I recommend the floribunda, Sexy Rexy. It is compact and loves to bloom. The flowers have the many petals you are looking for.

Sweet Drift would be just the ticket. Produces masses of fluffy pink blooms right thru our hot, humid summers when other roses are shutting down. I particularly like the color which is a nice clear pink that doesn't fade in the heat.

Hi CC. Do you have good luck with lavender next to roses in this area? For me, growing lavender is the only time I felt I had a black thumb. They just died over and over before I finally gave up. I later realized it was because my soil is just so rich (good problem to have).

Now... I realized that lavender grows just fine in pots around here, but it just can't grow in the rich soil I have. They like their soil so lean. That's just not the kind of soil I have.

I'm wondering if next to roses, the moisture roses need along with the rich soil may just be too much for the lavender in your area too. There is a lot of difference in soil around our inland Bay Area though... so maybe my yard is totally different even though I think we are near each other by location.

Maybe something like pink supreme carpet roses would work in our rich clay with lavender since they don't need much moisture? Probably not really what you're hoping for though. But... they would be consistently blooming and really easy to care for in that type of application.

Good luck with the lavender! I hope it does better for you than it does for me in the ground! If not, my lavender in pots do fantastic so that may be an option. That could also give some height and texture interest with pottery... but so expensive for a whole drive way fence line!

I agree with Sweet Drift. Makes the most beautiful bush with the sweetest pink flowers and it's always blooming. Love it!!

If you can find it, Pretty Jessica. Another option could be Pink Pet or Pink Gruss an Aachen.

Have to agree with Cori Ann - roses and lavenders are not good companions. Other than sharing a desire for sun, they have completely opposite cultural requirements. Roses want rich soil, frequent fertilization and lots of water - lavenders need very lean but well drained soil, no fertilizer and just minimal water....enough for establishment only. Growing the two in close proximity will make one or the other very unhappy, depending on what growing conditions you provide.

For something that will provide a somewhat similar appearance, consider pairing your roses with hardy geraniums or nepeta (catmint). These will tolerate rose growing conditions much better than lavender will.

I've had good luck growing Hermosa next to Lavandula pinnata. I have Hermosa next to the soaker hose and the lavender at the edge of the path, and both have been happy. Hermosa stays compact and is always in bloom in the SF Bay area.

Gosh, I guess rose growers don't pay much attention to the garden adage "right plant, right place"!! Planting incompatible cultural species closely adjacent to each other is not a strong recipe for success........and really not at all climate dependent.

gardengal... I'm afraid my adage would be ''right plant, wrong place, but worth a try''... I'm not disappointed so far...

In my location close to the SF Bay, I've had trouble keeping Lavandula angustifolia alive, but Lavandula viridis, Lavandula dentata and Lavandula pinnata all grow like weeds and happily intermingle with roses.

CC if you already have lavender growing well, of course there's no need to do this... but if not yet, how about trying just one or two to see how they do in that spot before adding all of them and the roses?

I will be honest, it was a blow to my ego to have every type of lavender die over and over since it is supposed to be such an easy thing to grow. Now... I know my soil is acidic and very naturally rich, in addition to being clay, so of course they couldn't survive here! Unfortunately no type of lavender grows like weeds in my yard. Except in pots. Thumbelina Lavender (angustifolia) was the only kind that tolerated my soil... kind of. But all the others croaked. My soil is great for azaleas though. :)

And nepeta (catmint) is pretty happy here too.

The land is so diverse around here in the Bay Area though. Totally different in different yards, even in close proximity. Maybe try some of the lavender varieties that do well for rbehs? Or if you already have some growing and they're doing well for you... please share what kind! :)

I think you should take a look at Pink Soupert if you want something short and compact, with fragrant pink blooms in waves throughout the season.

If you want to plant roses and lavender together, you'll want to make some adjustments. Plant the roses deeply, put down a layer of gravel so that the first few inches of rose cane are buried by it, then plant the lavender shallowly, so that the top third of the root zone is in the gravel. This will keep the bases of the lavender from rotting from the water you'd be giving the roses.

:-)

~Christopher

Gravel is a good idea. I did that once and it seemed to keep the lavender alive longer before it languished and died in the acidic, rich soil here in this part of the Bay Area.

Maybe take a walk and look at other yards in your neighborhood too CC. If any of them have mature lavender growing... it might do ok for you in your yard. But...If a lot of them have mature azaleas, rhodies and pine trees, redwoods, oaks, etc.... it might not do so good in the ground and may just need a pot. You're in Contra Costa County right? Even in our county... the soil is totally different in some areas.

Yes, roses in combination with lavender has been done many times, for a long time. Where the lavender dying out because of the roses being present remains a concern choosing lower growing Rugosa roses or even some Hybrid Rugosa roses might be an answer, as these should not need heavily manured and watered soils.

I too grow thriving lavender and roses together, but trial and error was required to determine which lavender and how. For example, I grow Goodwin Creek in a white bed, and it receives no direct watering at all ( even during July) other than the run off from the slightly sloped bed it is in. It has bloomed most of the year and is very healthy. I was hesitant to chime in as my soil and climate are likely very different from yours, but it could be determining the "how to.." as is the case for so much in the realm of gardening.

