In the Garden: Mix it up — planting perennials and roses together

Terri Hiatt

In the Garden

There still remains a large group of gardeners who believe roses are supposed to be planted alone and shouldn’t share their space with others.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The majority of flowering perennials not only require the same sun and water, but they also thrive when they’re planted with rose compost and fertilized with Terosa Rose Food.

The flowering perennials do not like the moss-covered beds here in the Pacific Northwest any more than roses do, and therefore appreciate a yearly application of lime in the fall and winter, just like roses.

I have planted roses with perennials for more than 20 years and have my favorites. Because of limited space, I can’t list them all, but this includes some of the very best.

In July, pull off the bottom one-third of the foliage from your rose bush to open up the area and encourage circulation. That practice helps tremendously when it comes to discouraging spider mites on roses and when you share the space with perennials.

Asters — The varieties are available in blue, pink, purple and white. My favorite is “Wonder of Staffa.” The 1 1/2-foot-tall plant blooms for months and is best planted between your roses. It blooms from midsummer into fall and produces hundreds of lavender blooms.

Campanula — Often referred to as bluebells, the sweet perennials come in a variety of sizes. Their flowers are white, lavender, blue or pink. My favorite is called “Blue Waterfall.”

I plant the low-growing (6 inches tall, 18 inches wide) blooming machine underneath my roses like a groundcover. The star-shaped periwinkle blue flowers cover the plant for four to five months and will grow in full sun to part shade. A must for every flower lover.

Dahlias — The selection is immense with these beauties. I usually grow the mid-sized varieties (3 to 4 feet) between my roses. The colors are amazing and varied.

Like roses, true blue seems to be the only color not available. There are too many varieties to pick a favorite.

Delphiniums — The classic English garden perennial now is available in varieties anywhere from 1 to 6 feet tall. The taller varieties, even when planted between roses, have to be staked.

I prefer the longer-blooming mid-sized varieties, but it’s taller varieties like the “Pacific Giant” series that are the most majestic. They are available in true blue, purple, lavender, pink and white.

Delphiniums are heavy feeders and don’t like to be ignored, like many of the other perennials, but the rewards are great.

Echinacea — Known as coneflowers, the perennial is now available in apricot, orange and yellow, along with the pinks, reds and whites.

The majority are 2 to 3 feet tall and have large, daisy-like blooms. The plant grows very upright and can be tucked between your roses.

Some tried-and-true varieties include “Ruby Giant,” “Kim’s Knee-Hi” and “White Swan,” just to name a few.

Hardy geraniums — They look nothing like the geraniums most people use in their summer annual flowering gardens and containers.

Hardy Geraniums are beautiful planted en masse, but some can get rangy and unattractive. The variety “Rozanne” is 1 1/2 feet tall by 2 feet wide and won Perennial of the Year in 2008.

It’s another incredibly long-bloomer, perfect planted in front of your roses or in between. “Rozanne” has almost florescent deep periwinkle blue blooms.

Salvias — They can be the workhorses in your border. Try “East Friesland,” “May Night,” “Caradonna” and the amazing “Black and Blue.”

Salvias are upright and usually grow 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall, although “Black and Blue” is easily 3 feet.

In the Garden columnist Terri Hiatt works at Peninsula Gardens as a buyer, designer and rose expert. She can be reached at terrihiatt@hotmail.com.