter, the entry walkway is in bloom with rows of Sweet Alyssium, and Paperwhite Narcissi, both sides of the sidewalk.
In California this serves as a "winter snow-white" theme,in an area where snow never falls. The white Noisettte "Nastarana" and two "Westside Road Cream Tea" roses bloom through December.
Dwarf Myrtle along the sidewalks share their fragrance with us when their foliage brushes against skirts and pant legs.

Spring: fragrant purple violets, their green heart shaped foliage forms pretty clumps,
forget-me-nots will come into bloom with
Nicotiana mutabilis, and purple and white sweet peas, Sweet William, that I grew from seed this winter is already blooming. I have great masses of blue flowers that I forget the name of, their tasty black seeds are used on breads in the Middle east. Purple and white Petunias bloom beside "Mlle.Cecille Brunner".

Summer: most of my roses are Old Garden Tea and Noisette roses and are pink and or white, so I'm adding dozens of purple Verbena among the roses, peach hued foxgoves and sky blue delphinium for color variation. I plan to plant a row of Pernetiana roses mingled with blue and purple delphinium and Monkshood.
For fragrance I have Confederate jasmine, and Poets jasmine, wisteria, honeysuckle, Mexican mock orange vine and lavenders in every part of the property.
I'm drawing up plans for a citrus tree to head a fan shaped herb garden and to provide shade for it. I love citrus because it has evergreen foliage and ornamental fruit in winter.
I plan to have as many herbs as possible: bee balm, thyme in many forms, basil, lads love, tansy, spearmint and strawberries in crockery pots, English, Spanish and French lavender, parsley in abundance, lemon verbena, purple sage, chamomile, yarrow and an espaliered nobilis bay tree in a pot.

Luxrosa

My newest discovery in the category romantic companion plants is the 'Giant Blue' pincushion flower. It is a scabiosa hybrid with much bigger pale lilac blooms than the common pincushion flower.

I planted it into my hybrid perpetual bed together with Yolande d'Aragon, Reine des Violettes, and Grandmother's Hat. It goes so well with the pink and violet colors of the HPs. I also like that it is not as much work to deadhead than the regular scabiosas, because the flowers don't come so numerous, but since they are bigger they still have more visual impact. The plant took off right after I put it into the ground and seems to be a no fuss easy to grow one so far.

Christina

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

Perhaps not to everybody's taste, but I like the native wild strawberry, fragraria virginiana. They make little, intensely flavored berries about the size of a fingernail on your little finger. We got a couple cups of them this year. It seems to take a couple of years to get them established and producing. The foliage turns bright red in the fall. I like the foliage; clusters of small, white flowers only in spring. Spreads by above ground runners. It's also less than 1' high, so some might find it's a little too short.

Mike

I think the most romantic flowering plant I have intermingled with my roses is the common Japanese Honeysuckle. It is quite vigorous and some consider it to be invasive, but it can be controlled with pruning and has the most heavenly and intoxicating and "romantic" fragrance imaginable. I have one vining on the stairway leading up onto my porch (with rosa Paradise in front), and I get to inhale that fragrance every time I enter or exit my home from spring through fall. Heaven.

None of the roses have started blooming yet, but a few of the companions have. Pansies and johnny jump ups, columbines and hardy geraniums are blooming. this geranium has woven into Maiden's Blush, which will surely open soon. Or so I tell myself every morning.

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Hi Lavender Lass and all,

I was just thinking about what I would like to add to the rose/flower garden, especially the front of the border. That is a tough one sometimes.
I have lemon thyme which has grown but forms a nice little patch of greenery that smells wonderful. Also some short verieties of veronica (can't recall all names, but one is Waterperry blue). Taller plants would be daylilies in white & soft pink, irises, liatris, russian sage, dianthus, a pink coreopsis, a white compact hydrangea, lambs ear (the silver foliage is incredible & it's not a monster so far), peonies, asiatic lilies.
I'd like to add in a geranium or two this year most definately.
I've been "testing" plants out to see if I like the way they turn out, with the intention of adding more for a mass effect for those that really appeal to me.
Love this thread, it gives me some great ideas too!

To add to the roses: Peonies, Lilies, Tulips, Daffodils (white and pink only), Japanese Anemones, Foxglove, Baby's Breath, Colchicum, white Forget-me-not, pink Zephyranthus if I could, Clematis montana to envelop the garden, Sweet William and phlox to carpet it. I would grow pinks but they won't. And roses that grow 20-30 feet up the trees that surround the garden to accompany the Clematis montana. Everything would be white and shades of pink with a zap or two of intense fuchsia or crimson and of course all those things that I just can't resist. Cath