What to plant next to roses: the best neighbors for roses in a flower bed in the garden
Content:
Probably, every flower lover who has such an opportunity dreams of arranging a luxurious rose garden on his site. The queen of the kingdom of flora can easily decorate any flower bed. But in order to avoid many serious problems, and at the same time ensure the greatest beauty of the site, you need to know exactly what to plant next to the roses, how to care for all this splendor. It will be useful to deal with this issue in more detail.
The location of the flower bed with roses
Of course, before you figure out which plants roses are combined with, you need to decide exactly where the flower bed will be located. This is important both from the decorative and from the practical side.
The correct selection of plants is very important.
When choosing a suitable place, you need to make sure that it is sunny enough - roses do not like shaded areas and grow poorly on them, they often get sick, and pests in this case appear much more often.
At the same time, it is desirable that the flowerbed be protected from winds, especially blowing from the north. You can place it on the south side of the house, garage or any other building, as well as plantings. Finally, it is necessary that this place is clearly visible - ideally, it should be visible from almost anywhere in the yard and at home. After all, a pink flower bed is a chic decoration that you want to admire constantly.
The best duets with roses
Now it's worth deciding which rose companions will best complement the sophistication and beauty of this garden queen. There can be two design options. Plants can either accentuate the beauty of rose bushes, or serve as a background for them. Both solutions can be called successful. Of course, choosing what roses are combined with should be based on which option is preferable.
Accent plants
Many experts believe that tall plants can be great companions for roses in a flower garden. They immediately draw the eye to the flower bed, and then the attention turns to roses. The main thing is that there are not too many of them - otherwise the roses will simply be lost against their background. Certain grains, such as Chinese miscanthus, may be a good solution. If we talk about herbs, they will look great with roses, reed grass, blue lightning and spartina.
Other rose garden and flower bed design experts believe that roses work well with conifers such as juniper and thuja. Moreover, they remain green all year round, which means that the garden will be attractive in winter, when the roses are dormant.
Another good solution is tall perennials with beautiful flowers. However, they should not only focus on roses, but also successfully combine with them in color. Mullein and foxglove are perfect for this.
Background plants
When choosing background plants, it is important to consider which variety of rose bushes is being grown. Yes, the best neighbors for roses are not chosen by chance, but as a result of painstaking work.
Plants with small flowers such as sage, astrantia, lavender, katrana, heuchera or gypsophila are ideal.
- If the roses are tall, then the background plants should be below the level of the flowers in front.
- If the bushes are low, then the neighbors should be placed behind so that their flowers are higher.
- Finally, for medium-sized shrubs, you can combine both by planting background plants both behind and in front.
Yes, this is more troublesome - you have to tinker with it to decide what you can plant next to the roses, but the result will be just great.
How to make a mixborder with roses and other flowers
It occurs to many land owners to grow chic mixborders around their house or summer cottage, combining roses with other flowers. Well, this is a great solution - you can achieve that the site looks great from May to August and even September. But in this case, the choice of ideal partners must be approached especially seriously - there are no trifles here and cannot be.
Looks great
Correct arrangement of roses in color palette and shades
You need to figure out what to plant roses in the neighborhood with. It is very important that the flowers located nearby are successfully combined in color. For example, white roses with blue flowers will create a very bold yet graceful duet.
But blue flowers against the background of burgundy roses look frankly ugly, betraying the lack of taste of the gardener. Fortunately, breeders have created hundreds of different varieties of roses to find the perfect combination. There are only a few rules here:
- Best of all, the same colors are combined, but different shades - they complement each other perfectly.
- Do not grow plants with cold and warm petals nearby.
- Shades can contrast with each other, but not overwhelm.
The rules are pretty simple. But having memorized them, you can easily decide what to plant with roses in order to successfully combine neighbors, making the site as attractive and refined as possible. Moreover, for this it is not at all necessary to be a professional florist - it is enough just to have a sense of taste.
Delphiniums
Quite often, flower lovers wonder what to plant between roses for a beautiful background. And in this situation, the delphinium can be an excellent solution. On the one hand, it takes up relatively little space and requires little nutrients without draining the soil much. On the other hand, it is a tall plant that will perfectly complement medium or short neighbors.
The most important thing here is to choose the right varieties so that the flowers successfully set off or complement each other, and not conflict. However, this has already been mentioned above.
