view cart • checkout

Home > Learn > Gardening with Roses

Gardening with Roses

Analyzing Your Site

Before you plant anything, take a good look at the spot you've chosen to plant your rose(s). To ensure that your roses have everything they need to give you the results you expect, you need to find out the following: You can find more information about planting roses on our planting instructions page.

• How many hours of sun does the site get each day? Is it full sun or dappled sun? (Roses need at least five hours of full sun each day to bloom well.)
• Is the soil pH at neutral? It should be between 6.5 and 7.
• Is the soil well drained? Poorly drained soil will weaken and kill your roses.
• Is there plenty of organic matter in the soil? Roses are heavy feeders and need fertile soil.
• How much space do I have? Is it enough for all the plants I want to add? Be sure you know the mature size of your rose plant, then give it an extra foot beyond that.
• Is there competition from tree roots at the site? Tree roots will rob your roses of moisture and nutrients.

Color Combinations

When combining roses with other roses or with other flowering plants, it's a good idea to think about what the resulting color combinations will look like. Some people just have a natural instinct for knowing what colors go well together, while others may need a little guidance. Remember the "color wheel" we've all seen? It's a good idea to review the fundamentals behind contrasting and complementary colors that the color wheel illustrates. This can help you choose which colors to select. Other factors also affect our sense of color. This includes: color brightness, color area (how big/small), color saturation, proximity of colors to one another, light and how we feel about colors.

If you're not sure what colors will look good together, get some crayons and paper and color in swatches of the colors that come close to what you'll be planting. Then, cut out the swatches and put them next to each other. That will give you a pretty good idea of what they might look like in your garden.

Here are some examples of color combinations you can make in your garden:

Complentary color combinations include:

pink	violet
pink	deep pink
pink	red
deep pink	white
red	mauve
cream	lilac
white	lilac
yellow	pink

Contrasting color combinations include:

white	red
yellow	mauve
pink	purple
orange	blue

Remember, if you're selecting color combinations for your own garden, just pick what pleases you.

Perennials and Vines

Roses go well with so many other plants, particularly perennials and certain vines. Here's a list of our favorites that are hardy in Zone 4 (be sure to check out our garden designs below):

Perennials Achillea Astilbe Campanula Cimicifuga Coreopsis Daylilies Delphinium Dianthus Echinacea Foxglove Gypsophilia Helichrysum

Herbs Lilies Lupine Monarda Nepeta (catmints) Perovskia Platycodon Scabiosa Stachys (Lamb's Ears) Veronica

Vines Clematis Honeysuckle

Suggested Uses for Roses

Roses are very versatile plants to have in your garden. Since they bloom and are woody shrubs, they offer the best of the two primary features of most gardens -- color and structure. We use roses in a variety of ways in our gardens. Some are displayed on their own, some are in hedges or mixed hedges and others are planted with perennials or other roses. We find roses to be very useful "tuck-in" plants when we have a spot that needs color.

Below are some quick summaries of different ways to use roses, including the features of some of our most common varieties that we offer. To see photos and more information about each rose, visit our online catalog.

Rose Garden Designs

Roses look great in any garden -- whether they're by themselves, or mixed with perennials or shrubs. They can help soften a hard corner, or enhance a stone wall as they climb up next to it or spill over the edge.

Be creative in your use of roses. You'd be surprised at how well they go with so many other plants. If you have a favorite perennial, put them with your roses and see how they perform together. Think about how the plants will complement each other's color, form and bloom time.

Roses and rose gardens also benefit from added structure; whether that comes from tall perennials, such as Joe-Pye Weed or Meadow Rue, or from physical structures such as arbors and obelisks.

To help you get started with designing your rose gardens, we've included two simple designs below.

Corner Garden

Suggested Plants: 1=Tall Rose: William Baffin, John Cabot, Roseraie de l'Hay, Blanc Double de Coubert, Hansa 2=Lilies: Tall orientals or trumpets 3=Tall Perennials: Delphinium, Perovskia, Lilies, Cimicifuga, Liatris, Phlox, Echinacea 4=Short Rose: Charles Albanel, Champlain, Chuckles, The Fairy, Henry Hudson, Schneekoppe 5=Medium Perennials: Veronica, Liatris, Achillea, Lilies 6=Short Perennials: Campanulas, Lamb's Ears, Scabiosa, Catmint, Sage, Dianthus 7=Coreopsis 'Moonbeam'

Mixed Perennial Garden

Suggested Plants 1=Delphinium 2=Veronica 'Sunny Border Blue' 3=Gloire de France 4=Lilies 5=Coreopsis 'Moonbeam' 6=Charles Albanel 7=Prairie Dawn 8=Campanula 'Blue Clips' 9=Schneekoppe 10=Daylily 'Stella d'Oro' 11=Belle Poitevine 12=Foxglove 13=Nepeta 'Blue Wonder'

When planning your design, make a quick sketch of what you want. Then, to see how the colors will work together, get some colored pencils and shade in the colors of the blossoms you'll see. Remember -- it's easier to move plants around on paper than once they're in the ground.

Sources for Ideas and Materials

Ideas: There are lots of good books about roses that include design ideas and information. Garden design can be a science or it can be a freeform expression of your personal tastes. Either way, don't forget to enjoy the process! And be sure to visit both public and private gardens and arboretums to get ideas and inspiration.