Probably not unusual, but here in drought-crippled SoCal, we rely greatly on drought-resistant salvias and lavenders.

Jeri

I have Vernonia, Ironweed, and Boltonia 'Snowbank' and Thalictrum rochbruneanum (although I like T. 'Hewitt's Double' better because it is sterile and blooms longer but it doesn't survive on the hillside). I planted Nerine bowdeni this Spring but it is probably not cold hardy here. I am just introducing Anemone japonica (which takes awhile) and would grow Lycoris if I could. I am still working on these last two. I also have Crocosmia 'Lucifer' but this is a mistake (euphemism for tragedy). It absolutely clashes with old garden roses. I have planted more phlox this year but these are probably not unusual.

Cath

Cool alliums, wirosarian.

Jeri, I was definitely figuring to plant some salvia in pretty dry Dallas. I'm not sure whether lavender does well here also.

Cath, I'm going to have to do some looking up in order to check out your companions.

Well, I'm having a whole new look at 'weeds' I'm using horse herb (Calyptocarpus vialis), frog fruit (Phyla nodiflora), & dogweed (Dysodia), as ground covers. In my old zone I liked the pink oxalis & wood violets

To quote Sally Wasowski in "Native Plants of TX" re. horseherb:

"This plant illustrates how prejudices can cloud the mind. It is described in botanical literature as a 'noxious weed'. Why? Because it outcompetes grass in the shade. Funny, that's what I thought everyone wants a ground cover to do....What else forms dense mats in the shade with little to no water, can be mowed if desired, & can take moderate foot traffic?"

Horseherb & frog fruit tolerate full all day sun here without a drop of water, stay green all year & stay low. Dogweed has fine needle like leaves & tiny yellow flowers. It blooms cheerfully in the awfullest caliche.

I love lavenders, thymes, wildflowers & artemisias in with the roses, but I mention the others as plants that are less likely to be appreciated--& they should be--they are ever blooming easy keepers.

Another thing I'm doing that I like is planting circles of vegetables around each new rose or fruit tree. It is so much trouble to dig a good hole, amend it properly & keep the thing watered--why not utilize the whole area? So last year I planted rings of turnips, Swiss chard, green beans, tomotoes & potatoes around the trees & roses. It worked very well so this fall I slung some dry land winter mix--primarily Palestinian clover--around the trees & ringed them with spinach & carrots. Each season I can expand the cultivated ring a bit wider. I fill in the surrounding water retaining trench with manure & dig a new trench outside of that. Now several rings have merged to form rich loamy beds.

Cultivating around each tree & shrub beats trying to do a huge bed all at once. By colonizing this way it's gradually forming a whole backyard garden.

Bluegirl, I would love to see photos

I just put lavenders by our fruit trees. We have chickens so, I can't do veggies instead I have a "chicken moat" they can patrol the outside of the veggie garden for bugs. So far the chickens think lavender, rosemarym four o'clocks, pelagroniums and roses are not tasty so those are in the moat with the chickens

Haha! I HAVE taken some photos but have been too lazy to study how to post them.

I want some hens but won't get any until I have a very secure place for them. There are too many predators here & I love chickens, they have so much personality.

Have you seen this Mercedes Benz commercial with the chickens? It is so true how birds maintain their heads in perfect balance no matter what their body position. I think it's a flight adaptation.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mercedez Benz chicken commercial

Mesigh,

If you live in the DFW area, most people can't grow lavender except in containers,. It doesn't like clay or wet feet at all. They do grow it successfully in the Hill country.

Some salvias do well here, others struggle in the clay, they are another that typically require very sharp drainage. That's a broad brush though because there are some that do great. Might want to spend some time on the Texas gardening forum talking about stuff like that.

