Marlorena, I have Carradonna also and found it works quite nicely in a purple and blue bed. Even though it is tall I have it on the edge next to the stairs. Since it is so thin you can see through it, kind of has an airy feel.

I really like it and think you will too!

..yes I think I will... thanks both...it sounds good... I don't have any Salvias for some reason... I was going for Amistad but feel it grows far too big for my space.. and the other one I wanted Rhythm n Blues isn't hardy enough ... so Caradonna fits the bill... I've got 3 coming... I wasn't sure how easy they would be to split.. so that's good to know too...

Yes very easy. I think I started out with six and now I have close to 25. Within just a few years...

I have Salvia Caradonna among my roses too. I am not sure if it is because it is too shady or wet with the rain and watering of roses, but mine flops everywhere. Wish mine looked like Gardenho's.

I have many companions listed above. My fave is probably clematis since I have so many climbers. Also gerium rozanne.

For novelty I am adding:

Mirabilis 'Salmon Sunset' ( closed right now)

Meadowrue also looks good in the back of border and is low maintenance

I got the impression when I grew Caradonna here that it didn't like our warm winters/heat very much and, yes, when I checked (after the fact, of course), I found it listed only up to zone 8. Nurseries near the coast will sell varieties with zone 8 at the upper end of their range, because coastal conditions are just cool enough, though nominally zone 9, but bring them a few miles inland and they don't do well at all, as I often find when I forget to check.

I have a lot of Salvia nemerosa 'Sallyrosa Jumbo Pink', which is tolerant of heat and warm winters, stays under a foot, and blooms repeatedly all summer, though it looks best if it's cut to the ground after every bloom cycle. The bonus with this one is that it comes true from seed and transplants easily -- very easy to live with.

I think your well-drained soils are a plus for 'Henry Duelberg', Ingrid -- mine tends toward clay a bit (though misleadingly named "gravelly loam") and I did think at the time that was mostly why that variety didn't do well here.

Jen, thank you for posting photos of heuchera... I grow this as well, and a plant that is related to it. Coral Bells is another name for heuchera, as I recall.

Iris

Lily of the valley

Gardenho,

I made up the word , " plantophile" but there is an actual word, " phytophile" which means what I meant, a person who is especially interested in plants. " Phile" means to like. Words that end in phile include:

bibliophile - book lover

chocophile - chocolate lover

pianophile , foodophile, Anglophile, jazzophile, etc.

Maybe plantophile is a word, I don't know.

Well those were none that came to mind LOL !

Ingrid, I've been enjoying this thread, but haven't chimed in till now, as I've posted all my photos before. Also, in this garden, so many perennials have either died or been thugs (many salvias and Perovskia).

In the last couple of years I've decided to go with drought tolerant plants, (though we do get lots of rain at times, too), and have a few '3D' osteospermums

catmint 'Walker's Low'

phlomis fruticosa

My favourite companion plant would probably be perennial wallflowers. A 'peach' variety is low growing, but very vigorous.

And I especially like the two tones of the taller growing 'bicolour', but can't find a photo.

Also cistus, particularly the graceful 'silver pink', which I'm sorry you couldn't find.

I have many daylilies too, but find them a bit stiff with roses, except for an older, yellow variety I once had. I've recently got a similar one, but it came as a tiny plant and has hardly grown. I must find it a better spot!

Gardenho, what is the large purple tree?

Trish, I love your phlomis fruticosa, had one on a slope but it died in the heat. Also had your yarrow, but the rabbits ate that. Osteospermums are frequently seen here. I suppose we have very similar climates and therefore similar plants. I suspect many of us will be growing drought-tolerant plants as it gets warmer and drier. Are you able to buy mimulus? They flower a lot and are available in different colors (at least here), and they need very little water. I'm particularly fond of the white one.

I killed this red one by overwatering it.

Dingo it is a Cotinus/smoke bush. They are heavily pruned in the spring to keep them from becoming monsters..with the added bonus of richer colors. You don’t get the smoke with pruning, but that’s fine as I prefer the better color.

Ingrid your garden is AWESOME! I never expected that with all the ‘feasting’ you say goes on. I Love it!!

