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adam_harbeck

warm climate bedding/companion plants

Adam Harbeck
9 years ago

So after years of putting up with the wasted space, this long easter weekend I decided to bite the bullet and smash up the old, tacky stream that the previous owners had installed along this bed.

Once the cracked (whoops) retic system is repaired, I intend to plant some subtropical flowering bedding plants to compliment the roses. The garden already has beladonnas, veldt lilies, Tradescantia zebrina and funeral lilies, so they will no doubt move forward. I had planned on a mix of Madagascan periwinkles.

The roses are Radio Times and La Vesuve.

What are some other good californian climate rose companions?

Comments (8)

  • Sow_what? Southern California Inland
    9 years ago

    Adam, I like using shaped boxwood, some of the new varieties of dwarf lavender, and euphorbia stardust and/or diamond frost, but not in the ways they're typically used with roses.

    jannike

  • Adam Harbeck
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks. It gets a fair bit of shade in winter, so teh lavender will probably sulk. I am thinking some geraniums might be good though.

    African box is nice, but too invasive :(

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    9 years ago

    One of my best companion plants is pelargoniums (which many people mistakenly call geraniums). I have them in white and different shades of pink and lavender. I like the double ones best and here they bloom almost the whole year, get no disease and are very floriferous. Another good one for me is sea lavender (limonium perezii) which makes babies so I have quite a few now. The bluish-purple color is a great foil for the roses. The snails like them and sometimes they just die off or begin to look bad, but before you know it another one has popped up somewhere. Reblooming irises are great with roses and in a warm climate they can rebloom even in the winter. Marjoram is another great favorite, silvery in color with small white flowers the bees love. It gets quite large but can be contained with pruning. It also has made a few new plants. Day lilies of course, although when they get too large they steal water from the roses. Penstemon in pink and lavender is also nice. I've tried many things over the years but only a handful have made it over a period of time. I have rosemary in the really tough spots but I don't grow them with the roses because they get very large and have different water requirements.

    Ingrid

  • annesfbay
    9 years ago

    Geranium "Rozanne" has vivid violet-blue flowers throughout spring and summer. Dies back in winter. Easy to divide.

    Anne

  • daisyincrete Z10? 905feet/275 metres
    9 years ago

    Adam. In my tiny garden, most plants have to bloom and look good for a long time. I love the ephemerals, but mostly I plant for a long flowering period.
    You might like to try Verbena x hybrida. They come in a variety of colours and are good for edging.
    Here is a purple and a wine red one, with a Convolvulus cneorum in the middle.

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    The wine red verbena with Perdita.
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    and a pink one beside the Sombreuil arbour.

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    Felicia amelloides flowers for ever too.

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    and so do the hybrid alstromerias.

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    The arctotis daisies keep going with regular dead heading.

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    I wholeheartedly agree with Ingrid about Pelargoniums. They are a mainstay of my garden.
    Here is an ivy leaved pelargonium growing through Lobelia laxiflora angustifolia, or vice versa, I am not sure which.

    {{gwi:244389}}

    Hope this helps.
    Daisy

  • mlle_melanie
    9 years ago

    Holy cow, Daisy, your garden is gorgeous!!!! And you have managed to create an optical illusion, because it certainly doesn't look tiny. Beautiful!

  • Adam Harbeck
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Wow Daisy. What a lovely garden.
    I really like those Peruvian lilies.

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    9 years ago

    Daisy, I just about swooned over your pictures and the gorgeous companion plants. Not a weed in sight either; I picture you out there every day on hands and knees with manicure scissors. I especially like the arctotis daisies and felicia amelloides; I think I've seen both here in nurseries.

    Ingrid