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Posted by rosalba (U4525566) on Friday, 3rd June 2011
Hello
I have couple of Iceberg roses in pots and also this pink/white variation of it called coconut ice
I would like to know what might look nice underplanting them, howvere I dont wnat to use something that needs relacing each year, yet it cant be invasive, I dont want it to interfere with the roots of the roses or take too much moisture or nutrients.
Please may I have your suggestions?
Thanks
i would go for Erigeron, it would look fabulous with the pink and white of your roses, they are small and flower from seed in just a matter of weeks. drought tolerent and would take up little of the stuff your roses need.
Erigeron would be a good choice, it flowers it's heart out.
I had it for years in a small trench along the top of a sheltered stone wall.
Last year's frost wiped it out.
I wonder if alpines would be suitable. There's a vast selection.
I have a couple of tubs, just containing alpines. Alpines don't need it dry, just well-drained. Tubs are a good way to get the drainage that alpines need.
You could have plants that flower at the same time as the rose, and others that flower when the roses are doing nothing, both before the roses flower, and afterwards. You can get a lot of alpines in a large tub.
Campanula always looks good under roses.
yes! the one we have has that unpronounceable name.... with little blue flowers, carpets very well in my alpine trough, with saxifraga and erigeron. oh and californian poppy.
thank you very much for the eplies, i particularly like teh idea of alpines and campanula, will they interfere with nurtients/moisture much?
Alpines are generally very undemanding in terms of roots. They tend to grow naturally in places where there isn't much soil.
I would have thought that the shorter ones would be the most suitable. There are many which form close carpets, with small flowers.
Aubretia is another interesting candidate. It doesn't flower for very long. But it cascades well, and would look good cascading over the edges of the pots.
Dwarf pink dianthus (in flower now) is a good carpetting plant, and would look OK with pink roses.
Or violas - pretty, colourful, and long flowering.
I'm not an expert on alpines. I've only got half-a-dozen. I'm sure there are plenty of alpine specialists here who could give a much better answer.
Try Diascias. Long flowering period and fairly hardy, D.anastrpeta has come trough the last winter for me and will give wonderful pink flowers starting now until the first frosts. After the first flush of flower just chop them back and then feed them again, more flowers will appear inside the next three to four weeks.
tthanks for all the replies
I fancy going for blues or purples so may go for campanula
With light coloured blooms (or foliage for that matter) of perennial plants in pots, I like to add a perennial trailer of a darker colour. Perhaps sedum voodoo? It was an impulse buy a few years ago, and has proven ridiculously hardy and easy to propogate, and totally non-invasive in pots where it can't layer itself as groundcover.
If trimmed every year, it doesn't go woody like in the above picture.
Wither a darker coloured rose, I'd use a variageted ivy trained to trail over the pot sides. I've never known ivy to be invasive in pots.
, in reply to message 11.
Posted by ladynovicegardener (U5368058) on Monday, 20th June 2011
I've grown Nigella below Roses with great success. The blues are stunning.
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