wow! I've never seen a catmint with such big flowers. Off to research. I like Blue flowers with roses, since that's the one color they don't do. Some nice ones are:

Clematis Durantii

Salvia Rhythm and Blues

Thunbergia Battescombei (pictured below):

Oh I can tell already this will be a wonderful thread!

My favoite is walkers low. I have never seen the grand view one but will look for it for sure! I also love phlox and daylilies. I tried a monarda but it got powdery mildew so I may kick it out . Penestemon is my other favorite. But blues , purples and whites are my main colors for companion plants . Lots of salvias and clematis. That's what I love here!

BenR, you should look for Browalia. Very easy to grow. I love the thunbergia. I've never grown the Walker's Low for fear it would become invasive here.

Salvias Victoria Blue, Henry Duelberg, and Indigo Spires. Bronze fennel (love this next to apricot roses), rosemary, catmint, Blue Daze evolvulus, batface or cigar cupheas, shrimp plant, coleus, daylilies, gulf muhly grass and zebra miscanthus. Oh, and my most favorite of all: blue plumbago with my red and pink chinas and teas.

I love Thalictrum, too, Va Joh, The look is very romantic with roses.

Is this thalictrum common in nurserys or from seeds? It's beautiful! Can't believe I've never seen it before

I love the meadow rue, as well. I have lots of the one you've shown, and really want Hewitt's Double. I started some seeds of a double white this past winter. Many germinated, but I lost them all to dampening off:( Did you mail order your Hewitt's double, by chance? Jen, I ordered the ones shown above.

I totally agree with Vaporvac. Browalia is great! It also self seeds easily, so you will have plenty once you get one to bloom. It can only handle morning sun in my neck of the woods, though. I don't have many blooms on mine right now, but I'll show you what it looks like. Such a pretty blue. Great suggestion, Vaporvac! Lisa

I have put in several varieties of thalictrum in the last two years, love the stuff, the lavender and the white. I am also happy with a clump of Campanula Lactiflora which got pretty tall this year, and a clump of astrantia adds some nice texture.

In the first photo you can just see the tallest thalictrum sticking up at the top, just starting to bloom.

Astrantia on the left -

And foxgloves too -

Geranium Roxanne- This flowers late spring through fall and looks like a small climber in my garden. I love the soft purple with my roses. I also love Echinacea 'Secret Romance' which is long blooming, a beautiful soft mauve pink and frilly. If dead headed it blooms late July through fall. Lamium 'Pink Pewter' has pretty variegated leaves and pretty shell pink flowers throughout the summer. I also like Fringe Leaf Bleeding Heart 'King of Hearts' which stays small, has beautiful gray green ferny leaves and small mauve pink flowers all season and does well in sun for my cooler climate.

Sharon

Lilyfinch you can grow some from seeds but I believe some are from divisions but I'm definitely no expert on the varieties! I know some who have tons of different varieties and only discovered it a few years back myself. I did get the Lavender Mist from my nursery this year but the others I had to order online.

Lisa I did mail order Hewitt's Double twice, a plant last year from White Flower Farm that struggled through last summer and didn't make it through the winter, and this year from a third party on walmarts website. This year I bought smaller plants from, believe it or not, the walmart website because they were the only ones who had any available this spring. I will say Hewitt's Double is a very finicky plant in my zone and supposedly is a zone 7 but the small plants from walmart are doing really well this year. I put them in the backyard instead where they get constant shade. I also bought a gallon sized one from Etsy but it hasn't bloomed yet and I can't confirm if it really is Hewitt's Double. The one from etsy looks a little different but I can't tell if it's because it's more mature or not. Here's a couple pics of the plants I bought this year from walmart.

This is the one from Etsy. Sorry the pic is so dark. I lost the first flowers to heat and so I moved it in the backyard and is behaving like a Hewitt's Double with how finicky it is. New flowers have came right back but they take forever and a day to even pop open but when they do they last for a month or longer!

mossy44 that looks amazing. I am so jelly of your perfect beds! I love the blue and apricot together with the thalictrum makes everything looks so dreamy! Your companion plants are spot on. I didn't know that campanula got so tall and what are those little dangling plumes next to your roses on the left in the first pic? Astrantia you say?

Va Jo, that is a large variety of astilbe I have had for years, sorry I don't know it's name. The astrantia is the small flowered plant on the lower left of the second photo. And, Thank You!