You might want to check out salvia leucantha (Mexican bush sage). It grows here in clay, in vacant lots, right along the road, etc. Landscapers plant it everywhere. It starts blooming madly in mid Summer here and continues up until December. I do nothing to mine except cut it down in Jan when it has finally stopped blooming. Mine grows where it gets flooded (6 inches from the gutter) every Winter, so I don't think it is too concerned about getting wet. Cold hardy in zones 8-10. See if anyone grows it in your area.

Jackie

mmmm tricky because I grow roses all over my allotment, wherever they can be squeezed in. So, a quick run down
roses in the gravel garden - this was the first area I designed and planted and although there are some changes, it is essentially a free-draining, full sun bed with smaller species and pimpinellas. Planting includes the old favourites of nepeta, lavender and pinks....but also includes grasses (stipa gigantea, S.tenuissima, festuca glauca and elymus magellanicus. Also many shrubby salvias especially jamensis, microphylla and greggii, verbena bonariensis, limonium perezzii (sp?) althea cannabina, baptisia purple smoke, achilleas, species tulips, sedums, pulsatilla, bupleurum longifolia, patrinia scabiosa, knatia macedonica. texax flax (linum rigida)

Could go on like this all day so will be briefer. There are roses in the fruit areas, amongst the currants and dwarf cherries. Roses growing under the apple cordons, and roses in my purple border (astrantias, penstemons, clematis integrifolia, incarvillea sinensis, paeonia and oriental poppies.
Roses also grow in a long fence backed by delphs, larkspur and sweet peas., I have a late summer border with asters, phlox, rudbeckia, angelica and a huge moyesii.
Fairly new are the roses with grasses, umbellifers/apiacea. I have orlaya grandiflora, ammi majus, angelica archangelica, pimpinella roseum, chaerophyllum hirsutum, seselli wallichianum, hieraceum, astrantia maxima, cenolophium denudata..... planted with panicums, hemerocallis, agapanthus, sphaeralceas and I always leave parsley, carrots and parsnips to flower and seed (along with sweet cicely and gallium odoratus.
Planning shady woodland beds with more species roses along with many lathyrus varieties, mertensia, bluebells, campanulas and foxgloves - the albas and early asian yellows grow well on woodland edges, where many of the umbels will also thrive.

So, basically, pretty much anything including annual veggies and alpine strawberries.

I have a Charles XII under planted with Italian flat leaf parsley and society garlic. This parsley has been growing non stop since March. I planted the society garlic in September so it has lavender flowers right now.

Lynn

bluegirl, thank you for posting the link to the MB commercial. That is so cool, and something I'd never realized before. Obviously the MB folks did, and I love how they did a car commercial without a single picture of their product.

Suzy, I think you're the only person besides me who uses sea lavender (limonium perezii). I think it looks great with or without roses, and, although not a long-lasting plant in my climate (it dries up and looks ratty), it makes quite a few babies.

I have only the most basic companion plants since most of them aren't tough enough to last more than a season. I'm left with pelargoniums, which bloom most of the year, repeating irises, some day lilies, scabiosa, vitex, marjoram (the bees love it) and not a whole lot of anything else. Camps, your list is staggering.

Ingrid

Ingrid, that commercial tickled the heck out of me because my brother & I have played with our birds that way for years.

The funniest are the rescued grackles. We'd hold them like that & hum the 'snake charmer' tune, gently moving them to the music. Those long black heads & yellow eyes stayed perfectly located while their bodies swayed. Kind of like those Balinese dancers that can keep their heads level while they shift their shoulders right & left.

Ingrid - please take credit for my use of sea lavender - it was seeing yours in full flow which prompted me to get some too - a smashing plant. Have you tried it with zauschneria (aka Californian fuschia) and the many lovely and fantastically long flowering shrubby salvias (the colours range from palest primrose to deepest purples with all manner of reds, pinks, peach and coral) - might do OK in your oven garden. The self-seeded escholtzias have been having another go round too, after the first lot had flowered and gone to seed, the summer has been long enough for a new generation.

