Roses, the garden’s beauty queens, flourish when surrounded by submissive companions; but fade away when faced with serious rivalry. Roses do not like crowds. They want breathing room and garden spaces for themselves for optimal health and efficiency.
The rose is a garden favorite because of its beauty and romance. Roses come in a wide range of colors, sizes, and fragrances, and they bloom for a long time, bringing joy to your garden from June to December.
Roses are extremely generous, even though you don’t have enough in your backyard. As a result, you will normally find one spilling out of a neighbor’s garden or even rising in a hedgerow to enjoy the sight and smell of.
While healthy companion plants are beneficial to rose gardens in terms of both environmental and aesthetic factors. Gardeners should avoid planting anything that will encroach on their roses’ growing areas, from the underground root zones to the flowering tops. Thoughtful gardeners also understand color and shape.
Places Where You Should Not Plant Roses
Shrubs that are Self-centered and Perennials that are Obstinate
Many shrubs and perennials that make lovely garden backdrops or add to mixed borders are incompatible with roses. Aggressive roots take advantage of available water and nutrients, while shrubby top growth blocks light and restricts air circulation.
Hardy hibiscus and Pinxter bloom azaleas can be avoided in rose beds. The hibiscus, with its dinner-plate-sized flowers, overwhelms adjacent roses with its robust, bushy growth on shrubs as tall as 4 feet and as large as 4 feet.
Azaleas need acid soil and dappled shade, which are not ideal growth conditions for roses. Use Pinxter bloom azaleas for showy, fragrant pink or white, spring-blooming hedges in moist, out-of-the-way garden areas.
Vines that are Competitive
Most of the clematis (Clematis spp.) hybrids produced complement roses by trailing over them and blooming alongside them. Many that have a proclivity for rapid growth, on the other hand, belong far away from roses. The sweet autumn clematis (Clematis Terni flora) is a huge climbing vine.
Its profusions of fragrant, starry autumn flowers are ideally suited where they can tumble rampantly over robust arbors or pergolas. The vigorous trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) vines attain 20 feet tall with support and produce showy red, pink, or coral-orange flowers throughout the spring and summer.
When planted away from roses, the long-blooming “Leo,” with its bright red flowers and bright orange throats, produces a spectacular sight and integrates a colorful garden.
Perennials Causing trouble
While many perennials make excellent rose companions, wildflowers and self-sowers are more suited to meadow and woodland environments. Wildflowers bloom profusely in their haste to multiply, then die quickly, leaving unsightly stubble behind. Plant seeds of California poppy on sunny hillsides to help it grow naturally.
Morning glory (Ipomoea tricolor) vines love to twine around and around rose bushes showing off their extravagant blue trumpet flowers while depriving the roses of sunshine and air keep death-dealing morning glories far from roses. By all means, stop any plant that is deemed invasive near your roses.
Colors and Forms Collide
Gardeners who fall in love with a picture on a screen monitor or in a catalog end up buying plants that do not match their garden theme in color or shape. Make the most of your rose-garden investment by deliberately combining aesthetic elements.
Flower colors differ marginally to dramatically depending on the lighting, temperature, and soil conditions in your garden. Use caution when adding new colors to existing beds. In your pastel rose room, the exciting hot-orange perennial you ordered looks garish and unattractive.
In a bed of shrub roses or hefty perennials, a charming miniature rose bush might just vanish. Avoid using colors or shapes that would distract from a pleasing garden design.
Roses with Other Plants in the Garden
When roses are in full bloom, they are enchanting. Color can fade during blooming flushes during the growing season, and the bare thorny base of roses requires concealment.
As a result, combining roses with other plants to maintain color and appeal during the year makes sense. Combination planting also encourages beneficial insects for a healthy growing climate, increasing biodiversity.
A strong excuse to grow roses with companions is to fend off rose pests. Planting a combination in addition to having a monoculture will confuse pests (or, better yet, deter them all together) and provide a habitat for beneficial insects and natural predators of aphids.
Roses go well with scented foliage, herbal plants like herbs (think sage, thyme, lavender, and rosemary), and onion family members (garlic, allium, and chives).
Good Rose Growing Conditions
Choose a location that gets plenty of heat. Six or more hours of sun is recommended. While some roses will flourish in partial shade, most roses will flower better if they are in full sun all day. When growing roses in areas with exceptionally hot growing seasons and insufficient water, this law does not apply.
Your roses would love the relaxation provided by some afternoon shade in this situation. Roses do not care what kind of soil they are on, but since they are heavy feeders, a lush loam is best. The pH of the soil will range from mildly acidic to neutral (5.5 to 7.0).