Pink Soupert? I want this rose! Thanks AquaEyes!

In this video Exploring Lavender, a lavender farmer discusses growing lavender with roses by adjusting their water needs. She does say that it is more work, because she hand waters the roses. You can skip to 4:06 if you want to just see that part, but I found the whole video interesting. I grew Grosso lavender with roses for many years.

Jasmine-Did you like your Grosso lavender? Did you use it for anything?

I used to cut Grosso as a filler for bouquets. The silvery foliage is a nice contrast and smells wonderful. It has a high camphor content, so the fragrance is more medicinal than sweet, but I really like it. It is anti-fungal, so I read that it makes a good mulch, but I haven't tried that. Often, I would boiled some to make my house smell nice. After having the plant three years, I learned that I was supposed to prune it after harvesting the flowers, to prevent it from becoming woody. Well, mine was already woody and when I gave it a good haircut, it never came back. It's about time I replace it. Even though I have clay soil, I should add that it grew well for me, because I live in a warm, dry region.

I read somewhere(I read way too much) that the best lavender to grow with roses was the English kind rather than the French as it would tolerate the extra water. I've never grown lavender, I prefer nepeta with my roses, tolerates the water & I can whack it back severely when it's looking ratty & it springs right back, my kind of plant. Hardy geraniums work well too.

I like nepeta with my roses too smithdale. Nepeta roots really well from cuttings too. I mean REALLY well. I started with about 2-4 mother plants and now I might have over 50 tucked in different spots around here.

I hope I don't sound like a nag... but I just want to make sure that CC hears from someone close by her that different water needs is an issue like everyone is saying, but not the number one issue if she's in an area of our county where the soil is acidic and super fertile.

Lavender will die a slow death in soil like that. It can be disheartening.

Near pavement seems to be better though... so maybe if it's near a driveway it will do OK. I don't want to tell you not to do it CC! I just want you to hear from someone close by that if it doesn't work out it's not you... it's the fertile soil. :)

'Our Lady of Guadalupe' is a nice pink bloom machine. 'Belindas Dream' is a heat lover. Once it is really established it's quite the traffic stopper.

Hi everyone, thank you all the wonderful input! What a wealth of information. This gives me so many different options and plant combos to try.

Cori-Ann, thanks for all of your input and advice based on my climate. My soil is funny enough directly the opposite of yours, very rocky and hard and I have successfully planted all kinds of lavender without too much trouble (have spanish, french and english lavender in different areas in my front yard), though I wish I had your soil, it sounds lovely! I have also successfully planted roses with some amendment and careful watering, though many of my roses are planted or will be planted in a raised bed since two of my austins almost died last year because the soil wasn't to their liking - to be fair I also neglected them when work got busy during the hotter months. But my eden, skylark, and heritage are all doing great, and lots of my neighbors have floribundas/HTs that seem to be thriving.

Aquaeyes, thanks for the tips on how to plant the two together. I'm going to try that! I am also planning for lavender more in front with roses more in the back so I'd plan to put down drip irrigation in the back of my roses which I'm hoping will give the roses enough water - the lavender would just get the runoff from whatever soaks over - though agreed with smithdale that my english lavender does seem to want more water than my French and Spanish kinds. For anyone interested, I'm planning Hidcote lavender in this bed. What I may do is plant lavender first and only one rose as a test to see how that works for a year. And if everything seems happy. I'll buy more roses. If not, I'll stick to the lavender since I try to keep my front yard low maintenance - most of my loved roses are in my side and back area. So whatever I chose for the front will have to be easy and able to tough it out if it wants to stay =).

Really appreciate all of the wonderful suggestions here!! I'm going to do research and come up with a plan. If anyone else has any recs for hardy roses that aren't fussy and don't mind hard, clay, rock soil, let me know!

Forgot to add Marlolena, love your photos, thank you for sharing!!

Sounds like a good plan CC.

Isn't it funny how different gardening in his area is... even in the same county? My soil is wonderful and fertile and rich, but also gummy and thick black clay... I could probably make a hobbit home out of my soil that could withstand our earthquakes.

I am totally with you on the low maintenance front yard. Those pink supreme carpet roses aren't really roses... they're more like weeds that look like roses. So that may still be a good option for that area.

Goodwin Creek Gardens has an extensive collection of Lavandula, and has an article about the different types.

All About Lavender

Joy Creek Nursery is another source for a large selection of Lavandula.

If you plan to put the lavender in front, make sure that they are shorter than your roses.

:-)

~Christopher

I went to my local nursery and they had very large lavender plants. I decided that my small garden might do better with a dwarf variety. I ordered dwarf lavenders from High Country Gardens, because they have $5.99 flat rate shipping this weekend. Local nurseries are still the way to go, but it is nice to have online choices for the harder to find varieties.

Best wishes for your rose/lavender plan, CC. Keep us updated and have fun researching what roses to choose.

I definitely will jasminerose! =) And thanks for the heads up on the High Country Garden sale. I want some dwarf lavenders as well for another area along a cobbled path so I may order some.

Christopher - good reminder! I forget how tall lavender gets sometimes =).