Hardly unusual, but alchemilla mollis (and the smaller erythropodium) have always been reliable companions, along with the weedy but delicious toadflax purpurea (the pink Canon Went is truly lovely with pale pink petal filled old roses)

Hey BlueGirl, I've been thinking about following the Wasowskis' suggestion and putting horseherb and violets under one of our live oaks, but I hadn't thought about it for full sun! If it is not prying too much, where in Texas were you, and where are you now?

Kippy, I hope your chickens don't develop a taste for roses!

Lucas, I recall reading that Randy has had luck with Spanish lavender. I dipped my toe into the Salvia forum the other day (just lurking), and I ran away, intimidated by how much I did not know about salvias. As I really start thinking about companions more, I definitely will visit the Texas forum.

Jackie, am I remembering correctly, you are in the SF area? I remember seeing bee-you-ti-ful salvias, I think leucantha, when visiting a friend in SF. I have seen it growing around DFW as well. I recall thinking of it as purple, but when I read about it now (in my struggle to pin down all the different salvias), the pictures I see are of it the color veers almost to magenta. Are there different cultivars?

Wow, campanula! I would love to see pictures of your garden(s). I love the idea of umbillefers. I've also been thinking about grasses. Since are climates are so very different, there probably is not much overlap between what thrives for you and what would thrive for me, but do you have any general tips about how to combine roses and grasses successfully?

Lynn, parsley is such a gamble for us; sometimes we get our predicted 2 years, and other times it bolts right away.

Ingrid, I saw a photo of your marjoram -- lovely! Is Vitex a tree or a shrub for you?

Hey meslgh, I'm nw of SA. Thing that surprised me here was how frog fruit, traditionally grown as a pond plant, has thrived this summer in full sun with no water. It's all along the stretch where my Dad has his fruit trees. No irrigation, just watering by hand-held hose, the trees only, yet frogfruit, horseherb, mealy sage, milkwort, etc. bloomed all summer in this terrible drought.

The frog fruit in the rose area gets weekly water & gets about 12".

In both areas the horseherb & frog fruit have bloomed all year.
(email me if you want me to dig you up a bunch of either or both)

I had to look it up because I wasn't acquainted with the name "sea lavender," but there was always limonium in one of the rose beds my mother tended to growing up and still. She referred to it as Stattice. It does well as a dried flower so it always had a place in the garden.

I've loaded some normal pansies, alyssum, violas, thymes, and a few poppies as companions in the new rose beds I've prepared for her. There's a short edging of santolina and shorter lavender cultivars around one of them. We're chilling bulbs now to place in the beds in the spring. She's a tulip lover and we're trying all sorts of hybrids and species.

Pinks, Coreopsis, Flax, Jupiter's Beard, Scented Geraniums, Sea Pink, Agapanthus, Lamb's Ears, Campanulas, Euphorbiae, Thai Chilis, Russian Sage, Borage (horribly difficult to control, but never a shortage of seedlings), Compact Ground Morning Glory, Rosemary (prostrate and upright), Catmint, and Bearded Iris are utilized as companions directly next to or in close proximity to roses incorporated into mixed plantings.

Jay

meslgh, my vitex (all three of them) are shrubs, and they are so pretty, with leaves that are almost bluish on one side, very soft-looking. I haven't seen the tree vitex, or should I say don't know what it looks like.

Ingrid

Like many of you on the Forum, I grow a flower garden with roses as the central focus, but not a rose garden, so I love many perennials and annuals, and many that I grow have been mentioned already in this thread. One of my favorites, that loves our hot, dry climate, are hardy hibiscus which seem almost too tropical for this area. The main bloom season is around July-August, which is so hot, the gorgeous, huge flowers last but hours. Luckily, mine bloom a second time, starting in September, continuing on up until about now, when the big buds no longer open. Here's a pic of my favorite, Fantasia, earlier in the summer, who now just doesn't want to die back or admit it's over for the year. Diane