Ingrid, I'd never heard of Mimulus till reading about it on here - from you, I think. I just looked to see if my favourite online nursery had it, and they have two varieties - 'Red Emperor' and 'Tigrinus'. I might get some when I order next. Another problem I have is more and more shade due to neighbouring trees, and the ones at the bottom of my garden have grown so tall that they shade a fair bit of the garden in Winter, even though they're a lot lower than much of it.

I planted another couple of phlomis last year. A mauve one, 'purpurea', and a taller growing pale yellow one called 'Lemon Blush'. It grows to 6', and is said to be much easier to place because of it's softer colour. Neither have flowered yet.

I also have tried lots of penstemon. I did have one which did reasonably well, called 'blackbird', I think, but I don't get many flowers from them . Shame, as I've seen them growing in a lovely garden a couple of hours drive inland from here, and they were wonderful.

Gardenho, no this purple tree :), not the smokebush! Even when I enlarge it I can’t make out what it is. Thank you!

Oh that one :)...its a Lilac.

Yes, I too am coveting a smokebush tree! I plan to order a Winecraft Black from Proven Winners, it's a dwarf variety, only about 6x6' at maturity. Love the dark purple foilage.

I grow about 10 different kinds of iris and always plant roses nearby. They look so good together! Here is an old iris (name unknown) next to Double Knock out.

I plant blue (or purple) pansies at the feet of some roses (attempting, in this case, to mask my neighbors ugly garage) in the fall and enjoy them until winter arrives. But come early spring, I get a second pansy show as the roses start waking up again. Most pansies will survive winter in my Zone 6, but not our HOT mid-summer temps, so as autumn rolls around, I have to plant more pansies. Love those little fellas.

I scatter lots of white hardy garden geranium around and between my roses. Gives the most wonderful lacy appearance out there, and the white brings out the colors of the roses.

Here you can see the larkspur that grows all over the beds for a long time in late spring/early summer. They make a beautiful blue haze from my back door.

A number of different colors of daylilies are scattered around all the gardens. They tend to bloom when my roses are going into their rest cycle.

Several different clumps with different kinds of bulb lilies. You can't see the roses here, but they are just to the left off-camera. Those yellow flowers at the bottom are the wildflower Black-eyed Susan--they grow wild anyplace and everyplace!

You've seen this pic before--my big paniculata hydrangea (white) growing in the middle of the most prominent bed--blooms for several months mid-summer. It's gorgeous. You can also see some Black-eyed Susan and (if you squint) what is left of the early summer-blooming blue larkspur.

Several different kinds of iris here mixed in with roses. The white blooming plant on the left is a peony called Bridal something or other. The golden plants were a gift from my neighbor--some kind of cosmos, I think.

I stick a few annuals in strategic spots--like white alyssum next to the dark red of Oklahoma rose.

I have about a half dozen peonies of various kinds--the pink one below is Cora Stubbs, with rosa Easter Basket at her feet. Note the purple pansies inserted in there. They do sneak into the most unexpected places.

Hope you enjoyed that little tour. It has been so hot and humid here that I haven't been able to get out and enjoy my flowers as much as I'd like --besides the JBs are out there munching and fornicating on my roses! As such, this air-conditioned tour was fun for me also.

Kate

Dingo
Is the purple a crepe myrtle?
Or maybe a Rose of Sharon?

Carla in Sac

Kate I enjoyed your tour very much! Your gardens are just gorgeous!!

GardenHol--I was just browsing through this thread again--so many lovely garden shots!--when I came across your pics. I just love your contrasting leaves and colors and shapes. Marvelous! I try to do some of that, but you have taken it to a higher level!

Kate

Trish, what a pity about your neighbor's trees. So annoying when stuff is planted that will have a serious impact on your garden, and there's nothing you can do., If you have a hot, sunny spot somewhere with poor soil do try the mimulus.

Kate, your garden is absolutely gorgeous! I love the English cottage garden look with the different colors and wonderful variety of plants among the roses. The pansies are so cute, one of those flowers one remembers fondly from one's childhood. I hope you'll post more photos as the seasons progress.

Kate you’re too kind, thank you!

Kate, your garden is fabulous! I covet your peonies, which we can’t grow here. Except the warm-winter tolerant Itoh peonies, but they are $80-100 each and you have to amend our alkaline soil to make acidic, not worth it. I love your black eyed Susan’s too.

Ingrid, I will have to look for white mimulus, at the Theodore Payne Foundation near my house, it is so pretty.

