With dianthus it kind of depends freeze wise, the shorter ones stay green over winter here, but I probably just suck in growing them, because they tend to be misshapen disasters.

For rudbekias, they are quite sturdy plants and can take small bit of frost, I successfully grew 2 varieties this year from seed, which I am also not that good at.

Hi Sherry
There are many lovely annuals which can be sown directly where you want them to grow. Also, they take ery small spaces and can grow tall and willowy. Tops for me are the annual cornflowers, 1.2m. agrostemma gracilis (corncockles)in white or purple, grasses such as Briza maxima 60cm(quaking grass), larkspur,flax (blue-linum perenne/narbonense) or red (linum rubrum,) Omphalodes linifolia (80cm)Platystemon (creamcups)(60cm), arctotis venustus,(90cm) ursinia and osteospermum 30-45cm (various) phacelia viscida 30cm, nemophila baby blue eyes 20cm or penny black, gypsophila paniculata,1m. ammi majus 1.5m- a gorgeous umbellifer like Queen Annes Lace (also orlaya)60cm, gilia, legousia 60cm - the main thing is that these seeds are easy, have wispy and dainty flowers, can be sown in multitudes, and look great between roses - I did many of these in my new rose area at the allotment especially as :I did not have the time or cash to fill with perennials. Also, penstemons have been terrific and long flowering, hardy geraniums which scramble rather than mound (Rozanne, Anne Folkard. Pinks are wonderful as edgers, as are some of the creeping phlox (stolonifera). Taller phlox might be good for you too Sherry. Oh Lucky you - when you grow from seed ,you will be able to grow drifts of lovely plants which you would never get as a ready grown plant, the packets cost hardly anything and even if zillions die (mine do) there are always many more left over to grow on or give away. Oh yes, nicotianas, very easy and very graceful. Because your roses are large defined structures, you really do need some wispy plants in between 0 do have a look at some of the grasses such as stipa and festuca - Oh, I envy you the joy of trying new things - not that there is nothing new for me (still an ignoramus in sooooo many ways).

Hardy geraniums Rosssana & Jolly Bee have been good the last couple of years, Acanthus (Bears Breeches)makes a nice presentation right after Springs first flush. I love Helenium particularly the copper colors and keep cutting it back till Sept and then let it go so it makes nice Fall color. Leatris Spicata comes back year after year and I also like St Johns Wort for the foliage and berries.

Dianthus does very well for me here and we get much worse winters than you. Besides that, my only advise is do not plant anything invasive, such as rudebeka. Since you have a small garden, I would plant whatever you want and if you are going to be hit with a hard freeze, throw a sheet over everything and stick a light bulb underneath. Use one of those reflector lamps you see in workshops and start it before the temperature drops so you have time to build up heat.

hard freeze is not in Sherry's vocabulary. (Lucky girl) I agree, dianthus are lovely, varied, scented and generally evergreen (evergrey?) Tiny maiden pinks, Cheddar pinks, plumarius, oh, many, many lovelies.

Do you know about Stephen Scaniello's book on roses and companion plants? I can't think of the title right now. I found it useful.

Sherry, I do not have a lot of experience with annual plants here in Houston, but I will tell you what has worked well for me.
First, is my all time favorite, viola. I usually buy some in colors I like and plant the plants around Halloween. Local garden experts say not to plant transplants before then because it hasn't cooled off enough until then. The transplants are available starting around the beginning of September, and I have successfully put them in a bit earlier than the Halloween date, but then I have a good bit of shade. After the transplants have been in a while (maybe a month) I start getting seedlings appearing in areas where I've planted them in previous years. So the natural reseeding is later than when I set out transplants.
Secondly, I like to plant larkspur seed. Again, local wisdom says that the seed needs to be planted in the fall so the plants can overwinter before growing in the spring. I can testify that even very early spring sowing of seeds yields wimpy plants. I usually grow the ones in shades of blue and just sprinkle the seeds where I want them in October or November. Once the seeds sprout, the plants stay small all winter and then grow tall in the spring. These will usually flower through June for me, but are looking a bit sad by then. They often will flop over some by the end of their lifespan. Some natural reseeding will occur, but I do buy more seed every year to insure a large enough number.
The last thing I always plant is cynoglossum (aka Chinese forget-me-not). These are not large plants for me in my partial shade. The flowers are a much brighter blue than the larkspur, but like larkspur the individual flower is small. The flowers line the flowering stem, but the stem will branch out. These will need to be protected when it freezes. Mine will usually survive a light frost with a bit of damage. If it is expected to get colder, I will cover the plants either with a towel or pots turned upside down. These will often reseed themselves and I still have some blooming right now, but they definitely prefer the cooler weather.
I did try some tall snapdragons this past winter. I did not protect them at all and they survived at least three nights of 22 degrees. I bought the transplants in 4 inch pots. I believe they were the strain called 'Rocket'. I like the taller ones because the flowers snap - if you squeeze the sides they open their jaws (a favorite past time as a child, and something I still do once in a while even now ). They are still blooming right now, although the plants are looking a bit sad in the heat. When the flowering stock is finished blooming, I cut it back and the plant sends up more. Since this is the first year, I do not know if they will self sow.