I seem to grow every coreopsis known to humankind, from old yellow standbys like Early Sunrise, to my new favorites, Ruby Frost, and Red Shift. Here are some yellow coreopsis with reliable, but common, rudbeckia and coneflowers. I can't go wrong with these, no matter how hot it gets, and the bees love them, especially the coneflowers. Ruby Frost and Red Shift grow redder as the temps fall, but RF is a nice deep red all season. They blooms for months on end. Diane

Here is a close up of Ruby Frost. The cream colored border around the outer edge of the blooms shrinks, and is very narrow, now that it is cooler. Diane

Years ago, a friend gave me seeds from her double hollyhocks and I've been growing them in colors from white and pale cream to deep burgundy, with all kinds of pinks and apricots in between. Everyone of the blooms is reliably double, but predicting future colors is more challenging, even when I try to select for a certain color. They are a headstrong bunch. I throw seeds out on top of the ground in any old spot I might want the hocks to grow, casting them in late fall, late winter, and spring. Then I have a constant stream of bloom from late June until right now where a number of them are blooming away. To my mind, the blooms rival the beauty of roses' blooms, but they are a more rustic sort. Wind is their nemesis, though it's mainly in certain locations, where the poor plants get knocked down at the same time every year. Others are never touched by the wind, it seems. But there are always more blooms on the way because of multiple seed sowing. Diane

Diane, I love your hibiscus and the double hollyhocks. Lovely colors.

Meslgh, I posted a lengthy reply about companion plants on your post about your roses - didn't know about this post in time.

Salvia greggii and salvia leucantha grow well in our area. A couple of salvia greggii hybrids that also do well are Hot Lips and Maraschino. I also use salvia Henry Duelberg for a blue touch. As Lucas said, there are others that are grown by gardeners on the Texas forum. You can do a search there and the varieties they recommend be more certain for our area than those you may hear about on the salvia forum. Lou

Hi Meslgh,
Hmmmm, general tips on combining grasses and roses. I like grasses because they provide movements and texture - something sadly lacking in most rose bushes.....but I am inclined to keep the form of the roses simple and informal, so singles and semi-doubles work well. Ground cover roses mingle with smaller festucas and the lovely hakone grass with scrambling perennials such as the integrifolia clematis or hardy geraniums such as Rozanne or g.psilostemon. Larger grasses, such as miscanthus, molinia or pennisetums fit with the tall and airy china, Mutabilis and various hybrid musks. Mostly though, I like to use species roses which have good foliage and, most importantly, great heps, since autumn is when grasses and rose heps associate most beautifully. I have just sown muhlenbergia capillaris - a grass new to me which will, I hope, mingle with penstemon and the little purple Lens HM, Sibelius, along with another deep red, Cardinal Hume. A wash of purples and pinks, I hope, with maybe the common purple and pink toadflax, linaria purpurea 'Cardinal Went. Throw in angelica gigas, sedum 'Matrona' and verbena bonariensis, for a very misty and loose fenland style.

Campanula, I'm glad to hear that you too enjoy interplanting roses with grasses. The diversity makes things so interesting. Love the movement of the grasses, too. It's relaxing, like watching moving clouds or moving water. At least, to me. Lou

Wow, Diane, lovely hibiscus, hollyhocks & Coreopsis

Thanks Lou and Bluegirl. Here's another hollyhock or two. Diane

I like to categorize things in order to deal with them more efficiently. Of companion plants for roses, there are two sorts (in my scheme of things): (1) Those for underplanting; (2) those for beside-planting.

Some favorites for underplanting: Marrubium supinum (the current apple of my eye; the general effect is that of a whiter Lamb's Ears, but it's a neater, better-behaved plant), Dianthus, Lavandula lanatum, Armeria, Silene viscaria, Scutellaria diffusa, Aurinia saxatilis, Iberis gibraltarica, Nolana humifusa, Nolana paradoxa, Bletilla striata, Pansies, Satureja montana, Thymus mastichina, Lobelia 'Crystal Palace', etc. etc. etc.

