I'm worried that traditional ground covers like iceplant, jasmine might be too aggressive.

Any suggestions for ground cover for a Southern California climate?

Best,
Lara

Jeri

This is a list that came from one of the previous postings asking for companion plants for roses:
salvia
alyssum
veronica
viola
campanula
plumbago
catmint (nepeta)
nemesia
delphinium
lamb's ear
fanflower (scaevola)
alstromeria (peruvian lily)
dwarf fescue

campanula
orlaya
cranesbill
euphorbia
scabiosa
Santa Barbara daisy
nigella (reseeds freely)
lavender
carex

BettyN

Jeri

Randy

Bearded Irises, they are relatively drought tolerant and I like the contrast between the bluish-silvery, spiky shape of the leaves and the rose foliage. Flowers are simply awesome and the fragrance can be very nice. I would recommend to look for some repeated blooming varieties, so that you can enjoy the iris flowers twice a year.

Lamb's ear, love the silvery, hairy foliage together with the roses.

Alstromeria, flowers very prolific for me here, also nice as a cut flower.

Dianthus, again nice blueish-silvery foliage, a lot of choice in terms of the flower color, also good to use as cut flowers and they last long in the vase.

Agapanthus, especially smaller varieties like for e. g. 'Midnight Blue', nice lush light green foliage year round and I love the blue, ball like flowers together with the roses.

There are many good choices out there, I am sure you can find something that pleases you!

carol

Kate

I did try alyssum, but I found it difficult when weeding. Perhaps I didn't plant enough?

I'm looking more for perennials, and mostly to cut down the weeds in the beds. Love lavendar, never thought of that. It grows well here in SoCal. Would it get too big do you think?

What about Society garlic (I think that's what it's called - bushy broad leaf plant with a purple flower and a distinct garlic scent)? With dusty miller and lavendar? Would they be OK between my Hybrid teas, or would they crowd them out?

You guys are the best! Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm going to check them out.

I grow 'Provence' lavender, and it doesn't seem to want to get as big as the regular Enlish lavender. I'm very pleased with it, and our winter didn't effect it at all. You should try it.

Randy

So many choices. Just a few things to consider:

Michael said that shasta daisies grow too tall and flop over. Yes, I tried it, and 2nd year daisies did grow to 6' and flopped over; I moved them out of my large rosebed. Also, they will reseed unless dead flowers are removed in time. A dwarf variety might work, though.

Garlic chives at the back of my large rose bed show up really well in the Spring and early Summer, flowering at 2 1/2 feet before the roses grow too tall. They must be topped as soon as seeds form, and I still have sprouts to hoe all year. Alliums have to be dug out if allowed to grow too large.

Since most flowers reseed, especially annuals, choose the ones you want by variety, size, and color, then be prepared to prune seed heads as quickly as the blooms die, or leave the seeds for the birds, and thin seedlings as a part or regular weeding.

Snails eat marigolds more than any other plants in my garden but I still try to grow them. I have to bed them in the sunniest places and treat them with sulfur or diatomaceous earth when it rains, even in a semi-arid climate.

Clematis work very well with roses, but nasturtiums taught me to keep other vining plants away from roses. I just didn't think naturtiums would grow as big as they did.

The perennials you choose will need to be placed so that they can be controlled and/or divided without overly disturbing the roses. I really enjoy Columbines. They like the same conditions as roses and live 4-7 yrs. They reseed just enough that new ones can replace old ones. However, since so many nursery columbines are hybridized, I never know what flower colors the seeds will produce. Babies like to come up right next to roses, but I move them into the gaps.

Prairie Laura,
You are welcome any time you come to Amarillo to see my garden. Best time for roses is late May into June, but annuals don't get big until the end of June!

Gary

At least that's how it is in our yard. They don't even notice it is there.

Kate

I think that is how we learn to garden - making mistakes, looking at other gardens, making mistakes, talking to our gardener friends, making mistakes, reading gardening books, making mistakes.... and even then, some things are just not happy in our garden, some things do better in pots and others in the ground, and some things not at all.

This forum is great. I've learned so much here.

BettyN

Katie, thanks for the catnip advice. I would try to look for this special type of catnip that does not attract cats because I am a little anxious of cats coming to my garden.