I usually plant some phlox drummondii as well. Like the others, it will also self sow some. There are some nice seed mixes in different color ranges. I still have one lone pink one blooming now, but usually the plants last through June for me.

I have one warm season phlox called 'John Fannick'. I only planted it last fall, but it has been blooming well this summer. The flowers are light pink with a darker pink eye. It is a variety that is supposed to do well in Texas, so would probably do well for you as well.
I haven't grown them myself, but here in the fall they sell a taller dianthus called 'First Love'. I believe it gets to be about 18" tall. The single flowers start out white and then age to pink, and it is noticeably fragrant. Maybe I'll try it this fall.

For the warm season,I did buy a blue porterweed this spring (a 4" pot). It is about 3' tall and vase shaped now. I really like it, but don't know what it will do when winter comes.

Also for warm season I grow the Mexican butterfly weed (Asclepias curassavica). It comes back from the roots after the winter. It does seed around some, but the ones that sprout where you don't want them are easily pulled. The Monarch butterfly caterpillars can really decimate these in the summer. There are some times where they are nothing but bare stems. The flower color is quite bright, and I don't have them near my roses. Let me know how the pink one does for you.
Kathy

Sherry,

you asked about how things look... I'm a larkspur fan also. I put the seeds out, scattering them in soil, in the fall. They overwintered fine for me in zone 7, so I think they'd do fine for you.

I've had little success trying snapdragons from seed, but planted as small starter plants they have sometimes reseeded in the garden. They overwintered fine for me. I think they have particular light requirements to germinate.

Foxgloves are pretty easy to start from seed and will re seed. They seem to like manure and good soil but aren't what I'd call "wispy." Nice vertical accents. Bachelor buttons are wonderful and easy to start from seed. Alyssum is also one of my favorites, very easy from seed.

I know this is delphinium country, but I sowed my larkspur seeds that I brought from Alabama around the area I put two delphiniums. Here's a pic so you can tell what they look like.

The delphs have broad leaves, the larkspur the wispy. None of those I mentioned will have problems with your cold, I don't think. They survived Alabama okay, anyway.

Be careful with cleome as it can be invasive, but is easy to pull out. Has some thorny edges. Have fun; seed starting can become a passion, too. Cheap one, anyway, lol!

Gean

{{gwi:292649}}

Hi, Sherry - I agree, it is fun to try companion plants with the roses. Mine tend to get crowded out, but it's still fun. We've been adding them to the cemetery, too.

Whatever you do, don't plant Bishop's Weed or Ammi majus. My mother planted it in her little corner garden in Ohio and it took over completely. The white flowers are pretty but it spreads very aggressively. I weeded it every time that I visited, but could not get rid of it.

When you say "wispy," I think linaria. A very pretty, spiky plant. Another lovely thing is Love in a Mist, or Nigella. It dries up rather quickly but the seed pods are pretty. I grow "honesty," or lunaria. Its leaves aren't wispy. but the white coin-like seedheads are, and it's an interesting plant.

I'll bet you can grow impatiens balfourii. It spreads by seeds but is easy to pull out. It's very delicate looking, exotic like an orchid. Wispy and a couple feet tall.