Some favorites for beside-planting: Salvia lavandulifolia, Ruta odorata, Platycodon grandiflorus, the more restrained Daylilies, less-aggressive Bearded Iris, Perovskia, Sweet Williams (blurs the line between underplanting and beside-planting), Poliomintha longiflora, Columbines, etc. etc. etc. Bells of Ireland can be a fun rose companion now and then.

Then there's the world of bulbs: Narcissus ('Peeping Tom' is my favorite), Tulips (T. clusiana for me), Lilies, and so on.

And I won't even touch on the world of Succulents...

These pictures of companion plants have made me want to forget about growing roses! They're all so beautiful. I've had coreopsis in the past but got tired of snipping off the dead blooms. How do you get around that? Is there some other way than cutting the stems off individually? That really goes for all the plant varieties that have many flowers on them. Just keeping the roses deadheaded is about all I can manage, but it would be nice to have some of these little beauties.

Ingrid

Diane...I would love to visit your garden!!! The pictures you share with us are amazing. I love hollyhocks but the rabbits and Japanese beetles love them too. You really have created a lovely combination of roses and plants. I don`t have the fullness and lushness you have in your garden. I just love your garden! lesley

I have loved everyone's suggestions and Diane, your photos are fantastic. I've looked up "frog fruit" and "horse herb" thanks for sharing those, Blue Girl.
Now, Odinthor....I looked up Marrubium supinum to discover it is "Horehound". Since I'm not a botanist that Latin is hard to swallow. Any chance of getting the common names for your suggestions? Or I'll be on Google all night.
Lastly, I find that drought tolerant plants don't usually do well under my roses as I keep them well watered...is Horehound one that won't turn to mush?
Thanks!
Susan

Thank you so much Lesley...and I would love to visit your garden as well. I've been admiring photos of it since I first saw them last winter in the Gallery. What a beautifully designed garden you have created. I believe you've got me on the lushness factor as well. Here in the desert, it's veeery hard to get a lush look. Diane

Thank you, Susan, for the photo compliments. My fifteen year old granddaughter has been my official photographer for over a year and a half. Every one of the photos I've posted during that time period she has taken. I'll be sure to pass on your nice comment to her. She really loves and appreciates those comments, too. Diane

One last post (for now-ha). Ingrid, coreopsis does require some deadheading, especially coreopsis grandiflora types like the yellow Early Sunrise. The flowers are fairly large and when they are spent become rapidly unsightly. But others like Moonbeam, a threadleaf, I shear off in bunches when a lot of the tiny flowers are spent. I don't find I spend much time doing this, though, and I've always liked deadheading in the evenings--except at the height of spring flush when Julia Child produces hundreds of blooms that will need regular deadheading! Diane

Thing is, Susan, the common names are not common at all because we usually mean something quite different, especially when talking about vague things like 'bluebells' which can be pretty much anything from hycinthoides non-scripta to campanula rotundifolia with a bunch of other stuff thrown in. Tiring though the spellings and pronunciation of Latin nomenclature is, at least we can be sure we are all on the same page....and after a while, you will find yourself running such names off your tongue in delight - my current favourite - humulus lupulus (or common hops). As for clematis viticella purpurea plena elegans - it sounds like a hypnotic mantra which fills my mouth with pleasure. Like any new language, it reveals hidden gems and minor triumphs as you proceed - do persevere, the rewards are numerous.

Thanks Camps! I'm pretty familiar with the Latin names for common plants. HA. But when I encounter something new I have to look it up. Like clematis viticcella purpurea plena elegans would mean to me--purple clematis viticella variety: elegans. But then I'm a Southerner and we are notorious for twisting the language and using poor grammar among other lacking social graces. LOL.
i really liked Nolana Humifusa but cannot find a seed source in the U.S. I'd like to plant some Horehound too. But again, I wonder about using drought tolerant plants with my roses (which I indulge with water, particularly because they are so young). My Armeria turned to mush...
Susan

J L Hudson, Susan. Had to laugh cos they call the nolana humifusa 'Chilean Bell Flower' (which means lapageria to me). Have grown N.paradoxa before (Bluebird) which was an easy annual.

