Why Roses Belong in the Mixed Border

There is a lingering idea that roses demand a bed of their own, a prim rectangle of bare earth and solemnity. It is nonsense, and the cottage gardeners of these islands have known it for centuries. A rose tucked among catmint, cranesbill and alliums looks more at home than any specimen planting, and the companions earn their keep by hiding the rose's less lovely moments — the blackspot on lower leaves, the brief gap between flushes, the ungainly stems that a pruned hybrid tea insists on producing.

The partnership works on several levels. Catmint (Nepeta) and hardy geraniums form a soft, billowing skirt that shades the soil, keeping roots cool and moist through July. Alliums send up their globe flowers on stiff stems just as the first roses open, adding architecture and a shot of purple that flatters every shade of pink, apricot and cream. The result is a border that looks generous rather than regimented, which is rather the point.

Choosing Roses That Play Well With Others

Not every rose suits company. Tall hybrid teas with stiff, upright habits can look awkward poking out of a froth of perennials; they tend to want the spotlight. For mixed borders, look instead at shrub roses, English roses and the older gallicas and albas, which have a looser, more accommodating shape.

• Repeat-flowering shrub roses give you a long season and blend easily with perennials of a similar scale.
• Climbing and rambling roses can be threaded through a border at the back, rising above the herbaceous layer on an obelisk or a wall.
• Species and species hybrids such as Rosa moyesii or Rosa glauca bring hips and foliage interest into autumn, long after the flowers have finished.

Colour is worth a moment's thought. Cool pinks and whites sit comfortably beside blues and silver; the stronger yellows and oranges need hotter companions — crocosmia, helenium, rudbeckia — or they will look stranded. Plant in odd-numbered groups where you can, and resist the temptation to ring each rose with a neat circle of bare soil. Let the geraniums run.

Preparing the Soil Before You Plant

Roses are long-lived and hungry, and the single most common reason for a disappointing first year is a rushed planting hole. Begin a few weeks ahead if you can, and fork the whole border rather than just the spot where the rose will go — the roots of a shrub rose will travel further than most people expect.

Dig a hole roughly twice the width of the rootball and the same depth again. Break up the base with a fork, then mix the backfill with a generous bucketful of well-rotted manure or garden compost and a handful of blood, fish and bone. If your soil is heavy clay, add grit; if it is thin and sandy, add more organic matter and plan to mulch heavily. Roses dislike sitting in a sump, so on poorly drained ground plant onto a slight ridge and let the roots find their own level.

Bare-root roses go in between November and March, whenever the ground is workable and not frozen. Containerised roses can be planted at any time, but they establish best in autumn or early spring. Set the union — the knobbly point where the rose was budded — just below soil level, firm the ground with your heel in stages, and water even if rain is forecast.

Planting Companions Around the Roses

The trick is to leave enough room for air to move around the rose while still filling the ground. Aim to keep a clear 30–45cm (12–18in) around the base of a new rose for the first season; the perennials will close in soon enough. Plant catmint and cranesbill in generous drifts rather than single specimens, and set allium bulbs in autumn at three times their own depth.

• Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' — the classic grey-green catmint, cut back hard after its first flush for a second wave.
• Geranium 'Rozanne' — flowers from June to the first frosts and weaves obligingly through stems.
• Allium hollandicum 'Purple Sensation' — plant in September and October, and leave the seedheads to stand through winter.
• Alchemilla mollis — self-seeds politely and looks well with almost any rose.

Watering, Mulching and the First Season

A newly planted rose needs deep, infrequent watering rather than little and often. Two full watering cans per plant, poured slowly at the base once a week in dry spells, will send roots downwards. Shallow sprinkling only encourages surface rooting, which is the last thing you want going into a hot August.

Once the soil has warmed in late spring, mulch the whole border with 5–7cm of well-rotted manure or bark. Keep the mulch a hand's width clear of the rose stems to avoid collar rot, and spread it over damp ground — mulching dry soil simply locks the dryness in. The benefits are cumulative: moisture retained through summer, weeds suppressed, and a steady trickle of nutrients as the worms work it down.

Feed with a rose fertiliser in late March and again in early July, but stop by the end of that month so the new growth can harden before winter. Deadhead repeat-flowerers regularly to keep them going, though leave the hips on species roses for the birds. With good preparation and a thick mulch, a mixed border of roses and their companions will give you colour from early June until the first sharp frost — and rather less work than the bare-earth school would have you believe.