All of these plants self-seed in my garden, as does California poppy. I'm ok with that - just pull it up where it's not wanted. Forget-me-nots are another story - they stick in socks and shoelaces and pant legs, and are a bit of a pain, and really can be a problem if you have a shaggy dog.

I have foxglove, although it tends to move around and not grow where I want it. Can you grow dahlias, I wonder? I saw tall purple dahlias scattered all through the borders at Great Dixter, and plan to move mine this year from the back fence to grow amidst the roses. These aren't the dinner-plate ones, but smaller cluster-flowered ones that grow five feet tall.

I am thinking of trying bachelor buttons. A friend grows those and they are gorgeous. Carolyn Parker wrote an ode to orlaya, and I'd like to try it, too. Sounds like larkspur should go on my list, too.

I am crazy about salvia. I also grow hardy geraniums and white phlox (gorgeous stuff which blooms for six weeks if I keep it deadheaded). Lychnis is great, too.

I am really fond of Erigeron, or Santa Barbara daisy, but it too can be invasive.

Paperwhites are pretty but those floppy leaves are unsightly, and they have to stay until they dry if you want repeat bloom.

Invasiveness depends a lot on your soil. Mine is heavy clay, and some things really don't spread as they are reputed to do. For example, supposedly thug-like Japanese anemone stays quite contained. In the cemetery, the soil is light and sandy, and things spread much more readily. Your soil is probably more like that, so you may need to keep an eye on things.
Anita

Wispy? Gaura here in California.
Renee

I wonder what you can grow in Florida, a climate unto itself. Would Verbena bonariensis be a possibility? it's very tall and light. Like others here I thought of Nigella, a wispy self-seeder. You would do well to talk with a nursery(wo)man specializing in plants adapted to Florida conditions.
Good luck!
Melissa

We had gaura as a perennial in East Central Florida. It made a low-ish mound of vegetation, then sent up those graceful flower spikes. It was especially fun to watch the bees land on them--the spikes would bend down under a bee's weight and give it a ride. It was available as plants at local nurseries and box stores. In pink or white--would probably be quite lovely among roses.

I agree. Gaura lindheimeri and all it,s varieties.
Verbena bonariensis, Verbascums. Verbascum nigrum is easy from seed.
Linaria triornithophora is another perennial that is easy from seed as is Lychnis coronaria.
Daisy

gaura is al+so easy from seed and blooms in its first year - there are some lovely pink cultivars too although they tend to be a little shorter than the white gaura lindheimeri. Ingrid grows lots of statice which, as you are on sand, may also do very well for you Sherry. Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonlight' is a good, fine leaved tickseed and the pale yellow flowers are restrained./ and delicate....oh, the list could go on for ever but the choices are yours to enjoy/agonise over. However, unlike roses, these plants are dirt cheap, grow in the hundreds and you need feel no qualms when you rip them out. This is hard to type with a tiny cat wandering around the keyboard. photos soon, i promise although black fluff is not easy!

I've had an absolutely horrific cold this week and haven't been able to respond to all your wonderful and in depth suggestions, but I will. I want to look them all up, and I'll get back to you. :)) I'm just returning to the land of the living!

Sherry

Hi Sherry -

I had some Coreopsis once, and I really loved it. I see that Campanula has already mentioned it, although she was referring to the one called "Moonlight". The one I had was the basic sunny yellow one. It had nice, fairly dark green foliage in a low clump, and the flowers grew up out of that on wire-thin stems, sort of Happy-Pollyanna-Rebecca-of-Sunnybrook-Farm-looking daisy-like flowers. They (the flowers) bloomed quite a bit above the foliage, giving an airy look. If you are going for a more formal look to your garden, then you might not like them, but if you have some of the more informal-looking roses, I think they would go well. You can plant them from seed or get one plant at a nursery to just try it out. I think it's a perennial, but am not sure - mine certainly behaved like one.

By the way, my Mlle. Jeanne Philippe (remember?) is doing well. She has a very graceful growth habit that I find really pleasing, and the flowers, though small, are lovely. She is now my only Tea, since I down-sized my little garden, but she seems pretty healthy (except for flower-crisping in our hot weather, which everything is doing, anyway). Your Le Vesuves sound wonderful.

Laura