Diane, I was surprised to read that catmint have a short blooming time for you. Here, they flower for about 9 months, I think. I'll have to watch. Isn't it odd? My lavender also had lots of dead stuff as well as flopping. I forgot to say that. I've tried several campanula, with no luck. They'll grow for a little, then die. Pity, as I really like them. I'd far rather be able to grow your companion plants, especially snapdragons and poppies, but it ain't going to happen!

Trish, can't you even grow the annual poppies if you stratify the seed in the freezer for a while before sowing the seed.? Of course, poppies like fairly cold spring weather. With catmint, after it blooms for a while, and then is sheared back, it will eventually rebloom. But it gets floppy and unattractive. I've had lavender flop forward down the slope, and there's not much I can do about it, but the current crop doesn't flop. Don't know why, but I keep it quite dry during the growing season. It likes the great drainage and alkaline soil. I'll bet you're too warm year round for the campanula. Most Campanulas came from the mountains of Eastern Europe or the Scottish highlands. They like it cold in winter. And in summer, somehow Scottish harebell, C rotundifolia, tolerates our heat. It's not supposed to like anything above zone 6, but not so. Remember, you grow lots of gorgeous stuff that can't survive our winters. I'd love to grow Bougainvillea and Brugmansia. I guess they could be annuals here. haha. Diane

Should I mail you a bag of purple poppy seed? Would it be intercepted at the border? Diane

Diane, the purple poppy is very beautiful! What is the white blooming plant’s name?

I started growing Orlaya last year and I fell in love. In my area it dies before summer but reseeds very well

Nobody has mentioned pincushions but it’s the best rose companion in my garden. It blooms almost non-stop from spring to fall. It stays small, and the dainty blooms are so lovely

The field poppy goes well with pincushion, though the bright red color could be a bit too strong

Trish, nepta blooms for me almost continuously as well. I know there are lots or different subtypes of all of these plants and maybe some of us have a variety that is particularly suited to where we live.

Diane thank you for the compliment on my PCdM. ❤️ . I’m growing poppies for the first time this year, all happening to be purplish! I hope they turn out.

I had such a crazy full day yesterday and didn’t get time to catch up here. I’m enjoying everyone’s pictures and descriptions of what does and doesn’t work well in your climate. I’ve had several big surprises along that line. For instance, I thought Lavender would love it here, but I’m discovering it’s finicky especially during our monsoon rains. I’m not giving up yet. And yes, how could I forget Jupiter’s Beard and Russian Sage? Those are both happy residents in my garden, though the Russian sage can be a bit thuggish for me too, Trish. I have one of the smaller cultivars and heartlessly rip out what I don’t want. Echo, my Cha Cha blooms a long time and then I cut it down and it zooms back and reblooms. It will do that all summer until the nights turn cool. And I do have the Better Boxwoods but only planted them this past fall, so have nothing much to report yet. I am growing foxglove in a nice shady corner under an overhanging tree. It’s happier than I thought and I discovered it’s very easy to propagate by snapping off little plantlets at the base and sticking them in the ground. I have the Camelot Rose variety. I also am trying some limonium and scabious. Newbie, I like your blue scabiosa!

Judi, I want to try foxgloves in my shadiest area. they are so lovely. I’m glad to hear they do well for you

I'm glad that you started this thread. I have been wanting to add other companion plants to my roses. At our last farm we had a lot of companion plants but I am still working on beds here.

Amistad salvia (or maybe it was Black and Blue salvia? I grow both Amistad is much taller) and Quicksilver Rose..I do think this was Black and Blue Salvia..it has a fruity smell to the leaves and will spread underground. There is a larger version now called Black and Bloom which I am planning to get this spring. I believe there is also a pink version out of that series now as well.

Peach Swirl and semi dwarf sunflowers

Dwarf Pacific Ocean Dahlias. I forget which rosw..either Boscobel or Jubilee Celebration. Charles Rennie McIntosh is the lavender rose behind the dahlias on the left.

