Companion Planting

I have a book called Roses Love Garlic, which is all about plants liking certain other plants as neighbors.  It offers several worthwhile suggestions, some of which I've followed in our fragrant garden, but not among my roses.  It's true that roses like garlic growing next to them; garlic and its family repel aphids, and roses detest anything that sucks at their juices.  I love garlic too, but you'll never catch me planting it or any edible herb or vegetable near my roses.  I spray my bushes faithfully, and although I don't aim my poisons at anything else, misty fallout covers whatever is nearby anyway.  If you don't spray at all, of course, you can plant anything consumable next to or under your roses.

The fact that rosebushes like to grow with a comfy blanket of mulch over their roots discourages most would-be neighbors.  Roses are greedy.  They want more than an even share of water and nutrients and resent the competition of other plants.

If you can't stand the sight of barren mulch, at least plant something shallow-rooted such as alyssum, dianthus, or pansies.  Lobelia has short roots too, but if you plant one of the blue shades, think about how it will look underneath the rose colors you select.  If you're in doubt, plant the white variety.

Keep whatever you plant out of the space between the center of the bush and its drip line.  You'll bless this accessible territory when you water, apply fertilizers, or have to cut its blooms.