LOL Thanks! Do you grow Horehound? Susan

It's native in my zone, desert zone 8. It typically grows under nurse plants like agarita. It appears to thrive in the awfullest caliche & blazing sun.

I've planted some around the roses & the gray-green color & gravelly textured leaves look nice. If you're going to try it in rainy TN, I'd put it in a nice pocket of sand or gravel.

Another despised plant I've transplanted in with the roses is mullen. Three bloomed this fall with 5' candelabras. I like the soft felty leaves & tall bloom spikes. They do take up considerable room, though.

Jay, Thai chiles?! Cool.

Diane, I didn't know that there were non-yellow cultivars of coreopsis. Ruby frost looks great. And I love your hollyhocks!

Campanula, I was enjoying your lyrical description of misty loose fenland, so very unlike Dallas, when I stumbled across muhlenbergia capillaris. Hey, that's a Texas native I've been thinking about planting! In general, would you say that grasses can share space and mingle, or do they need some room of their own?

Odinthor, oh, come on, touch the world of succulents! (Pretty please?) I like how you categorize the companions, very helpful.

Anybody have any favorite purple foliage plants? What about architectural plants?

Susan,

In regard to the Horehound, Marrubbium, we have grown M. vulgare, in the herb garden since the mid 1970s. It may have died once and been replaced but that's pretty good longevity. I know M. vulgare is not the species you mentioned but the information may still be useful. Mullien also grows there and self seeds pleasantly not obnoxiously.

Cath

Mmmm, grasses - been having a moment in the sun for the last decade and I have enjoyed using some of them.....but, I am not a great fan of the whole prairie, Oehme Van Sweden/Piet Oudolf craze....which I find a bit dull, repetitive and prescriptive. Of course, in the UK, we do not, as a rule, have anything like the amount of space as you do in the UK - urban gardens especially, tend to be small, whereas the prairie style really demands a more capacious area - and is often utilised in some of our more innovative municipal schemes, including carparks and even roof gardens. So while I like grasses, I would not choose a garden limited to a small palette of grasses and perennials but prefer to mix mine about. A massive plus is the general air of movement and informality (essential since my gardens are never tidy or even very cohesive).
My current favourites are Bowles Golden Grass (millium effusum), the wonderful stipa gigantea (although this is in danger of becoming a bit too ubiquitous...a kind of latter-day pampas grass) and yep, I have just got the muhlenbergia sitting in the fridge, stratifying (it reminds me of deschampsia caespitosa, another light and airy grass). I especially like to mix simple flowers (asteraceae, mallows, flax (I am also growing linum rigida, aka Texas flax) and poppies (new for next season, P.tianschanicum).......with grasses such as stipa tenuissima, elymus magellanica.....while hakone (and the millium and luzula) grows well with lathyrus species, ferns and various sedges, omphalodes, spring bulbs and (also new for me this year, mertensia virginica).

Ach, succulents and other xerophytes--ye gods, there would be no end to the listings--not just the procumbent ones like the innumerable Sedums and Crassulas and so on with all their different foliage colors, but also the clumpy ones or solitaries--Dudleyas, Echeverias, small Aloes, Gasterias, mini-Agaves, Pachyphytums, even Aeoniums...and we haven't even started to consider Cacti proper . . . no, trying even to begin to list them makes my head explode from the innumerable possibilities, as I've studied and grown Cacti and Succulents longer than I've done so with Roses. The only problem with most of these is that li'l hungry critters like to hide in the cool depths of the plants, so one has to be able to banish the likes of snails and slugs from the area planted.

