Tips and advice on successfully growing other flowers among your roses.
Although this is not a practice I should recommend in a general way, it must be realized that in many gardens it is a problem to find room for all the plants one would wish to grow, and it usually means that some plants encroach on the domain of others. This brings up the question -- is it harmful to roses to have other plants growing in the same bed?
The answer to this depends to a great extent on whether the roses are given a fair amount of room, and also whether the beds are in grass or stone paving. Where rose bushes are not less than two and a half feet apart other plants could be grown; in the same way, plants could be grown near the edges of the beds where stone paving is used. This would not be possible where there was a grass surround.
Care should be exercised where the roses are newly planted, since competition from the roots of other plants would seriously impair the chances of the bushes getting established. The great thing is to ensure that before other plants are introduced there will be adequate food for both.
Of plants which can be introduced into the rose beds that can be relied upon to do the minimum of harm to the roses, bulbous flowers must come first. These will be in bloom before the roses have had time t
o make much growth. I think the early flowering tulips would be the best choice, for the Darwins coming as they do at a warmer period, are very susceptible to greenfly which would transfer their attentions to the roses. Then anemones could also be used and would find the rich soil of a rose bed much to their liking.
Of all the plants that may be grown in company with roses, violas and pansies would be my first choice. The colors are never obtrusive and varieties can be selected to conform to any color scheme that may be desired.
It would be very unwise to attempt to grow perennial plants, for whatever is grown should be cleared from the beds during the autumn so that the necessary cultivation such as renewal of top soil or the forking in of manure, can be carried out.
If some of the dwarf annuals are desired, especially those that do not transplant successfully, a good method which I always employ is to place a few short pieces of stick where the plants are to grow and then to sow a few seeds close to the stick. When the seedlings are up and large enough to handle, they can be thinned out to one or two plants. The distance between the sticks would be governed by the plants used, but they should never be closer than nine inches.
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