Hello Alex,

I looked at the link as I am always interested in companion plants especially blue ones. I also picked out from the Austin photos, several varieties of campanula, also lavender and perennial blue geraniuim (Cranesbill). I also saw a campanula which I have that looks almost identical to phlox, the very pale mauvish white. I am also pretty sure I see liatris thereto and I think some kind of a salvia. I find in my main beds, my roses are too clos, consequently, I use companion plants as border plants.

Here is a perennial border bed with a Golden Celebration climbing against the fence, in front of that I have Johonson's Blue geranium which I think looks stunning together.

Also other companion and/or border plants I like to use are several varieties of campanula including carpatica white and blue clips, dianthus and lots of aubretia which starts the season off.

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Pauline - Vancouver Island

Pauline, what the heck do you feed your Golden Celebration??? My mature plants do pretty well, but yours is VERY upright! Beautiful bush!

I dunno what size companions you are looking for so I'll just throw some out. In the mountains where water is an issue. I use a mix of lavender (there are pink ones now!), salvia (there are red ones of these now, missed them this year at the local nursery), black-eyed susans, coreopsis (lots of new species here to try), and I sprinkle marigold seeds around where the drip is, if they come up fine because I'm not going to apply drip for them all over the place. They cover the very bottom of anybody's naked legs. I have used the blue geranium Tiny Monster, and although I love the flowers & effect, for me, it takes over too much to have immediately next to the roses so they got moved elsewhere.

If you're looking for lacy, they're not white but I got some lacy coreopsis last month (I'm putting in some perennials this fall for next spring) that I'm looking forward to accenting a separate flower/rock garden. One is dark pink, the other is yellow.

Hi,

I believe the purple spiky plant shown along Crocus Rose (the white rose towards the bottom of the page) on Austin's website is a salvia nemorosa (maybe salvia nemorosa "Amethyst" or "Caradonna"). With Pat Austin (the orange rose at the bottom), it could be a nepeta.

A good lacy, white, companion plant could be a white Scabiosa or a white salvia ?

Hey Alexh,

I just posted a question about Achillea ptarmica "Angel's Breath" on the CA Gardening page. Does it grow for you? Do you like it?

I'm also looking for white, lacy companion plants, and I have grown Bishop's lace, Queen Anne's lace, white yarrow, etc. One plant I love is a little lacy white euphorbia (don't know the name, sorry) that I have in a barrel next to Showbiz. I'm thinking about trying it in the ground this year, if I can find more.
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I also grow Santa Barbara and paludosum daisies, but they are not very lacy.

Moodyblue, that blue and gold is a fantastic combo.

I also have been looking at coreopsis. I wonder if "Sweet Dreams" would grow in SoCal?

Renee

That looks like 'Diamond Frost' euphorbia except mine makes a compact mound maybe 18" x 18". I like the way yours is looser and spills over the side of the pot.

Alexh,

I think that the purple spikey plants on the Austin website maybe an annual variety of Salvia called Salvia Farinacea. It looks very similar to some that I have in my garden. It blends in nicely with the roses.

I grow Salvia Farinacea - Victoria Blue, Victoria White and Evolution. It grows to about 24" tall and blooms all summer and late into fall. It's still blooming here even though we've had several light frosts. It makes a wonderful cut flower and the more you cut it the more it branches out and produces more flowers. I love it!

Here's a photo of my Victoria Blue & White.

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I have never seen white salvia....do you buy it locally?

Redsox, Yes I did buy the Victoria Bue & White Salvia at a local nursery. I couldn't find it at the big box stores. I've also ordered it from Graceful Gardens too. They sell wonderful perennials and annuals. www.gracefulgardens.com

Here's a better photo of the white salvia. Sorry it's so blurred.

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What a beautiful picture, thank you!

Everybodies pictures are BEAUTIFUL! I've had good luck with CatMINT AKA Nepeta. I got the advice here and they just bloom their heads off and I'm in your zone Alexh. I'm going to but these others on my list that I've seen here as I love the look.

Moody Blue, thank you for the tip on the Johnson Blue Geranium....I love it and it will certainly look beautiful with my golden celebration too! I immediately googled it and found some available on www.springhillnursery.com and they have a buy one for 7.99 get the second for one cent sale. PLUS....they have a coupon for 20.00 off of your order, so I bought 5 plants for 20.00 and 7.95 shipping. After using coupon: 414217 exp 10/31, I only paid 7.95 for the entire order. There's still inventory left for those who are interested. I hope this information is permitted, if not, please delete moderators.

So lovely! I imagine that your garden has a great many admirers, FM, and rightly so. You can include me among them. The best part of your companion plants, beside the fact that they play nicely with roses, is that none are hard to grow.

Thank you, Kes! Most of my companions bloom their best from mid-May to mid-June, to complement the roses. Even though they are Austins, my roses don't repeat for me until it cools down around Labor Day. Plus I don't spray, so the lush patio border becomes kind of an eyesore by August. :( But by then my focus is all on the vegetable garden. :)

I like guara with roses.

http://www.justourpictures.com/roses/justjoey_gaura.html

Same here, first thing that popped into my head when I read wispy white flower. "The Bride" will grow 4-5 feet tall, flower profusely the first year, and can be started easily from seed. They bloom legitimately from june to october here in z6 and are supposed to be hardy to at least z5, compared to most of the pink or reddish hybrid varieties that can struggle to survive in even z7 winters.

Last year my Fama White Pincushion did not bloom. The leaves looked weedy and i wasn't sure the expensive seeds I ordered would turn out to be the right plant , but it was.

The stages of development are fascinating.

- Photos are not my own.

I planted Black Knight this year and can't seem to find any growing in the flower bed. Probably another year to wait.

The last two years I've been really into growing annual zinnias, cosmos, and china asters to fill out my garden's blank spots. They are all easy to start from seed: I start them indoors under a grow light, pot them up into cell packs, and let them get a few inches tall before putting them into the garden. I think I get better germination by babysitting them, and none of them get lost or weeded out by accident. Zinnias especially will rebloom if you dead-head them. And they come in every color of the rainbow (OK not blue) to complement any rose!

I just started more seeds for a round of August blooms. I'm excited!

I love the way the pink and white cupcake cosmos look but haven't bought seeds yet, maybe next year.