I planted, Marie Pavie, and the miniatures Sweet Chariot, Lavender Delight and Softee in my annuals beds. The roses are all still so small that I have to keep pruning back the petunias to give them room. I found out petunias make EXCELLENT cut flowers! I never would have guessed last over a week with flower food. I am really enjoying the creamy yellow snapdragons ‘Rocket Yellow’ I started from seed, Harris Seeds, in my garage last Feb. I hate the fluorescent yellow snapdragons they sell everywhere here, so I decided to grow my own. It was so easy with a self watering flat under LED grow lights, that I will definitely do it again next year. I love the fragrance of petunias, which I could never get to look good before our drip irrigation was installed, so I am really enjoying them this year.

I am trying balloon flower Sentimental Blue.

Also I like ajuga chocolate chip for ground cover that smothers weeds and is shade tolerant.

Ingrid, I think you mentioned you were going to get Penstemon heterophyllus ‘Margarita BOP’ after I suggested it. I can’t remember exactly when mine started blooming, but I think it was mid April. This is what it looks like today. Still covered in blooms! It is surrounded by hot concrete planted right by the street. I think this one will be fabulous in your garden since native to our area. Each flower can be more blue or purple. They were all more sky blue in April but now more purple.

Stephanie, it just arrived the other day, and I'm thrilled to see your beautiful plants of it. I wonder if this might be the same type that was here when we moved in 13 years ago, which tends to have that more purplish color. The blooms were eaten down recently but have come up again. I'll try to take a photo of it tonight. Margarita sounds perfect for my conditions. I think just about anything that works in your garden will also succeed in mine, whether roses or companion plants.

Oh I hope the rabbits won’t eat them! I didn’t think of that! I occasionally see a rabbit, deer or coyote on our streets, since we are 4 blocks from the Angeles National Forest, but it is amazing what a buffer from the critters 4 blocks can be.

I'm trying different plants to see what I want to plant more of in the future...

Melampodium (annual).... These have been full of blooms mid May to present non stop...I think they reseed though...Will see...lol

COREOPSIS

WAlkers LOw catmint...Has done very well here...

Geranium 'Rozanne'

TWO Geranium 'Rozanne' planted on 24" centers...

Lavender Hidcote: No good pics yet...lol..But we had one before and liked it...But I cut it to ground and killed it...ooops...lol

Jim, I have NEVER been successful at getting a good pic of my Hidcote lavender!

Stephanie, the rabbits don't normally eat my penstemons but just this one must have looked extra-yummy. Just planted the 'Margarita' type in the ground, but in retrospect this is not the right time to plant and the little guys are all wilting in the heat. I'll hold off until fall before I put anything else in the ground.

Jim, your 'Walker's Low' and Rozanne are beautiful plants. For that matter all your plants look great and I suspect you just have the right touch.

Yarrow attracts a ton of beneficial insects

Gaillardia blooms all summer

I plant 4 o'clocks all over the place

More 4 o'clocks

Black eyed susans are another one that blooms all summer

Calendula are another favorite

WOW everyone! What a fantastic thread! Here's one for you oursteelers. It is tough getting a pic of L. 'Hidcote Blue'.

Peren, they look so good! I just love lavender. Their blue/purple color makes everything around them look better and they are so darn easy

Pippa, your perennials are beautiful. The variegated 4 o'clock is really cute.

Peren, does Hidcote Blue stay short like that? That is such a pretty lavender. I wonder if bunnies would stay away from it.

Ingrid, this is a fantastic thread. I just went through it, and I love how everybody has their own favourites, often so different because of location and gardening style.

GardenHo, your foliage combinations are fantastic.

Stephanie, I don’t know how Itoh peonies do in your area, and the price seems to be much higher than here, but I see them doing well around here in my area with alkaline clay. I myself have ‘Bartzella’, which I got 7 years ago for $25, at 50% off. It has done great. This was in 2017:

A few of my own favourite combinations are pink roses with lady’s mantle (no picture on my phone), ‘Fighting Temeraire’ with Crocosmia ‘Lucifer‘, which is almost the same colour as the rose buds,

and Hosta ‘Sagae’ with ‘Nahema’.

I found a golden pineapple sage that has the same kind of colour as the foliage of ‘Munstead Wood’, so in a crazy moment I put them together. I will see if I truly love the combo, but for the time being it tickles my funny bone.