If you have bad soil or hard clay, it is normally a smart idea to work in some inches of organic matter. Also, make sure the soil you are planting your roses in has good drainage. Roses need deep irrigation daily, but their roots can die if left in moist soil.
Avoid planting roses under trees, both due to shade as well as potential damage from dropping leaves. Strong winds will harm the plant’s growth, so choose a wind-protected location.
Last but not least, do not overcrowd your rose bushes. The more airflow around the plants, the less likely they are to develop debilitating fungal diseases on their stems, such as black spots and powdery mildew. Roses should be planted at least 3 feet apart from other plants to reduce soil nutrient rivalry.
Planting Site Selection and Preparation
Plant roses in a location where they can get at least 6 hours of sun per day. The morning sun is particularly beneficial because it dries the leaves, which aids in disease prevention. Roses grown in the partial sun may not die immediately, but they will deteriorate over time, causing poor blooms and poor overwintering.
Keep in mind the light changes as the sun’s angle differs over the year. If you live in the northern half of the United States, choose a location that gets full sun all year. The more sunlight your plants get, the more flowers they can make. This protects blossoms from the sun’s rays and extends the life of your flowers.
Try planting roses at the base of your house if you live in a colder climate. This gives plants some insulation from the elements during the winter. Walkways are also good options while the sun is shining.
If you are going to use several roses, make sure you do not overcrowd them. Powdery and downy mildew are fungal diseases that can be prevented with good air circulation.
Roses require soil that absorbs well while retaining enough moisture for the roots to absorb some. Not providing proper drainage is one of the worst mistakes you can make. Wet, cold feet are a no-no for roses. Roses prefer sandy soil that is loose and loamy.
If you have made a special section in your garden for a rose garden, don’t forget to plant a ground covering plant to keep their roots warm.
If there is so much clay in the soil, the roots may get waterlogged. You will need to amend your soil if you do not start with a loose, loamy base. Roses prefer a mildly acidic pH range of 5.5 to 7.0 in their soil. For most home gardens, a pH of 6.5 is about perfect. You will find out what your pH level is right here with a successful soil exam.
When Should Roses be Planted?
Order bare-root roses with your planting date in mind if you are ordering from a mail-order company. As soon as possible after receiving bare-root roses, plant them. They are normally delivered in the early spring when the plants are fully dormant and haven’t even leafed out.
They will appear like a bunch of sticks on landing. They are not dead; they are simply dormant! Be sure the packaging material is moist and store it in a cold, dark location until you are ready to plant.
In cooler climates, grow bare-root roses as soon as the soil is workable in the spring. Grow bare-root roses in early spring or late fall in colder climates, as long as the plant is dormant.
If you are buying potted roses, the perfect time to grow them is in late spring. You can plant them almost any time during the growing season, as long as you keep them well-watered, particularly in the summer.
Things to Consider in Planting Roses
Not all rose perennials are good. It takes more than just digging a pit, spreading out the roots, and replacing the soil to be successful. Consider the following factors before scraping some soil:
Had the soil been producing roses for a long time?
Does the soil need to improve?
Is this a safe place to plant roses?
Full Sun: The first phase is to find the ideal place. To grow top-quality roses, plenty of suns is needed, but light shade in the early afternoon is advantageous. Roses cannot bear being in direct sunlight for long periods. It is beneficial to have some protection from the cold wind.
Air ventilation: Roses require healthy air circulation, so be careful that you do not plant them in a closed-in or a boxed-in place that does not get fresh free-flowing air.
A nearby hedge or fence is helpful, but it should not be too close to the bushes to provide shade. If you have a “frost pocket,” do not plant in the lowest part of the garden. Roses do not grow well in open, low-lying areas.
To grow healthy plants, you’ll need a lot of air. Walls and overhanging plants keep bush and normal roses from blooming. Roses are unable to thrive in the presence of trees.
It is important to have suitable soil, which can be found in virtually all gardens. It should ideally be a medium loam with good internal drainage. A moderate acidity, and plenty of organic matter and fertilizer nutrients.
It is not important to have a high clay content, though it can be dangerous if there is low drainage. It is almost difficult to solve a high lime content. Drainage must be unrestricted. Roses are unable to survive being submerged in water.
Once you’ve got all the right conditions for your roses, prepare to be thrilled with their blooms and scented because they really are garden royalty!
Jenny Marie
Tribal Writer
Edited by
Patricia Godwin