Belotti Passiflora with Maman Cochet Cl

Now this is unconventional lol..I grow Bidens alba (spanish needles weeds) in with my roses and other plants. They are the white daisy-like flowers. They are a native weed that all the pollinators here just adore. I can go out at any given time and find 5 different varieties of bees, butterflies, moths, etc on these. They do make horrible spiky seeds in late fall that stick in your clothing but to me, its worth growing them for the pollinators. A lot of birds will eat the seeds.

Liatris & Distant Drums

Rosette Delizy & Kisses and Wishes Salvia (or maybe it was Wendy's Wish, I grew both)

Some Tiger Lilies with Peach Swirl..One of my favorite combinations.

Pinelands Princess Dahlia & Mrs B R Cant

Oriental Lilies & Molineux

I like my gardens wild!

Another unconventional companion :) I had dwarf bananas with red underleaves (about 9ft) behind Princess Charlene de Monaco. She grows tall and straight up, like 7ft here. There are taller reg sz bananas in the background.

This is definitely Amistad Salvia with Mrs BR Cant. They both get huge. Bees and hummingbirds adore Amistad Salvia.

This is Ember's Wish Salvia

Coral Porterweed. I grow this with roses as well. Butterflies love it.

I wish I could grow Lavender here but it does not like it and always dies.

Forever a newbie, thanks and the white plant is actually the hybrid musk rose Ballerina. It's pretty pale in our sun, but I love it and that plant is 20 years old.

For all of you in the year round warm zones try growing Digiplexis instead of foxglove. A lot of foxglove is biennial. Diane

Popppy and Ballerina

With Young Lycidas

Penstemon

Diane, your Ballerina is really a darling! It reminds me of Dr Robert Korn

@Diane Brakefield Oooh thanks for the pro-tip re: foxglove. I also started a bunch of snapdragon seeds based on your recommendations. I know I could buy the plants, but I'm casually teaching my 7 year old about gardening and botany so starting seeds and watching them sprout has been so fun with her.

@sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish) I would love to see your garden in-person. I *love* the wild look. When you walk through there's always a surprise or two. My garden is turning out to be similar. When I bought my house, the gardens and beds were very manicured with lots of japanese maples, pride of madeira, and KO roses but I'm slowly turning it into a jungle. I direct sow seeds where I *think* they'll be ok and hope for the best lol. It's amazing to walk through one's garden and discover what's growing.

This thread is incredibly helpful, so many flowers I didn't even know existed!

I’m noticing all the different styles of gardens again on this thread and the window it gives into each personality. I love that about gardens! Sultry, I am fascinated by your wild style as well . Everything looks so lush on all your photos which really compliments your style. And I too want to check out the digiplexus some more. I’ve seen them before but never paid them much attention. How many of you like Gaura? I used to grow that in California and I just started some from seed yesterday. Pheasant Tail grass is another one that I am trying to grow from seed. I think that will look great in my warm colored border with all the peaches and orange and golden tones. I see one of you posted Liatrus. Does it do well for you? I think I have some seed around…

Gaura is great, but can really take over here. I need to remove some yearly. Russian Sage is great here. it is large but never takes over.

Diane, I always enjoy your poppies! Do the Quail eat poppy seeds too? I thought of you when I was researching w hubby about Southern Bob White Quail. There used to be tons of them in N FL. Now theres hardly any. There are now landowners and wildlife programs to try to bring theur numbers back up via growing stuff they like and providing habitat. So one thing they love is Basket Flower seeds (Centaurea americana). I was wondering if you are growing any for your little quail? I know yours are a diff variety but they probably all like similar seeds.They are pretty flowers and pollinator friendly so I am going to try them. I will also try the Digiplexis!

Thank you, SD shine & judi :)

SD, do you still have any Japanese Maples? I have been looking at some dwarf varietied that will do well in my area. I love them and there are so many neat varieties! My old veggie garden kinda had an Asian Theme at one time. Japanese veggies in particular do awesome here.

The wild look garden suits me because I dont have to weed as much (I'm way too lazy for that lol) and it grows big which gives some protection from our animals and deer, possums, raccoon, etc. I hope you will share garden photos as yours develops!!

