What do you plant in containers with your roses?

6 years ago

I have a standard rose "Falling in Love" and planted Lantana under it. It is in a half barrel. Both seem to be thriving, but I wonder about the annuals taking up too much room.

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totoro z7b Md

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

Nasturtium and garlic chives. Clotilde with nasturtium. Wish this nasturtium would bloom but it maybe it is too shady. Maybe next year I plant with dichondra silver falls?

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Comments (10)

User
6 years ago
I have one large trough shaped container with a rose in it, climbing up trellis. I have underplanted with evergreen Iberis sempervirens [Candytuft] because it doesn't interfere with the rose, and has a long blooming season from late winter to early summer, and drapes nicely over the sides of the trough. I also have Tulips that pop up in Spring, and a few Alliums [ornamental onions] for later, sometimes I put a few annuals in too, depending what I like at the time..
BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)
6 years ago
I think when the roses are young, underplanting is fine. I do portulaca , petunia and euphorbia white manus. More often than not the when the rose grows mature it needs all the soil in the pot and then some. I cut numerous large drainage holes in all my pots (usually about 20 + gal), and eventually the rose will grow roots out of the drainage holes to get additional sustenance.
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I have volunteer Oxalis and Strawberries, which I just leave alone. I wish the Oxalis was thicker and the Strawberries do not like being covered in the winter. This past mild winter seems to have really hit them hard, especially as last summer I was very late in getting the Roses uncovered but the Strawberries looked pretty good. This warm winter it seems everything under the cover, except the roses, and night crawles, looked like the worms went dirt tracking under there, took a real beating. I was rushed for time, trying to beat the rain, which was too bad as on a deep black surface like that, every weed that had survived stuck out like a zit, but I simply did not have time to dig them all out. As it is I failed and ended up digging the roses out of the black muck in the rain. The only tool that works if you do not want to ruin the roses is ones bare hands. The problem with having to cover the roaes is finding what companions tolerates that, that is not unwanted. I am not, repeat NOT, going to bury them again as workng in our black-gumbo is too much a pain in the buttocks in the spring. I put strings on them to find them but the strings either rotted or were so soaked in black mud, I could not find them. I actually think what ever the string was made of was candy for night crawlers as the few I found when pulled were no longer attached to anything and about half as long as they once were. I also think one is still buried but will just wait till a sprout pops up to locate it. The ones that did best were the ones so stiff that canes poppped up out of the dirt so they were easy to find, but up-righting them was not hard because I had to dig up the rose, but I had to dig a hole behind the rose to upright it. I have done this more than once before but this was the worst of the worst, in a year when it should have been very easy. The Oxalis comes from seed pods but I am worried the Straberries took a real hit. It took four years for them to cover one fourth of the rose bed.
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Brandy, I've thought about this question for a couple of days now, but it took a comment from my husband to come up with an answer: Nandina. The 'San Gabriel' kind. It doesn't look like the nandinas that you are thinking about. Here's a link: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/shrubs/nandina_domes-sangabriel.html I saw it with Kaye's roses over in Arkansas, and just knew I had to have one. I bought 2 and put them in the garden. Now my husband is insisting that I get more of them. He really has an eye for how to make the garden look good, (should have been a designer) so I plan on buying lots more. They stay short and are really good filler. They add a wonderful texture. It kind of looks twiggy in a way that I can't explain. They like full sun. They turn coppery red during the cold weather so you get winter interest out of it. It's kind of hard to find at the stores, but every once and a while you will see this really strange plant in the nandina section. I'm also planning on getting some more of the 'Harbor Belle' nandinas. They are less than 1 ft high, spread around, and have red berries during the winter. There's a dwarf cryptomeria that looks really good, but they are really hard to find and I don't know the exact name of the cultivar. When I visited California, Mendocino rose had some of those tall narrow evergreens and they looked super cool in her rose garden. It really defined the area and made it look like a pro had done it. The artemisia might be a good idea, too, as long as you don't mind it spreading. I just bought a 'Silver Mound' one and it's not supposed to spread. We'll see. Hope this helps.
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Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca
6 years ago
I used sweet Allysum one year but noticed an increase in black spot I thought . Is that possible ? I loved the look though
bethnorcal9
6 years ago
I have creeping phlox in with a couple of my larger potted roses. I also have a couple of them that somehow accidentally got some of my purple potatoes growing in there. And a couple that I just threw some calla lily bulbs in when I dug them up last yr. They bloomed pretty well! LOL
Va Joh(zone8b)
6 years ago
Gosh I've been looking for dichondria silver falls totoro and love that plant. I have looked this entire gardening season and can't find it anywhere. It's so pretty! I planted an ornamental oregano in my eden rose that's planted in a medium sized half barrel. It is so stunning together. The oregano looks like little purple chinese houses draped off the side of the pot.
SoFL Rose z10
6 years ago
I underplant all my potted roses with annuals to hide the bare legs and add color and interest when the roses are not in bloom. The best however, are ones that have small roots that don't intefere much with the rose such as portulaca, petunia, sweet alyssum, lobelia etc.
Anna
6 years ago
Cosmos
seil zone 6b MI
6 years ago
I often get volunteer petunias in my pots. This year I have a rogue tomato plant and it's got tomatoes on it! I haven't found that they interfere with roses so I just let them grow. They fill out the pots and provide color when the roses aren't in bloom.
summersrhythm_z6a
6 years ago
I have lemon basil growing with some bands in pots. If you haven't tried lemon basil, you're missing a lot, mix it with veggie salad. :-)

What do you plant in containers with your roses?

totoro z7b Md

Comments (10)

User

BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)

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