What Perennials to Put With Rose Bushes in Full Sun

Site Considerations

• Beyond the need for full sun, consideration should be given to site conditions. Roses grown in dry climates, for instance, will require partners that grow well in dry soil. Consider perennial herbs such as rosemary and lavender or wild flowers like purple coneflower and black-eyed Susan. If you prefer fancier sun-lovers, bearded iris, liatris and lantana will grow in dry soil. If your climate is cool, consider primula, lupine and delphinium.

Height

• Consider height in choosing perennials to go with your roses. Low-growing selections can be planted at the base of roses as attractive ground covers that also shade your roses' root zone. Low-growing pinks --Dianthus spp. -- spread quickly and carpet the ground in spring with their fragrant, star-shaped flowers and in summer with their grassy, blue-green foliage. For height, foxglove, oriental and Asiatic lilies and Russian sage make fine companions.

Color

• Choose perennials in colors that complement your roses. Lavender and blue sage go well with pink and lavender roses. Consider butterfly weed, daylily and coreopsis for orange, crimson and golden roses. If you are looking for colorful foliage perennials, try blue fescue and purple-leafed coral bells. If you'd like to add red to the rose garden, red verbena, red hot poker and rose campion do the trick. Don't forget the value of your favorite blue perennial in adding calm in gardens with hot-colored orange and red roses -- goat's beard, for instance, does the job well.

Texture

• Look at texture in the rose garden. Lamb's ear is favored for its downy leaves and provides an excellent ground cover in the moist, well-drained soil of a rose garden. It's also a great bend-over-to-touch selection when planted in front of fragrant, bend-over-to-smell roses. For a coarse contrast to the delicacy of rose blooms, consider spiky-leafed yucca or hens and chicks. For the soft texture of ferns, look at Bracken fern and lady fern.

Bloom Time

• Extend the blooming season in a rose garden by underplanting rose bushes with shallow-rooted bulbs like crocus, which bloom in late winter. Not truly perennial but biennial, violas add color in late fall and early spring. In mild climates, they even bloom sporadically in winter. Add color in fall with goldenrod or sedum Autumn Joy, whose broccoli-like florets start green in summer, soon turn pink and finally become maroon in fall. Wild flowers like blanket flower, bachelor's buttons and Gaura bloom in summer when many roses slow down.