In honor of Campanula, I am posting...my Humulus lupulus, grown for my son in law's beer making. And Thai peppers, oh, my, did I grow the ultra hot peppers this summer for same son in law. It was a bumper crop, and the plants were so lovely, I hated to dump them at the end of their season. I grew them in a raised bed, pots, and window boxes. Among the peppers grown were habanero, red Caribbean (habanero type), Red Caribbean Squash (looks like a little red Turk's Head), Apache, Kung Pao, and Thai Hot Hot. I guess these don't qualify as rose campanions. Diane

Some of my favorite mixed garden companions that have not already been discussed (I think):

1. Seseli gummiferum. Much like Campanula, I love umbellifers. But unlike Campanula, I seem to live in climate that most umbellifers despise. I have had very limited success with Angelica gigas, Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum' and Pimpinella major 'Rosea'. This year, I got maybe 1-2 weeks of bloom from each of them during a milder than normal summer. After bloom, they just faded into the background and looked weedy--far removed from the romantic cottage garden effect I had in mind! Other umbellifers I have tried just died without explanation or were eaten by rabbits. Seseli gummiferum, however, has striking waxy glaucous foliage and stayed in prime bloom for a good 6-7 weeks, followed by seed heads which were almost as attractive as the blooms. It seemed to thrive is my sandy loam soil. I loved it this year and so did the hover flies!

2. Crambe maritima. Another star performer that requires absolutely no care or maintenance other than a good full plant chop after blooming in early summer. Striking, handsome, architectural glaucous leaves and lovely full heads of white flowers with a wafting honey fragrance.

3. Hardy geraniums. Many people have already mentioned them, yes, but I want to mention a few others. 'Rozanne' is exquisite and I have at least 20 of them in various places throughout my tiny garden (!) but many others are just as worthy. Geranium soboliferum 'Butterfly Kisses' is a wonderful fall bloomer that started producing its starry magenta blooms in early September and is still going strong now. 'Blue Sunrise' has gorgeous chartreuse/yellow new growth and was in stunning full bloom from late May to late July this year. 'Tiny Monster' and 'Nimbus' have been blooming off and on from late May until now. 'Derek Cook', a selection of Geranium himalayense, produces huge, striking white blooms with lavender veins from late spring to midsummer. 'Eureka Blue' and 'Orion' are both exquisite and vigorous with huge blooms that are much "bluer" than 'Rozanne' in high temperatures. 'Blue Cloud', much like its name implies, produces clouds of amazing pale blue blooms that stand out in the garden and contrasts nicely with the blue shades of other geraniums. Geranium erianthum bloomed continuously from early June through mid August. Geranium maculatum 'Elizabeth Ann' has striking irridescent bronze foliage and wonderful lilac-pink blooms for a good month in late spring. I am itching to get my hands on 'Lilac Ice', a stunning lilac-white sport of 'Rozanne'.

4. Calamintha nepeta. One of my absolute favorites. About 12-18 inches tall with a spreading growth habit, it starts blooming here in July and soon becomes a never-ending frothy cloud of white blooms (that have a lavender tinged when viewed up close). Mine are still blooming now. Absolutely loved by bees and other pollinators.

5. Pycnanthemum. So far, my favorite is Pycnanthemum muticum with its ornamental silvery-grey flower bracts from July till now. Rumor has it that it can sometimes spread vigorously (it is in the mint family), but so far it has been well behaved for me. In any case, it has shallow roots and is easily pulled up, ripped out, transplanted, etc. I grow several other species and all are nice, with varying heights, blooms seasons, and very different foliage textures. The tiny whitish flowers attract a greater variety and quantity of happy pollinators and beneficial insects than I have ever seen in my life!

6. Agastache. 'Blue Fortune' and 'Golden Jubilee' are lovely and wonderful for bees and other pollinators. I grow both and love them. But I want to put in a good word for the hybrid agastaches from High Country Gardens. 'Blue Blazes' has been a stunning plant in my garden, huge and everblooming with gigantic bracts of blue-lavender blooms that glow when backlit by the sun. Bumblebees adore it and it easily survived last year's harsh winter with no snow cover and countless freeze-thaw cycles. 'Ava' and 'Desert Sunrise' also appear to be excellent, but are not yet mature in my garden.