Here's a few more wild parts from my garden.

This was the center of my veggie garden. There were several raised beds on either side.

Disney hedychium aka butterfly gingers

A bunch of large Alocasia..I love the texture of these

My old ghetto greenhouse..I would pull off the plastic in the summer and stuff would go wild. I would cut it all wayyyyy back in winter (mid Dec)and shove the cover back on until March Zone 9a

Judi I look forward to seeing your pheasant grass. I have been researching grasses I can grow in my climate. There is white pampas grass around the ponds and reeds that make seed heads. A few Cat tails I got some seeds to try of Purple Lovegrass, Pink Muhlygrass, Pink Feather Pampas grass. I got my Liatris bulbs cheap from Walmart! They are very easy here. I believe they will grow in your area as well. I need to look for more gladiolas bulbs this spring. I had tons at my old house and I miss them! Glads should do well for you too if you like them.

I got these pretty tall pink ones from Walmart in a mixed bag of bulbs. Littlr tree frogs like to hide in the flowers.

Other seeds I am planting are Balloon Flower, Midnight Nigella, Grandview Catmint. Also for the birds: Golden Giant & Elena's Rojo Amaranth and Purple Majesty Millet. Why I am typing in a weird Italics font idk? lol

Another Rose Companion: Rose of Sharon..blue chiffon with Munstead Wood

judi, I forgot about gaura. I have some white ones and they produced a pink seedling last year. Just one seedling, so not taking over here yet, Sheila. Also, I have a Korean boxwood hedge, but also a dwarf Murraya. Do you have Murraya? The flowers have a lovely, strong, spicy scent. They're very slow to start (as are the large ones). There are a couple of varieties here - Min a Min and Hip High. Both the same height eventually - about 3 and a bit feet.

sultry, I love your pink and yellow dahlia. I have Cafe au Lait. I've had it for years, and years ago tried to divide the tubers, but couldn't see how - they were so fused together. It seems to have a virus now. The leaves curl and buds don't open after the first few flowers.

Diane, I hope Customs would stop the seeds! Much as I'd have liked to try them in a previous garden. I've tried poppy plants here, but they didn't survive. It's odd that your campanula can take your high summer temps. Maybe it's your irrigation. I've lost mine in summer.

Those seed grown opium poppies of Diane's are annuals, Trish. I tried Oriental Poppies that are perennials and they did not persist here. They were great in Alaska.

I love this thread!

I love foxglove with roses and they are easy to grow from seed.

Another self sowing annual in my garden is Love in a mist (Nigella damascena)

Another self sown annual that I love is larkspur. Super easy to grow from seed when direct sown in the garden.

Salvia farinacea is also easy to grow from seed and over winters most years, but I'll be starting more seed this winter!

Tall ageratum ’Blue Horizon’ is so pretty with my Yellow Submarine rose.

Allium’s are great with roses and help deter voles.

Sultry, your garden is so lovely and lush!! that pink Gladious is stunning!!

Markay, what beautiful foxgloves! so stunning

A couple more that are perennial. Here is Stokesia with the rose True Sincerity.

Earth Angel with Blue Skywalker Veronica

And for a change of color… Coreopsis ’Moonbeam’ with Foxy Lady.

Markay, what lovely combinations.

So much gorgeousness! I agree with Titian on your tasteful combinations, Markay. And I am impressed with your True Sincerity Rose as well. I don’t know what got into me, but I picked up that rose bare root about two weeks ago and I don’t even really like pink and yellow two tone roses! It was definitely an impulse buy, but I got that one and True Spirit, a red rose. Both are Oink Lin roses and I like my True Live so much I decided to try more. Your rose makes me feel like I made a good buy.

Thanks, Trish and Sheila for weighing in on the Gauara. I’ll see if it does well here without doing too well! ;)

Trish, Sheila is correct that breadseed poppies are annuals, so of course they're not going to survive more than one season, but they reseed well. I think you could grow them in your late winter to early spring fine. But you'd probably need to stratify them for a few days in your freezer. Why would you want customs to stop my parcel to you? You could always smoke the seeds-hahaha. Sorry, I'm an embarrassment to the forum. Do you still grow Digiplexis?