And for under fungus prone roses, I have this year used Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’, which in my situation stays airy and low.

Lastly rose campion seeded itself into ‘Fru Dagmar Hastrup’. I like the effect, at least for now.

Yes Ingrid L. 'Hidcote Blue' stays under a foot tall for me. I have extremely heavy predation from deer and they have never touched the lavender. I imagine bunnies would leave it alone too.

Thank you, peren, that's good news on both counts. I have some lavender that's huge and woody, and more of that I don't need.

Dinie, you have some inspired pairings. My favorite is Nahema with the variegated hosta, and I'm not even fond of hostas. The yellow peony with the small purple flowers around it is also wonderful.

Gdinie thank you. I love your roses! I’m too wimpy to grow roses...don’t like thorns. Although I do have the ‘Fairy’...which is more than enough thorns for me!

Speaking of things that ‘tickle your funny bone’...I have a recent one.

A friend was viewing pics of my delphiniums and suddenly said, “what a cool tree! It has a pouty face!” Another stated “it’s right out of the wizard of oz!

I’m not sure I would have ever noticed it without her pointing it out...

This really tickles my funny bone!!!

Thank you, Ingrid. I cannot really take credit for the combination with Sagae. It has been in that spot for many years, and I wanted another rose in that corner. Then I read about Nahema, discovered that Palatine had it, and that was that. I used to have a big, gorgeous R. glauca in that corner, but in time it would every year get some kind of fungal disease (?), and the leaves would turn yellow and drop around August. So I cut it down and planted Nahema in front of it. You can still see the remains of it to the left of Nahema. To the right there is Acanthus hungaricus. The flowers played well with the foliage of R. glauca.

GardenHo, it took me a moment to see the scowl, but it is hilarious. You had better behave around that tree!

I finally took a photo of my mystery penstemon, which is one of the very few plants that was present in the garden area when we moved in. Looking at it again I don't believe it's Margarita BOP, but neither do I have any idea what it might be. Can anyone guess? It's been there for 13 years, which is amazing for a perennial, and the flowers it had a month or two ago were devoured by the resident munchers, and I took its picture just it case these also disappear from one day to the next. It is rather pretty.

Ingrid, could it be P. ‘Sour Grapes’?

This is a hardy alstroemeria. It tends to spread. I got a chunk of it from my grandmother-in-law's shade garden a long time ago.

Thermopsis:

I like calibrachoa too...it often overwinters in pots here in zone 7, NC. This pic has a note that this one survived the winter:

Woodland phlox

I overwinter pots of caladiums in zone 7 , NC by just bringing them indoors and letting them dry out. They take awhile to wake up in spring. Impatiens are good about self sowing.

Spider lilies

I love spirea..it looks like little roses:

“GardenHo, it took me a moment to see the scowl”

Funny how our perspectives are so different. As you see a scowl, others see a pout, and then there are some that can’t see it at all!

Dinie, you're amazing, I do believe you're right. I've now looked at many pictures of 'Sour Grapes' on Google, and seen many different color variations of this type, which fits my specimen perfectly. I've never before seen the color that it is right now, with it being sometimes more bluish-purple and sometimes a warmer cerise-blue. I've also read that penstemons can be fairly short-lived and yet this old faithful has persisted for 13+ years.

erasmus, you have some truly exquisite plants. It's eye-opening to see how many of you not only love roses but also appreciate so many other plants, and grow them so beautifully. Were it not for my bunny and squirrel problem I'd be tempted to grow so many of the beautiful plants I'm seeing here.

Anagallis monellii, blue pimpernel. I know I've posted this before but it surely belongs in this thread. Spectacular blue, which, alongside any of my pink roses (but especially Grandmother's hat) is almost heart-stopping for me. Mine came from Annie's Annuals.

(In the next comment--hopefully. Houzz still will not allow me to just post one freaking photo.)

What an amazing shade of blue! It's eye-popping in the best way.

Shebabee, that Blue Pimpernel is fabulous!Thanks for sharing. Mediterranean climate sounds perfect here. It is now on my Annie’s wishlist :-)

Stephanie, I hope you love it. It's really easy, too. The flowers open in the sunlight, so when it's foggy/grayed out here (very often), it's not so impressive.

I'm kind of obsessed with this plant--I think the color does something to my brain!