I have liked the reseeding white Lunaria (Honesty) the past couple of years. And I've been surprised how visually complimentary the clump of chives is. Going to spread it beside the stepping stones. Also like Agrostemma, Alstroemeria, Artemisia Powis Castle, Convolvulus tricolor, Dianthus barbatus (Sweet William), Euphorbia dwarf, Nemophila as blue edging in spring, and Salvia Indigo Spires.

:-(( My Hewitt's Double didn't return after approx. 8 years. A heartstopper. I didn't know WalMart sells it online. Hurray.

This is an old picture. I pulled a stem of Honorine Jobert anemone across the path to Heritage. Loved the combo but anemone is too robust here for my small garden.

I love spiky plants along with my roses. Alas, planting them in a rich, fertile bed that is good for roses tends to make them monsters and very floppy.

I had a Walker's Low Catmint that was extremely tough, but grew monstrous and flopped all over. Tried some Salvia instead which looks fantastic for a month and then grows way too tall and also flops all over. Now I am trying some Speedwell (Veronica). It is much better-behaved and stays upright but alas blooms a bit later than I'd like.

I've also got some tall garden phlox and some hydrangea paniculata behind my roses which provide some nice late summer/autumn blooms to look forward to.

P TW- same here. I was asking a local nursery man why my iris don't bloom and he told me I treat them too nice with my horse manure rich raised garden bed soil. It seems to be such a balancing act. I love G. Rozanne but have to plant at the back edge of my raised beds so it drapes over the wall otherwise it's a total disaster. Even the Echinacea Secret Romance get tall and floppy. Even my short Nepeta get too tall. My gardens look as messy as an unmade bed!!

I saw a beautiful pic at Palatine of a Switzerland rose garden that was beautiful with just roses, artemisia and what looks like possibly Rosemary?

courtesy Palatine Roses

Sharon

I'm still at the experimental stage, but thus far I like Lunaria, Stachys and Sweet William. Aquilegia is a lovely if early bloomer. Monarda also seems to suit roses as does Balloon Flower, Foxglove, Lupines and Holly Hocks, but the latter two take up a lot of space. I used to grow Lady's Mantle and think that is lovely with dark foliaged roses. I need to get some more of that. : ) Sweet Woodruff makes a nice delicate groundcover underplanting.

Sharon, that plant in the front isn't artemesia - its Spanish/French lavender - you can see the little pinkish flags on the top of the flower heads if you look closely. I have some (Anouk) which is beautiful, and has very silver foliage, but its cold hardy to only z7. I think you're right about the taller one though - definitely looks like rosemary to me.

thanks ebharvey1

I must research Thalictrum more too. Has the effect similar to my heuchera.

Growing with my roses, I like Salvia Caradonna and deep sensation blue, artemisia silver mound and sea foam, clematis rooguchi and sapphire indigo, lamium pink pewter, nasturtium, geranium rozanne, veronica ulster dwarf, hydrangeas, irises, heuchera, snapdragons.

Clematis rooguchi

Veronica ulster dwarf, artemisia and columbine

Bumping up this thread of nice pics and adding a few nice companions.

Giant Portulaca comes in two colors, it’s at its best in the hottest part of summer

Iris Queen’s Circle and Absolute Treasure

Ben , I so wish I could see your garden in real life!! So beautiful! Thank you for bumping this for me.

Obedient plant, blue Veronica and pincushions and daylilies

I added lambs ear this ear and LOVE it . I don’t know why I thought it wasn’t for the humid south but it’s beautiful

This bee balm is cute but mildews and dosnt last long . I rip it out when it’s done blooming but it comes back so it’s a win win

EB harvey- the catmint is gorgeous. It would work better here than Penstemon which can be tender. I have found seeds online. Would you plant in fall or wait till spring?

Thanks for any info.

Sharon

Lillyfind, Stachys is my go-to filler. I just make sure to cut back the flowering stems so it doesn't die in the center. The bees love it and it's very drought tolerant and is easily rooted using the long "stems". Just give the rootings a lot of water and you're good to go.

vapor, do I cut the stems after it’s done flowering or before ? I didn’t know that was an issue. I appreciate the tip , I wouldn’t have known .

You should do it before they flower but the bees love this plant so I always let them flower for a bit.