To elgrillo:

Garry, I planted a marygold, why do you treat it with sulphur??

BrttyN, yes this forum is great and I learnt a lot from you people. Sorry that I cannot contribute so much with advice.

I hope you don't feel like your post was hijacked. Maybe there are enough responses to help you. There are so many wonderful full-sun companion plants.

bgrose,

Sulfur and diatomaceous earth repel or kill snails. Since the snails here really like the marigolds and some other plants when they are young and tender, I dust sulfur around them until they are large enough to take care of themselves. Sulfur lasts just a little longer than diatomacious earth through rain and dew. I can use it without fear of burning plants - local soil contains lots of limestone and is alkeline, so sulfur is a good thing. Diatomaceous earth is harmless except to breathe. It contains ground-up silicon, or flint, that cuts snails when they crawl across it. It works better on crusted soil.
If you look at the names in the lists that folks have provided, those are the most common names we find on plants at local nurseries, for instance campanula, delphinium, or dianthus may be the latin names, but we use them as common names, too. If you use a search engine such as Yahoo or Google with these names, you will find varieties of plants that you know by other names. Dianthus are sometimes called "pinks", but they come in many colors and are in the same family as carnations. There are so many varieties of plants within a single species or genus, that it is sometimes difficult to find just the right plants. You know more about your local hyssop than most of us in the U.S. That could help you decide what plants might overwhelm your roses. Please start another thread to tell us what roses you have in your garden and what your plans are.

Katefisher,

Thanks for answering questions. I had no idea about catmint, it was just on a post I saved for reference last year.

Gary

About marigolds, I love them too, but if the snails don't chew them down to skeletons, the mites get them. I religiously put down Snail be Gone, but they still strip the suckers. I might try diatomacious earth and see if I get more lasting results.

About catnip. We have cats and I'd love to grow some. However, I once made the mistake of planting mint in my garden and to this day I'm still pulling it out from everywhere. Does catnip spread like mint does?

Teka, the salvia is beautiful with your roses! I might try some blue salvia with my mostly pink and lavendar teas.

Randy, I'm unfamiliar with provance lavender. I have French, Spanish and English lavenders in my garden. Is this similar to the French variety? The English lavender is very lacy and grows huge, so I think that would definitely crowd the roses.

I am a little bit confused with the blueberries? Can they be companions of roses? Won't their roots interfere with those of the roses?

How about forget-me-nots? They seem so beautiful. Does anybody grow them with roses.

Dear Gary,

I grow Old roses like Damasks: Ispahan, Mme Hardy and Kazanlak, Portland Jacque Cartier, Bourbons: Louise Odier and Mme Pierre Oger (sorry for wrong spelling), Austins Pat Austin, Graham Thomas; Lavender Dream, Alba Meilland (?), Jeanne d'Arc (from Netherlands), Magic Miracle and some Japanese HTs (Momoka, Yuka, Yumeka) and floribundas, also Blue Boy (I think), Niagara Falls which is a climber and climbing America. My plans are to see all of them bloom�@together with the other plants, especially the tree called Summer Camelia (Natsutsubaki) which is not a rose. I want to see my garden with many flowers. I have planted for the first time chrysanthemums, daisies, lilies, irises, safran, gladiols, so I hope they bloom. Yesterday I planted marigolds. I planted hyssop, geraniums and other herbs like salvia, thyme, camomile, lavender, lemon balm and mint. thanks for the ideas and advice. Hopefully I won't kill my plants. They are my medicine from depression.

Should have known from you locale that you would have Old World roses, and the mix of other plants you mention should be great for you. Your roses should be quite aggressive apart from anything you put with them. The original posting was to rule out aggressive plants in a climate that would encourage invasive plants placed close to roses. Of the plants you listed, some will need to be controlled or kept at a little distance to keep their roots from choking rose roots.

Gary

Thanks.

Gary

I do not know whether I used the correct word when I said "multiplied". I wanted to say that the snapdragons become bigger and more vigorous and I am afraid they could suffocate the rose. I like them because they are vibrant and colorful and fill me with nostalgia for my childhood. I consider them favourite flowers and easy to grow, so I do not want to eradicate them unless they become out of control.