Want more free digital books and guides?
Sign up for the Monrovia Grow Beautifully newsletter to get new, exclusive digital guides delivered straight to your inbox.
Digital Book Viewing Tip: Use the "Fullscreen" mode for the best viewing experience.
The Complete Rose Guide
What’s Distinctively Better About Monrovia Roses?
BETTER GENETICS: We work with breeders from around the world and carefully test and trial at all of our nurseries to select roses with stronger garden performance, disease and pest resistance, and lower maintenance requirements. The consumer can feel more confident planting our roses in the landscape.
GREATER UNIFORMITY: Fuller, more robust plants with beautiful branching, full foliage, and abundant blooms are the result of advanced mechanical pruning combined with hands-on care.
ALWAYS BUD AND BLOOM: Our craftsmen use a cycle pruning approach at all four nursery locations that allows us to ship roses in full bud and bloom spring through fall.
GREATER EXPERIENCE: We are the largest grower of Flower Carpet® roses in the country, and have been growing roses for nearly a century in a variety of climates across the country. Our deep and longstanding relationships with breeders allow us to see opportunities in the market before others.
SELECTION OF SIZES: Choose from our broad assortment of 2-, 3-,5-, 7- and 10-gallon (including patio trees in several sizes).
Pairing Roses with other Plants
Roses are the queens of the garden, but even royalty needs a stunning entourage! Elevate your rose plantings by pairing them with other beautiful and complementary plants. Whether you're looking for plants that will share sunlight with your hybrid tea roses, or you need the perfect grass to complement shrub roses, here are some ideas to get you started:
Companion Planting with Roses: A Match Made in Heaven
- Lavender: The soft, silvery foliage and spikes of fragrant purple blooms make lavender an enchanting partner for roses. Not only do they look dreamy together, but lavender can also help deter pests from your roses. Try planting a low hedge of lavender in front of your rose bushes for a classic cottage garden look.
- Clematis: For a bit of vertical drama, consider pairing your roses with climbing clematis. The delicate, star-shaped blooms in shades of purple, pink, or white will wind their way up your rose canes, creating a romantic, intertwined display. Plus, clematis often blooms in late spring or early summer, providing colorful interest when some of your roses may be resting between flushes.
- Catmint (Nepeta): The billowy mounds of gray-green foliage topped with spires of lavender-blue flowers make catmint an excellent choice for weaving throughout your rose garden. It has a long bloom time, providing color from late spring through fall. As a bonus, catmint is drought tolerant once established, making it a great waterwise option.
- Ornamental Grasses: For a modern, textural pairing, consider planting ornamental grasses with your roses. The wispy plumes and slender foliage of grasses like Miscanthus or Pennisetum create a captivating contrast against the lush, glossy leaves and full blooms of the roses. Grasses also add winter interest to the garden, ensuring your rose bed looks beautiful even in the dormant season.
- Boxwood: If you prefer a tidier, more structured look, pair your roses with boxwood. These evergreen shrubs can be sheared into neat hedges or topiaries, providing a verdant backdrop that allows your rose blooms to pop. For a formal garden aesthetic, you can't go wrong with this classic combination.
Design Tips for Pairing Roses
When designing with roses and companion plants, there are several things to keep in mind to create a harmonious garden composition:
- Consider varying heights for visual interest and depth. Place taller shrubs (or climbing roses) in the back of your garden bed. This will create a lush, verdant backdrop that draws the eye upward. In the middle layer, incorporate medium-sized perennials and shrubs. These plants will fill in the space and provide a transition from the taller background plants to the lower-growing foreground. Finally, in the front of your rose bed, use lower-growing plants like charming groundcover roses and boxwoods.
- Think about foliage color and texture when selecting companions for your roses. The gray-green tones of lavender and catmint beautifully accent the rich, glossy green of rose leaves, creating a soothing and balanced palette. For a bold and modern look, consider pairing your roses with the strappy blades of ornamental grasses; the contrast between the delicate rose petals and the linear, textural grass foliage is simply stunning.
- Color echoing is another powerful design technique to keep in mind when pairing roses with companion plants. Choose companions that share the same color as your roses for a cohesive, monochromatic look. If you don't want to echo the exact same colors, you can also bring out different notes by contrasting shades like plum, lavender, and violet for a summery, unforgettable look.
Want to dive deeper with more inspiration? Monrovia has you covered. Visit our Be Inspired page for care guides, garden design ideas, and so much more.