This rose is currently extremely popular among flower designers. One place to start, in terms of pairing color and texture, would be to look up some floral designs that use it and see what kind of pairings people have come up with (purely aesthetically). From there you can try to find similar plants that will work in your particular context.

I like it planted with crimson red roses because DD's buds are red and the new foliage is as well. Something purple would also make a nice companion planting.

As the bloom ages you'll have varying shades of apricot...tan...cream... and to my eye, those colors can clash with roses that are on the yellow & orange end of the spectrum.

Hi pippa - Coincidentally I just bought Distant Drums this past week and I'm wondering where to put it too especially since I have very limited options. :))

The only time I saw DD in person it was planted next to the red grandiflora Love at the Marin Rose Society rose garden. The garden is about 15 miles north of San Francisco so the climate might be quite different from yours resulting in a different color.

I think I might plant mine next to Koko Loco because it's essentially the only spot left!

Ann

I have 3 DDs grafted on DH and planted in the ground. They don't get very big so they are at the front of the beds. I have them in with apricot/orange and stuff like Blue Girl and peachy pinks. There are bits of yellow in the beds too but not right next to the DDs.

They really go with a lot of colors being that they are so dynamic. So I would say, blues, lavenders, cream, & peach/apricot tones all blend nicely. If you have anything tan, it would look nice too.

Don't forget about adding companion plants for more color enhancers.

I love the pic of it on HMF planted with a fuchsia rose. A cool red would do the same.

My distant drum always look more purple than orange. It’s still a baby though. should It ever stop raining and I get my boxes built, I’m going to put munstead wood in between distant drum and Koko loco.

I've read many planting it by Koko Loco and Violet's Pride. If my brain remembers, I'll see if I can find the posts as you're definitely not the first person to post this question ! ;0

I have mine in front of Medallion and Love Song. It has both of the colors in the two and it helps to blend them together.

! Oh! Lovesong would look great. Off to look up medallion!

Ohhh I love the idea Of love song or violets pride! That is perfect!!

I like mine with things like Koko Loco, Twilight Zone, anything lavender, Coffee Country, Distant Thunder, Coffee Spice, Cinco de Mayo, Hot Cocoa, Posidon. Angel Face, Cream & Lavender Veranda, Plum Perfect, Heirloom.

My Distant Drums goes with anything pastel or subtly colored. It's a modern rose that won't look out of place with an old rose. Mine is planted in the tea rose bed and fits right in. I think it would be lovely by some of my soft white/blush roses such as Mystic Beauty or Clothilde Soupert. Maybe I should get more but then I'd have two of something.

I have ‘distant drums’ growing with ‘route 66’ , ‘playgold’ and ‘mr bluebird’.

I just planted mine in a bed with Koko Loco (coffee/lavender), Carding Mill (apricot), Violet's Pride (lavender) and Charlotte (light yellow).

How my DD looks here

Maybe I'm mentally color blind ... but in my chaos gardening approach, I've never really thought about what colors go with which - I take size into consideration, but never color. When I meander through the garden, I have yet to look at roses proximal to one another and think - ooo, these rose colors clash, or don't go together. Mother nature is rather chaotic herself, and roses are so intrinsically beautiful. Maybe I'm bizarre, but I think every color combination is beautiful.