The Mixing and Matching Forum.

[Admin]

My latest brain explosion is the inclusion of the 'Mixing and Matching' forum to discuss how we use our other favourite plants with our roses. Roses are not the unsociable plants we are lead to believe and if, like me, your passion in roses is shared with a passion for all kinds of plants and you don't want to limit yourself to just one thing... then this is the place for you. This was partly inspired by Deb Kelly posting photos of her rose garden which includes Australian Natives Thinking about this it makes perfect sense. If a rose garden is getting mulched frequently with natural materials then it really is getting all the nutrients it needs... natives like to be mulched too. If you can keep the phosphorus levels down then the two should cohabit nicely. This also opens things up to other unlikely combinations such as my other passion... protea which often flower in winter giving the rose garden a much needed lift at this time of the year. These honey producing plants attract loads of small birds which will clean any aphids off your roses while they are there... the possibilities are endless. I love Bearded Iris too and these pose a few problems as far as growing them with roses. I have however, been successful in doing so by making the mulch layer thinner in parts allowing me to keep the iris rhizomes above ground to avoid the problem of rotting rhizomes. I think tall spire-type plants such as lupins and strap-leafed plants like iris and other lillies really set roses off nicely.

So here it is... I look forward to seeing what inspires you and the ways you get around growing the things you like growing

[rosemeadow]

Simon, this is a good idea idea for a forum. I look forward to what will be posted here in the future.
Also I enjoyed reading your begining post to it.

[sueanne]

thanks simon ,I dont get on here very much or as much as I would like to ,as we are doing a new garden here in town ,so am doing a lot of mixing and matching lately or trying to ,after having acres and acres to play with we have downsized so its finding places for everything so as I go I will post what I have mixed with what ,hope thats ok

i also have a huge amount of bearded iris so need to fit them "somewhere'

[orchid40]

I grow lavender in one of my rose beds, it looks good if you keep it tidy. The foliage fills the space a bit after pruning the roses.
Spring bulbs fill the bare spots too, Daffodils, Jonquils, Freesias, Hyacinths and a few others. I also grow my Garlic in the rosebeds.
I have also got a lot of Tall Bearded Irises, which I may find room for in one of the beds - might be pushing it a bit though!

[Guest]

Well most of you know how crowded my garden is I mix and match all types of plants

[orchid40]

I've just got Tempo Two's iris catalogue in the mail. OMG!!! All so beautiful, all so expensive!!! None of the ones I have are listed there
I shall make a shopping list and take it to the GA Expo on Friday, maybe they'll be cheaper there!

[orchid40]

I had a great day at the GA Expo! Tempo Two had a stall there and I got 3 Tall Bearded iris and 3 Pacific coast iris!!
Sweet Geisha and Decadence were on my list and I got Mesmerizer as well cos it was cheaper to buy 3.
They are having their open weekends this month so you can't keep me away from that!!

[maree]

After spending most of my life growing roses and perennials ,and watching the environment for birds, bees and bugs disappear i decided to try to attract more of these creatures to my garden . I have planted lots of natives and some grasses and more bee attracting plants , my husbands lawn is getting smaller and smaller much to his anguish . I have noticed the birds are coming , they are so beautiful , apart from the indian mynahs and ravens . My roses are now part of a more balanced garden . The new garden plants are still small but can't wait until they grow and the birds and bugs come to visit me again ..

[Ozeboy]

Well done Maree, yours is the sort of garden everyone should have, no sprays, just bugs and birds.

[AutumnDamask]

Our Blue Wrens love my rose garden. And the salvias are appreciated by the bees and honeyeaters too.
And when 'Wedding Day' blooms the bees go crazzzzyy. LOL

[maree]

I have completely thrown away the sprays , even the organic ones , i have been using Munash rockdust and Renew on everything occasionally plus Seasol . Aphids i squash or hose off , got to leave some for the ladybugs and grasshoppers though . My garden now has to feed something , a plant has to earn its keep , be it human , bird , bee or insect . Have had a hard time convincing my husband to give up the roundup and weeder feeder though , but i think i have won .

[maree]

AutumnDamask i noticed some Wrens in the rose garden too , i wonder what they like there !!!

[AutumnDamask]

I suspect they're after the aphid and maybe even the scale?? Or the spiders which eat those things.
We have a pretty big variety of plants in our garden (we're not on a suburbian block) and zones in the garden include native and non-native. The birds and insects utilise all parts of the garden though.
The magpies love checking out between the roses through the mulch...

[maree]

AutumnDamask , you are so lucky to have a bit of room , wouldn't i love that , we are on a small to average suburban block and i am trying to utilise every bit of available space i can find , at least i don't have to walk far .....