My two absolute favorites are campanula laciflora or Pritchard's Variety and the pink version, loddon Anna. I always have Thalictrum, phlox, delphinium, foxglove and the only nepeta that doesn't look weedy in my climate, Andre Chaudron. I like to edge a bed with Lady's Mantle or Silvermound Artemisia. Purpleicious Veronica has been a good taller addition. Irises and Oriental lilies are mainstays. Clematis, of course! The best annual I've grown to compliment roses is nigella or Love in a Mist - so lacy and even the seed pods are great in bouquets.

Needmoremulch, I'd completely forgotten about bronze fennel. Butterflies like to lay their eggs in it. You also reminded me how much I like plumbago - not the ground cover, but the soft blue that looks like phlox. I can't grow it here, but I will always love it.

Lilyfinch and vaporvac, there is another nice stachys in addition to Lamb's Ears. It self seeds, so you always have baby plants to fill in when the big ones get tired.

Stachys Hummelo.

Just a glimpse of veronica Purpleicious, about 3' tall.

Love this thread. This time of year it time for other plants to shine and roses to sleep. In another month, I'll be doing my "fall" pruning and roses will once again be the garden stars.

All photos have rose bushes in them but you can see they are not the focus.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! One can learn a lot from your photos. Love your meandering path. I never thought to plant zinnias except in large patches of only zinnias for some reason. But a few to fill an open spot is such a good way to use them. I can just imagine how that mixed bed looks throughout the seasons. You have so many plants with a variety of foliage color and form tucked in. And, that water feature! I bet it sounds so refreshing on a hot day.

I've been adding more perennials and shrubs this year. Your photos are a good example of why this is important for a garden to look nice when the roses are resting, or sulking.

That path is so beautiful! Did you diy or have it done for you ? I agree with flowers about using the other perrenials. I’m terrible at planting late summer plants, so I’m almost out of good stuff! And once this heat kicks in I am not interested in planting more ( you should see my pot collection! Horrible ) . I’d love to get some coneflowers going.

Flowers, I love that Veronica! I’m going to look for it online . And thanks for the tip on the other Staychs . It looks really pretty!

I grew some gaura "sparkle" from seed. I think that they are great companion plants.

Hi Lilyfinch, I do install my own walkways, ponds, and borders. For total disclosure, I work for a landscape company, but as a construction supervisor, and office manager. So while I am exposed to landscape construction I have to wait until I get home to actually construct things myself.

My approach to companion plants for roses is everything goes. I seed my own annuals and usually I get a large number of volunteers flowers. I use evergreen shrubs for structure, fruits trees ( for the fruit) and lots of other plants because I am a hopeless plant addict.

Seriously looks like a park! Just beautiful.

From Minnesota Rose Gardener Blog-"Note the companion plantings in the Butchart rose garden and, in particular, the border of alyssum around the rose beds, which, in addition to being attractive, is there to attract beneficial insects, particularly syrphid flies (hover flies), which consume aphids, thrips, mealybugs and many small caterpillars."

I guess I'll be using lots of alyssum next spring.

All the above photos are so stunning. I'm always at a loss of what to plant with my roses to give interest when the roses are napping. Thanks for the input.

sharon

BenT- Your roses and irises are stunning. I wish I could grow this combo in my garden but I rarely have roses before July and the irises bloom late May, even too early for peonies. It's the sweetest and most perfect rose companion plant.

sharon

I don't think I've seen anyone list Forget-Me-Nots as companion plants.

Is there a reason for that?

They are the type of blue I'd like to get into the garden.

I just had a lot of fun reading through this post and seeing all these beautiful pictures. This is a great topic and I hope we can get some more pictures added this year.

I see a lot of you grow Meadow rue . I just got my first two. How long do they bloom ? Do they need some shade ?

Here's a few pics that show roses next to some of my other companions. Carding mill with hydrangea, Jubilee Celebration & Kopper King Hibiscus, Fiji, About Face with allium, Singing in the rain with coneflower.

A few more - westerland & coneflower, kniphofia & Winchester, odd Othello bloom & coneflower past it's prime, Benjamin Britten & poppies, Cinderella ft with newly planted delphinium & my "red bed" new last year. Darcy brussel, Munstead wood, a few japanese blood grass, a few red dianthus, white birch & silver brocade Artemis.

Beautiful Blondie =). Great pictures here on this thread.

Wow! Im glad that this thread popped back up. Such beautiful combinations and coming back just as we are shopping for new plants