I'm not sure where sunset zone 9 is. Must be in the foothills? or far northern CA. SF area is zones 14-17 so colder than there, which is where I used to live. White alyssum self seeds normally. People use that a lot around roses in NorCal, along with CA poppies. Lobelia is good too in places where summer is not too hot for them to take full sun. Ajuga may not take the summer sun, plus the roots are pretty invasive for around roses. Ditto for any of the vincas, not good companions. Dianthus and hardy geraniums will certainly take the summer sun. Dianthus works well here, but down there I remember it being prone to root rot and being short lived. Some geraniums can be too invasive for roses, with thick dense shallow root mats similar to vinca and ajuga. Stachys can be nice where it's off to the side, not getting constant water. Bowles Mauve wallflower will get too tall where you are, and it's very short lived. The african daisies will be good though, also the nemophila, erigeron, helianthemum and lithodora. Phlox won't do well in your area probably. I remember it being prone to root rot. Does well up here in cooler summers with extremely well drained soil. I remember using a lot of erigeron karvinskianus with roses - it was called Santa Barbara daisy in the SF area. For some reason no one grows it around here. I've tried thymes around roses, but they root too tightly and shallowly to work well. You can't cultivate through them to work in fertilizer. I have used sedums in some spots with mini roses, but the sedums turned out to be too invasive! not bothered by the water, but then I was using sedums native to the Olympic Mtns. Aphid attractors - not all aphids are created the same. Those that attack roses tend to be pretty specific to roses and the stone fruit trees they overwinter on, like plums. I don't believe that the aphids attracted to that list of herbaceous plants in the list above will also attack roses. I never liked the catmint everyone planted with their roses in the SF area. Got too big and rangy and woody. But, if there's a reliably low cultivar like people are posting, that would be worth trying.

Here is the photo I found of Orange Ice - it looks lovely! However....my rose has bloomed and is is a miniature but it is a deep, rich orange, no hint of apricot, like I was expecting. It is a brilliant color and I do like it alot...but really loved the apricot tones in this photo. I will take a photo of it tomorrow and post. I bought 7 roses just off the truck last fall from Walmart, just couldnt help myself - they were difficult to find roses, super healthy so I brought them home [Old Timer, Gingersnap, Circus, Cl. America which I love, Medallion, another favorite] They are still super healthy and growing big - but they all look rather alike....same coral/apricot color - Cl. America is sort of like its namesake, but just not sure. I should know better....but they were SO healthy and I took a chance. Still....they are all very pretty, even if most all are the same. The "Medallion" is very tall like the real Medallion - blooms dont look quite the same color and are not as large. Oh, whatever.....a pretty healthy rose is fine and good with me! Judith

Oh man.. They may have been painted. Thats a real shame! The pictures she had on her phone were really pretty but not clear enough to tell. I have a cute little cactus in my windowsill my aunt gave me for my birthday, but when she bought it she didn't know the pink blooms on it were attached with hot glue. Ive had it for three years now and I still cant get all the gunk off :(

Becca: I'm not familiar with the houseplant "Orange Star" so I googled it. Came up with a couple of possibilities. Maybe you could do the same and look at the images that come up to help in the ID of your plant. Meanwhile, if the instructions say "bright light" then full sun, and definitely southwest sun, is too much. Move it out of direct sun. Also, since it's "drooping", you may have overwatered to try to perk it up. We humans need water but we drown if we don't get air. The same goes for your plant. "Moist" soil doesn't mean soppy. You may need to let it dry out a bit. When you repotted, I'm hoping you chose containers with drainage holes that allow excess water to escape. You're a good mom to help at the preschool. I think you're trying to be too good to the plant and providing too much sun and H2O. June