[maree]

Oh and thanks Ozeboy , maybe i should change my user name to birdsandbugs lol !!!

[Ozeboy]

AutumnDamask the Salvias are blooming nicely here in Sydney at the moment and like you I enjoy the nectar eating birds and bees.
Makes me think the world is in pretty good shape when all this is happening. I tipped out some 8" pots during the week and found most pots had 3 or 4 big worms inside. That's the result of not useing sprays. Unfortunatly the grass has beaten me this season so guess I have moved about 100 pots onto weedmat.
If anyone growing roses has too many to weed the old fashioned way then try Fusilade (Spelling?) It's a narrow leaf herbicide that kills Kikuyu. Rose are slightly effected for a week then all is well. The Hunter Valley Gardens suggest they would need a lot more staff if this produnt was not available.

[Barbara B]

Hi,
I use Fusilade for couch and kikuyu that get in amongst the garden beds. It's terrific for the purpose. It only kills monocotyledons.
Barbara B

[Ozeboy]

BarbaraB, I can't see any reason for not useing Fusilade considering it doesn't effect the roses. Couch and Kikuyu are very difficult to weed by hand. There is a commercial rose grower in my district who useages it and finds the broad leaf weeds start to take hold without the competition of the narrow leaf weeds. However I find the broadleaf weeds easy to remove. The ones that have a 10" long root and a top like Silver Beet spinich can be easily killed with straight Glysophate on a 1" paint brush applied to the leaves.
Long term effects are unknown as it is a relative new product. How many times have we seen a Pharmacutical medicine handed out like lollies for 20 years only to be found dangerous and withdrawn from sale.

[betsyw]

The grass got me too. All the roses are still in very large containers, and the 20 or so pots sitting on back lawn are now , well, a mess. Everything has to be re-potted or planted out, anyway, but some of the roses look nigh well choked.

The survivors of Grass Invaders from Mars are the roses in pots that had curly-leafed parsley casually plonked in with them, just straggly little things from Woolies punnet that thrived by association on the plentiful rose food and water, and now look like an agribusiness start-up . Too bad I prefer flat-leafed parsley. Still, no weeds.

To the point, at last:
This year I want to underplant those roses that will be kept in large containers with native violet, both to deter another grass invasion and because it's pretty. I like this stuff very much for its cascading qualities. Will I or the roses come to grief over this arranegment? Tell me now, and I'll just plonk in more herbs instead.

[Balinbear]

Native voilet is very invasive at our place. What makes it worse is I keep pulling it out and Lee keeps grabbing the bits and planting them somewhere else in the garden.

[betsyw]

Interesting. Here near Lake Macquarie, the native violets seem quite demure. They also succumb to the cold in the fall/winter, with whole vats of the stuff dying almost back to a few sparse runners. Last year I thought they were dead as a doornail, but a local lady assured they would return, and indeed, in Spring they sprang. (We do drop down to low single digits in May/June/July, and 0 C is not wildly uncommon).

Their roots are very shallow, which is why I thought they would be okay for roses in containers. Not sure, though, if their runners exude anything toxic to inhibit competition from other plants.

[Carole]

Garry all I can say is "well done Lee " I would do the same.
Betsy, we go down to -7 here and ours survive but they do have a huge Constance Spry to protect them.

[Balinbear]

Carole

I was just saying to her on the weekend how it seems that whenever you discover a plant you like and one that grows well it becomes invasive on you.

We had a Chilian Pitcher Sage that never grew real large and looked good in the garden. I nutured and managed to get a few seeds from it to germinate so I a had a few more to plant around the garden. This however, was the starting signal for it to spread out and to drop seeds everywhere. Now I pulling seedlings even in places no where near the plants.

This has happened before with some salvias, and forget me nots ( I am sure one day someone down the road is going to blame for an infestation of them as they pop up in the most unbelievable of places) and other plants and drives you crazy.

[lildeb]

I mentioned to a friend recently that if there is ever a news story regarding unexplained outbreaks of marigolds, salvias or basils, please don't mention my name or address! I love the way each inhibits weeds, or pests like nematodes, and I cherish each and every one of my "nomadic" seedlings! (Keep my dandelions and nettles out of the conversations too- I put a lot of time (thyme??????) into encouraging them!)
No sprays or chemicals allowed on our acres, we love our birds, frogs, water dragons and platypus!

[maree]

Lol Carole , i have just planted a Chilean Pitcher Sage , the birds and bees are supposed to love it , you do have to cut in to the ground in winter , bought it from Lambley nursery and thats what they recommend , lol see how we go ....

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