Sultry, to answer your question, the California Quail we have don't seem to eat many poppy seeds. And I don't feed these ravenous birds my expensive seed. The little birds that use my super jail bird feeder do drop black oil sunflower seed all over the ground beneath the feeder, and the quail love those seeds and gather under the feeder. These are the covey that hangs around all winter. But there are hundreds of these quail just in our neighborhood, and they do well without a lot of help. They are so like chickens as you know, I'm sure. They are pretty good sized, too. We used to have Bob White's in the area when I was a kid, but they've disappeared a long time ago, along with the huge jack rabbit population, which was hunted to extinction in this area. Quail love cosmos seeds and small plants, centaura, Dara the wild purple carrot seed, verbena plants and probably seed, some campanula plants, which they devour, small annual rudbeckia seedlings, and they devour silver sage plants, and I'll bet they love to eat lamb's ear. I've left out some plants, I know. Any sunflower seed they love, but don't like thistle seed, plus other plants I've mentioned that they dislike, such as penstemon. They don't like snapdragons, morning glory, Four O'Clock's, Jupiter's Beard, and others. No critter eats daffodils, either. Well, that's a start..... That's an impressive glad you posted, a lovely color. I used to grow Lavender Chiffon Rose of Sharon. You could probably grow nice tropical hibiscus. Your Munstead Wood looks beautiful with the R of S. Diane

Can anyone speak to their experience with sedum? I tried Autumn Joy in an area that few plants have thrived in and unsurprisingly it didn't do well. It was my first year as a gardener.

I keep thinking about trying Autumn Joy and Thunderhead sedum as they both look so gorgeous.

I also like the look of artemisia, as I think it woupd complement lambs ear, russian sage, and nepeta with their silvery qualities - but have never tried it

Echo, I planted a bed of sedum a number of years ago. 16 of them, I think. I had no luck with them. They all disappeared. Autumn Joy was one of the kinds I tried. I thought they were hard to kill. I really must be a rotten gardener. Mind you, I've planted bluebells, daffodils (not really cold enough here for either), and narcissi there, and none have done well, yet narcissi multiply lots everywhere else I've put them.

Diane, were you joking about Customs? Not sure. I hope they spot anything that shouldn't come in here, and I think that includes any plant matter without the necessary paperwork.

@sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish) Yes! I still have..8? lol I need to take count. My favourite are my crimson queens, I let them trail down the tiered beds I have them in and I consider them to be my 'rapunzel' plants lol. I have a giant one that is the .most beautiful shade of red, absolutely stunning. I'm never getting rid of any of them, things will just have to grow around in between them. Your glad is gorgeous. I love them so so much and tried to plant some last year but, alas, my environment is too dry for them, they are water hogs. Also, despite them being listed as deer-resistant, the deer in my neighbourhood munched off all the flower stalks as soon as they grew, that was super annoying no matter how cute they are.

The aforementioned red maple:

You can see the voluminous crimson queens in this picture, along with my bougainvillea (I was trying to get an overhead shot of my giant standards):

I just read over my last post and almost snorted when I saw how my auto correct spell check changed Ping Lim! What a terrible name.

Echo, I think you should try artemisia. I have Powis Castle and it’s gorgeous but also huge. I want to try Silver Mound.

SD Shine, what a beautiful place you have!! Your crimson queens are spectacular.

SD I love your layered rock wall garden. So many interesting things you could do. Not only can you grow roses, but succulents, and a few tropical &/or tropical looking plants. Do you read Hoovb's blog, 'Piece of eden?' She has walled garden with slopes, retaining walls, a koi pond, etc in Calif. She has roses but also a spectacular wild succulent garden growing there due to her water restrictions. I love it! If I lived in that climate, that is exactly what I would have. She can grow proteas, grevillias, leucadendron, tree aloes. I can grow some succulents and cacti type plants..the cold hardier ones that can take a little more moisture. Some things can be manipulated quite a bit by providing clear overhead protection from all our rain or by putting them under the porch eaves where they get good sun at a slant! Of course a pot ghetto of succulents can be moved when necessary in winter yada yada lol.