A true garden masterpiece
Clematis
One of the main advantages of clematis is that they bloom at about the same time as rose bushes. Therefore, they can perfectly complement each other. If roses with miniature flowers are chosen, then clematis should also have small buds. But for climbing varieties, neighbors with large flowers are best suited.
We must not forget about the colors, shades of the petals. In general, there is a classic composition - blue clematis growing next to pale pink roses look perfect. But whites can complement any variety at all. Yellow roses are best combined with dark purple and violet clematis.
Grapes
For many readers and even experienced florists, this combination may seem strange. Indeed, how can ordinary grapes and the queen of flower beds coexist? However, if you look into the issue, such a neighborhood turns out to be successful and even useful.
Of course, the grapes need to be planted in the background, providing adequate support. With minimal maintenance (regular watering, fertilizing), it will be a solid green wall. Against such a background, roses of any color (but pale pink or light red are best suited) look simply incomparable.
In addition, grapes quite often fall prey to various insect pests, for example, aphids, spider mites, leaf beetles, scale insects and worms. And roses often become a refuge for ladybirds, whose main diet consists of the pests listed above. Therefore, this neighborhood is not just elegant - it can just be salutary.
Phlox
This beautiful plant is surprisingly unpretentious on the one hand, and very beautiful on the other, with lush inflorescences. For central Russia, bushy undersized varieties are best suited - they are not only beautiful, but also easily tolerate frosty winters. In addition, they bloom almost all summer, thanks to which they will revive the site - even when the roses bloom, phloxes will continue to delight the eyes of the owners.
It goes well with phlox
By the way, it is also possible to plant phlox with many other perennial plants - for example, with asters and carnations. This combination can be called very successful - such a flower bed does not need special care, and with the right selection of neighbors it looks just great.
Further care for roses in a flower bed and mixborder
Of course, in order for a flower bed or a mixboard to please others with beauty and sophistication all the warm season, you need to provide the plants with appropriate care.
First of all, as mentioned above, it is necessary that all flowers receive enough sunlight, and also be protected from the winds. If there is not enough light, then the leaves will be small, pale, and the plants themselves will be elongated and ugly. Flowers, if they appear, will turn out to be few and not very attractive.
Also, do not forget about regular watering. It is not necessary to irrigate the flower bed too often (once every 7-10 days is enough), but very abundantly so that the earth is saturated to a great depth. At the same time, you need to take care of drainage. Roses love moist soil, but not wet - this may well lead to rotting of the root system and the death of the plant. This is especially true for regions with clay soils, poorly permeable to water, and frequent rains.
Finally, top dressing should be done regularly.
- In the spring, when the buds begin to swell, nitrogen fertilization should be applied - thanks to them, the leaves will be large, rich green.
- In summer, potash is needed to increase the number and size of flowers. They need to be brought in monthly, while the plant is blooming, but stop at the beginning or end of August so that the bushes begin to prepare for the imminent arrival of autumn.
- In mid-late August, phosphorus fertilizers need to be applied to the soil - they will strengthen the root system, allow the bush to easily survive the cold winter.
What conifers go best with roses
The rose goes well with many vertical conifers, such as spherical thuja, emerald and brabant. You just need to make sure that thujas do not grow and do not choke neighbors. Some varieties of juniper can be a good choice, as long as they are not fast-growing.
But the combination of roses with western thuja is considered ideal - it does not stifle a beautiful flower and does not interfere with the development of its root system - they simply lie at different depths and do not compete for nutrients and moisture.
The combination of a rose with herbaceous plants
A great result can be achieved by growing a rose with herbaceous plants such as cornflower, verbena, aromatic levkoy and powdery sage. On the one hand, they are not too tall and therefore will not block beautiful rose bushes from the view of the observer. On the other hand, they all have small flowers that perfectly set off the queen of the flower bed, emphasizing her sophistication and attractiveness.
Everyone can create this
Finally, all of these plants are annuals. If this combination gets bored, then you don't have to waste energy getting rid of neighbors - you can just wait until the end of the season, and plant more suitable plants next year.
Needless to say - the rose is the real queen of the flower bed. But do not forget that the king is always surrounded by his retinue. So, forgetting about suitable neighbors is clearly not worth it - in combination with them, your favorite bushes will be able to show themselves in all their glory.
