My Garden

What to put with old fashioned bush roses

Last post 06-05-2009 10:10 PM by gardenfloozy. 8 replies.

• 03/05/2008 09:21 AM

  Magnolia Location: North West Lancashire Joined on: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 6

  Reply | Contact I have 8 box par terres with 3 old fashioned bush roses in each ( Tuscany Superb, Charles de Mille etc) which only flower once for a relatively short period.  I have also planted Astrantia in the beds but I need something which will be tall enough not to be dwarfed by the roses but will look colourful when the roses have finished.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  This is the main part of my garden and for most of the year it doesn't have colour.  I have tried Salvia Sylvestris Mainacht and Campanula Persicifolia but neither of them lasted more than a year.

• 03/05/2008 11:27 AM	In reply to
  Phot's-Moll Location: The sunny South coast. Joined on: 06 Jan 2007 Posts: 3,347	Reply | Contact Japanese anemones? Late flowering clematis? You could also underplant with aconites, cyclamen, crocus and snowdrops for winter colour. Whether you think you can do a thing, or think you cannot, you are right.

• 03/05/2008 12:00 PM	In reply to
  bogweevil Location: Joined on: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 2,043	Reply | Contact  Pinks or hemerocallis?   Boggy     Beware the bat-eared bogweevil

• 03/05/2008 04:52 PM	In reply to
  Ariadne Location: Contemplating on the compost heap Joined on: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 75	Reply | Contact I have Japanese Anemones under mine & they have worked a treat (I leave a space along the outside edge to plant annuals in toning colours just to perk it up a bit.......& each year it changes slightly just for a bit of variety) Sitting, spinning threads of stories & weaving the colourful strands of life.

• 03/05/2008 05:17 PM	In reply to
  Bog Myrtle Location: Southern Turkey Joined on: 07 Feb 2007 Posts: 346	Reply | Contact Lavender, maybe, lasts many years, easy to look after? Or what about valerian, pink or white, comes every year, and flowers for several months? Or hyssop, which is a smallish bush with blue flowers; carnations, though I've found they only last maybe three years and need replaced. Agastache is nice, attracts lots of butterflies.

• 07/05/2008 01:24 PM	In reply to
  annefloweryanne Location: Joined on: 04 Mar 2008 Posts: 42	Reply | Contact How about dahlia's, which will start flowering mid-late summer and last well into late autumn (though you do need to lift them to store somewhere frost-free over the winter), with lots of bulbs for late winter to late spring? That way you would have something flowering for a good long time.

• 03/07/2008 02:14 AM	In reply to
  Foxnfirefly Location: Virginia,USA Joined on: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 165	Reply | Contact Verbascums and phlox are nice with roses and bloom from early summer onward..and are perennials that last several years if pruned and divided when needed.  Also, I think Russian sage is great around roses, but may be too big for your purpose.  The silver foliage is beautiful!!

• 01/08/2008 12:37 PM

  In reply to

  BluebellsGalore Location: London Joined on: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 16

  Reply | Contact Hello, a nice combination with old fashioned bush roses is actually to have Clematis trained to grow up/amongst them.  I normally use the Viticella group.  People may think it would overwhelm the bush rose, but it's never happened to me.   You can prune your Clematis appropriately & it will grow nicely every year along with your rose.  I'll go have a search through my photos of my old-fashioned roses & what I had growing by them in the States to see if there are any other taller perennials which worked & will jot another post if I find anything else.

• 06/05/2009 10:10 PM	In reply to
  gardenfloozy Location: Marin county California Joined on: 05 May 2009 Posts: 1	Reply | Contact What about Alstroemia lilies and Nepeta Six Hills Giant? Mary Fleming Bantly