Re: Companion Plants for Roses

Robin:
 
No debate.  I'm with you almost across the board.
 
I am not a "rosarian".  I only wrote what rosarians have told me and what I've read.
 
There's no doubt but that the trend in rose breeding is toward disease-free, minimal maintenance, "landscape" roses.  As of today, traditional high-meaintenance hybrid teas still outsell all other roses combined but it's slowly changing.  As you've pointed out, there are already hundreds of roses surviving in abandoned -- ZERO maintenance -- gardens throughout the country.
 
Personally, I'm all for "landscape" roses.  Personally, I'm all for some species roses (R. banksiae, R. laevigata, and R. rugosa especially).  And I think a lot more work can be done to involve such species in the hybridizing process rather than simply sticking to existing breeding material. There's at least three species of roses native to dry Mediterranean areas; let's get them into the loop.

The one minor area where I disagree is where you suggest amending soils to better grow roses (and other plants?).  I believe, first, that we should all plant the right plant in the right place.  That includes selecting plants for your native soil and climate.  Roses aren't meant for light, dry soils.  Second, I believe that amending planting holes is a short term answer that research has shown to be the wrong way to plant.  So much for this universal practice.  These are the bigger principles of "natural gardening".
 
Joe
robin corwin <gardenwithkitties@hotmail.com> wrote:
However, I'd like to debate with you whether "good rosarians frown on
planting anything around roses" whether for cultural or purist reasons. I
know this is the way roses have often been grown in the past - some large
public rose gardens still attest to this practice - but I always thought
this was mostly because it was the style to grow hybrid teas (those roses
that had been very popular since the 50's) enmasse in color blocks. And the
fact that in the past it was felt that to grow roses well you needed to
fertilize, fertilize, fertilize and spray, spray, spray with chemicals. In
short, that they were high maintenance plants and because of this
maintenance need, it was better not to plant anything around them.

I would like to think that styles and sentiments have changed and that "good
rosarians" and good gardeners who love rose! s have learned that many roses do
just fine with twice yearly applications of fertilizer, or even better,
we've learned that it's best to feed the soil, not the plant and have worked
on improving our soils with homemade compost, etc. Hopefully we've also
learned that unless we are growing roses to "show", an organic approach to
disease and pest problems is au courant and best for the environment,
wherein I would think that growing companions with roses woud obviate the
problems caused by growing roses as a monoculture.

I would not be in my right mind if I tried to tell anyone that roses are
drought tolerant plants, but you must agree that they are grown and loved in
all mediterranean climates. Shrub roses, old roses, species, teas, Chinas,
Noisettes, and even some newer floribunda roses are really pretty easy care
shrubs that are surprisingly tolerant of lapses in watering when well
established. Look at Bill Grant's collection! of species for instance, or
all the roses found flourishing without any care or supplemental water at
old homestead or cemetery sites in California and Texas.



Joe Seals
Santa Maria, California --
where the weather is always perfect
and my NEW garden will soon be blooming and full of birds and butterflies

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