7. Daylilies. I used to be a snob and say things like "Daylilies are too common and I will never grow them in my garden." Ha! The joke was on me. In my extreme ignorance, I did not realize the vast amount of daylilies available, how much hybridizers have improved them during the past 20 years and how many of them are now truly architectural, showpiece plants. While I still find those with round/frilly/flouncy flowers to be a bit twee and boring (sorry, just an opinion..no offense intended), the spidery/unusual flowered types are gorgeous and many people--gardeners included--don't even recognize them as daylilies. Great strides have been made in selecting for improved foliage habits as well. Check out the websites for Woodhenge Gardens and Heavenly Gardens for a mindblowing education about contemporary hemerocallis.

8. Alliums. They have already been discussed by many people above, so I have nothing to add other than to say I love them and want to encourage other people to plant them. And don't overlook the rhizomatous types that bloom later in summer or fall with foliage that remains glossy and attractive all season. 'Millennium', 'Sugar Melt', A. nutans 'Pam Harper', A. thunbergii 'Ozawa' and A. tuberosum are particular favorites for me in this group (be sure to trim off spent flower heads of A. tuberosum if you do not want it to reseed). A. obliquum and the allium sold as "perennial leeks" by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange are two bulb alliums with stunning ornamental mid-summer blooms that are all but unknown among most gardeners...yet.

Campanula, I know what you mean. People who weren't that fond of grasses long ago decided to move on to something else. Whatever the fashion of the moment, I don't think I'll ever be w/o grasses. I'm now focusing on smaller varieties. One of my all-time favorites that I just don't have space for is Cabaret. The leaves are green with a white vertical stripe. They were a good half inch wide. Cosmopolitan is similar but the stripe is green down the middle and white on the edges. Maybe you'd like to try Cabaret sometime in the future now that you have different space. It's a miscanthus and after several years gets nearly as large as pampas do here. Of course, you may already be familiar with it. Lou

I think I need to widen my horizons. I grow all grasses next to rocks, stones or in gravel, none are interplanted.

Ispahan, I am looking for an allium that blooms much later than Allium x hollandicum 'Purple Sensation' and A. aflatunense (early May here) but looks very similar to them. I saw one in a Stockholm allotment in mid-July but the owner had forgotten the name. Does any of the alliums you list answer to that requirement?

That's a very fine looking hop plant, Diane.
I grow a few chillies myself; and hate the late autumn-no its winter really, stage of ripping them up too. I left the the Thai birds eye chiili in situ, and its still hanging onto life; I thought the winter had wiped it out. Barely any leaves, but still its trying to flower. Hopefully when it gets properly warm it will come good again.

I just got back from an interstate road trip to (among other things) the Renmark Rose festival.

They had an "open garden" thing going, with selected local private gardens opened to the public. The one that was my favourite had a gorgeous mix of roses and perennials.
Many bearded irises, lavender, giant peony type poppies, geraniums of all types, a couple of agapanthus clumps, hollyhocks down one side, some australian daisies, convovulus sabbaticus, and loads and loads of kiss me quick (Centranthus ruber) with the odd giant allium stalk poking up.
I am still sorting through all the pics trying to work out the different plants!

Thanks, curdle, hops are fun to grow--just need to be vigilant about pulling up suckers. The plant wants to take over the garden if allowed. Is kiss me quick a nickname for Centranthus ruber, or it is a special hybrid? We call this plant Jupiter's Beard up here. I grow several of J'sB and like it very much. It isn't a pest here as it is in other areas. Going to the rose festival sounds like such fun. We don't have any rose festivals that I know of in this entire state. Diane
Here's pic of one of my Jupiter's Beard plants mixed among the roses-- Bernstein-Rose, Ballerina, and a bit of Julia Child.