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meslgh

Texas natives that make good rose companions?

meslgh
10 years ago

I'm planning a bed with mostly old garden roses (Souvenir de la Malmaison, Kronprinzessin Viktoria, Capitaine Dyel de Graville, Belinda's Dream, and either Francis Dubreuil or The Dark Lady), and I'd like to include Texas natives. What can you recommend?

Comments (5)

  • roselee z8b S.W. Texas
    10 years ago

    That's a nice selection of roses! Henry Duelberg salvia planted alternately in a rose border comes to mind,. It gets tall so don't plant too close or it will shade the rose foliage.

    Although it's not native I planted garlic chives in my rose beds. The spiky foliage and white flowers looks great with roses and is reported to deter spider mites.. Even prettier is society garlic with its lavender flowers.

    Also nice with roses is the spiky foliage of irises as well as their stately flowers in spring.

    Back to natives Black foot daisies look good as an edging, but plant away from the base of rose canes since it takes less water. A native that didn't work for me was Greg's mistflower. It's a beautiful butterfly attracting plant, but tends to take over an area and is a mess to clean out under thorny canes when it dies back in winter. Plus you want to leave room to scratch in fertilizer under the rose bushes.

    You'll be getting more ideas I'm sure. Let us know later what worked for you.

    Happy gardening!

  • ruthz
    10 years ago

    I've heard garlic/chives deter some pests when planted around roses. I do have garlic chives planted near one.
    roselee, do you think it works? I also planted some society garlic around a couple, but it has disappeared.

  • roselee z8b S.W. Texas
    10 years ago

    Ruth, I don't know if garlic chives works as a pest deterrant or not, and don't know anyone who has planted one bed with chives and another without to test it. I tend to be a little sceptical about the effectiveness of companion plantings for that purpose, but if I like the plant anyway I'll plant it -- just in case it might help. But for sure I found that when I stopped spraying insecticides I had no more spider mites.

    Back a few years ago when we received more frequent summer rain showers society garlic did well and multiplied nicely in the rose bed. Then when the droughty summers set in mine disappeared also, but garlic chives hung on through thick and thin and I love it.

  • cynthianovak
    10 years ago

    Not a native, but I love Pacifica Gold and Silvermum. It looks like a succulent, stays low in front of rose bushes and it blooms in late November when nothing else does and the roses are a backdrop for all the butterflies on this mum that looks nothing like a mum. have it in front of Belinda's dream and Old Blush
    I have a large Jerusalem Sage growing with an OGR and they are happy together. Both bloom in the spring and the soft velvety sage is a nice backdrop on the small pink flowers of a shrub rose.

  • meslgh
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Roselee, thanks for the suggestions. I was thinking about the Duelbergs and blackfoot daisy, so it is nice to get some confirmation that they can work well.

    Cynthia, I didn't know anything about either of those plants. Always fun to take a research spin around the internet!