I don't follow a lot of blogs but I do love this one

https://pieceofeden.blogspot.com/?m=1

Thank you, Judi, this may be the year I try it :)

Love this thread! Chiming in because I didn't see anyone mention these but I really love planting Rozanne Geranium in with the roses. It stays nice and round and compact, a really vivid bright purple/blue color. Not a bully, very friendly with it's neighbors. Blooms in flushes from spring to fall and comes back every year

Also love lisianthus - easy to grow from seed (just requires a ton of patience, it's slow!) - comes in lots of colors. I prefer the echo series blue ones. Two week vase life which is an extra plus. It's an annual for my zone but I think it's perennial for the warmer zones

Yes, I’m glad you mentioned those, elestrial! I love Rosanne Geraniums myself but the sun is so hot here that it scorches them. I finally found one spot where they are doing quite well. And Lisianthus does well here as well, but you are so right about them taking a lot of patience to grow. :)

Aw, that's a bummer they scorch there - glad you found a spot to have some at least. Their color is such a bright vivid pop of blue/purple - probably my favorite shade for contrast.

In reading through this thread I'd like to try growing lavender again - I've tried it quite a number of times over the years and it never comes back after the first year, not really sure why. Does anyone have a favorite bulletproof lavender that is harder to kill for someone with my track record? (Is that even a thing?)

I did try growing orayla for the first time this year and it was pretty. Does anyone know if it reliably self sows? In reading online it says it can do this...but needs the right conditions

Omg that looks amazing!

Susan!! I need your design services in my garden! Breathtaking.

@susan9santabarbara omgosh that doesn’t even look real! Not doubting you at all, just totally in awe. You’re clearly a talented gardener.

@sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish) We always want what we can’t have, eh? And thank you for the blog recommendation, it’s beautiful and totally relevant for me.

@Elestrial 7a I’m trying my hand at lithianthus for the first time and it is totally a lesson in patience. I’ve started all my flower seedlings and the stock & snapdragons are literally trying to escape their humidity domes while mayyyybe if I squint and use a magnifying glass I can start to see eensy weensy little green specs. Yours are stunning.

judi, thank you for mentioning Brass Band. It's available here and I'm most probably going to get it as it gets so many favourite votes and is rated excellent on HMF.

I was going to comment earlier on Markay’s beautiful True Sincerity! it looks like a watercolor painting!! lovely combinations as well!

Elestrial, I’ve heard so many good things about Rozane but I believe on most websites it is up to zone 8 and I’m 9a :( i do have some plants that are zone 8 because until very recently I was still in zone 8b, but I didn’t want to kill them right out of the gate.

One of my family members had Laura Bush Petunias which shockingly bloomed all summer and up until our first Frost this January!! They ordered me a seed packet. I had purple Supertunias but after spring they fried in the sun. I’m not sure if she had them in a desirable spot where they thrived or if they are really that heat tolerant but I hope to find out. I’d like a low mounding purplish colored flower at the base of my plants like that.

where are the Clematis enthusiasts at? I need large single flowered lavender and a large flowered dark purple.

Susan, what an absolute dream you have right there!! crazy beautiful.

I love everyone’s unique styles and approaches so much

Echo, thank you for mentioning the Laura Bush Petunias. That’s another new one for me and I looked them up right away. There are some high recommendations for them as being able to stand up against both heat and cold better than modern hybrids. I’ve never been a big fan of petunias personally, but these have more of a natural, old fashioned air and the rich purple would look good with anything. I think they’d look good in hanging baskets too. I will be adding them to my list of plants to try!

Judi, we will be trying them together :)

I also went ahead and bought Mysty salvia and Starry eyes at your recommendation so I am very much looking forward to this Spring. It is helpful to bounce these ideas off of people who live in warm climates and have tried them already.

SD Shine, they are so tiny for so long - makes sense why people generally prefer buying them in plugs vs starting from seed. Which ones did you get?

