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Posted by Sweetpee (U14291757) on Tuesday, 18th May 2010
Hello,
I have a small rose garden but would like some summer flowers to fill the gaps which would flower between july - September.
Any suggestions? I have clay soil and would like flowers of about 60cm tall
Hardy geraniums are suitable to grow beneath roses. Plenty to chose from, some continuous flowers throughout the summer. Others respond to a trim after early flowers & then repeat flower later on. Their height & stems also hide the bare lower stems of the roses. They would cope ok with the clay soil. J.
Hello
I have a similar query so am snagging this, I was thinking about using a blue penstemon.
Monarda cope with clay and bring in lots of pollinators and beneficial insects.
MLx
Japanese anemones flower at the time you want and grow well in clay.
Cosmos are good too, various types regarding height, or nicotiana - not the tall sylvestris but the smaller perfumed ones. Actually nearly anything that can stand a bit of competition, after all if summer bedding it will not be there long enough to compromise the roses. Campanulas spring to mind, the low blue ones not the 6 foot tale pale pink ones, stunning though they are, 'Stella' might be a good one.
, in reply to message 1.
Posted by grandcottagegardener (U14258183) on Tuesday, 18th May 2010
Hello Pauline - Before you make any decisions you need to think what colours would go well with your roses. There is so much to choose in terms of plants but you need to get plants that are complimentary to your roses. For instance, if you have yellow/peach/orange coloured roses you would probably like to have a colour contrast of blue, red or white.
I would reccommend that you look at the Great Dixter website for inspiration as I think their gardens are pure genius when it comes to complimentary planting.
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