Echo, Laura Bush petunias look pretty! I didn't realize the supertunias don't handle the heat well

I believe the Supertunias are supposed to handle heat well. but this was dry, high heat up to like 109, with almost all day direct sunlight. it was very brutal. I had them in the sunniest hottest spot in my yard. I’ll try them again somewhere else. Spring to Early summer they were fine. Vincas are my best bet for annuals here. All the subdivision landscapers use them. They are tough as nails. I even found a cute little subtype with smaller blooms, seen here in pink. Not sure the name, but I will be on the lookout this year for them.

Echo, here are a couple of pics of my Prince Charles clematis trained along the fence of my front yard corral.

Oops, I forgot about General Sikorski clematis climbing into Shockwave tree

This is indeed a good thread. This is the last year that I intend to struggle with getting floribundas to grow; if they fail to thrive again this summer (getting that creeping- black finger-of -death sindrome in August in spite of my efforts at shading , watering, and this year, spraying),I'm ripping them out and going for perennials! and self-sowing, easy annuals. I found two seed sites that look promising-one for perennials ,another with a lot of annuals. This latter site has a vast selection of snapdragons, which interest me a lot,since I see them growing uncultivated here in Italy in stone walls. That means at least some of them must be pretty tough and drought-tolerant.

I posted on the other thread of this title so I'll duplicate it here and add some comments.

Lovely picture of the Nieremburgia! I am a fan of Victoria Blue Salvia since it makes so many other colors play nicely together, and roses don't come in a true blue. I also plant coral impatiens around the base of the coral/white/burgundy bed in front of my house, and lilac pink impatiens in a relatively shady area of the yard with shade-tolerant roses. I use a lot of Persian Shield (strobilanthes) as an annual in relatively part shade areas that really lightens up the purple/dark green tones and "blooms" when nothing else has much color in August.

I wish I could maintain the larkspur or alyssum or snapdragons that other people grow, but mine refuse to establish. I do put some dark red snapdragons in with the burgundy etc. front bed, but they bloom periodically.

Of course every bed has daylilies to fill in when the roses are taking a break, and I love phlox for the same reason. Shadier beds have coral bells and hostas and hydrangeas. Clematis does fabulous in my zone so it tends to get its own support, as most vines could overwhelm most of my roses. Front hot sun beds get filled in with agastache and Gaura for a relatively wild look, and of course I need mums and asters for the fall season.

I have a lot of the purple "Grandma's bonnet" columbine that self seed nicely and politely plus a few white or regular blue ones. I keep several butterfly bushes in various beds and hydrangeas. I have one Annabelle hydrangea that is the size of a minivan and is a gift that keeps on giving. For groundcover I like the Silver Beacon lamium that spreads politely and has a lovely silver sheen with spring pink blooms.

I'm known in my neighborhood more for my bulbs than my roses, though I have 100s of roses. I have 1000s of bulbs and replant tulips every fall. My philosophy is every inch that doesn't have another plant needs a bulb. Planting bulbs in the fall leaves me looking like I wrestled with 20 rabid cats from reaching under roses to plant bulbs.

Realize of course that mixed in all those bulbs are 100s of roses pruned down in the spring...

Cynthia

Truly impressive Cynthia!!!! gorgeous

Susan, love your clematis. They are the perfect colors for me!

I decided on Ramona clematis and also Etoile Violette at the recommendation of another gardener. Ordered from Brushwood where I purchased my other two clematis. Hoping they do well!

Echo, I just bought Etoille Violette last fall! I planted it to climb with Perfume Breeze on an arbor. The other side of the arbor has Lavender Crush. I’m so excited to see how your Etoille Violette grows for you in Texas. We can compare notes as they grow. I can’t remember where I ordered mine from but it was a small plant, so hasn’t done much yet. Hopefully it takes off this spring.

Wow, Judi that sounds absolutely stunning!! i cant wait to see! I hope it takes off well for you. Brushwood is expensive, but the plants are 1 gallon sized and have been really impressed in the past. So many pretty things to look forward to!