Mandan, ND on Jul 26, 2012

Gardening question

Hello fellow gardeners! We live in a Zone 3-4. At our new house we've inherited some very pretty miniature roses planted in full sun on the south side of the house. Unfortunately they're so short, and planted along the tallest wall of the house (we have a multi-level home) it looks very naked :-( I want to plant taller perennials to balance the tall walls with the ground level.

So my question is can you plant Russian sage with roses? I've grown many, many Russian sage and they do extremely well here in our zone but have never grown them along side/between roses.

I'm thinking of moving some of the roses to a new bed and putting in the Russian sage...or {gasp!} removing them and selling them to another gardener. For some reason I've never been very good with roses. It's the only plant that's never seemed to like my style of green thumb ;-)

Would appreciate any help....especially if you're in a similar zone :-) Thanks!

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47 Comments Displaying 25 of 47 comments | See Previous

Sherry L Deridder, LA

Sharron W, I recently heard about the banana peel for roses and have been using them for the past month. Hoping to see some results soon. I'm up for any possibility before giving up on them. Coffee grounds too? I'm on it!

on Jul 30, 2012 · Like 1
Connie Nikiforoff Designs Mandan, ND

Leanne, I pretty sure now why I'm not such a good rose gardener. All that work seems like a lot to me. LOL! Not really...it's just that the perennials I grow have to pretty much take care of themselves, without chemicals or two much maintenance. What can I say, I'm a lazy gardener ;-) However, I will actually write down your excellent tips and see if I can upgrade my status on gardening.
Your roses are lovely! I will have post some pics of our roses in our old yard as well as the ...»
ones here. They're really not too bad considering my lack of proper care with them.
My mom (same zone) has some roses out on their ranch that grow to huge proportions! I can't remember the name but they grow kinda "wild" in habit. They bloom a pretty pink but kind of "shaggy" shape of both the bush and the flower. They smell wonderful too! She just lets them go on their own. But they're really too big for our area here...unless I want to re-landscape the flower bed...which I might just have to do ;-)

on Jul 30, 2012 · Like 1
Connie Nikiforoff Designs Mandan, ND

Here are some links from my blog that show our former home's yard from spring and summer of 2011. I miss it :-( That's why I'm so determined for this new location to get going! I'll post some pics hopefully soon of our new yard too ;-) If you're like me regarding gardening and decorating, looking at pics is so inspirational! What can I say, I'm an interior decorator who also takes decorating outside ;-) ...»

http://cndesigns.wordpress.com/2011/06/22/a...
http://cndesigns.wordpress.com/2011/06/22/so...
http://cndesigns.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/th...
http://cndesigns.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/th...

on Jul 30, 2012 · Like 1
Leanne Arons Minneapolis, MN

CND, you don't need to be a rose gardener as you have so many other, beautiful things in your garden! :) Thank you for sharing your pictures, I really enjoyed them. :)

on Jul 30, 2012 · Like 2
Catherine Smith Fredericksburg, VA

Russian sage and roses play nicely together. The sage provides a certain amount of insect repellent protection because of it's scent. And the color combined with the roses is striking!! Go for it!!

on Aug 19, 2012 · Like 0
Connie Nikiforoff Designs Mandan, ND

@ Leanne---Those pics were from our former yard. But thank you for your nice compliment :-)
OK all...here's my update regarding Russian sage with roses. Yup! I decided to go for it! I put the sages in with the roses and told the roses "OK you guys! You've gotta make it along with the Russian sage. Bloom or you're outta here!" Haha! Yeah, I actually do talk to my plants ;-) If only the former owners would have put in a taller rose variety instead of miniatures, I wouldn't have had ...»
to change things. But since the roses are here and I'm trying to get a better scale on the tallest wall of the house, I went with the Russian sage to fix that.
By this time next year, we'll see some great improvement to balance out the scale.

on Aug 19, 2012 · Like 0
Leanne Arons Minneapolis, MN

@cndesigns: If that is the yard at your old house, I'll bet the yard at the new house is even more lovely!

on Aug 20, 2012 · Like 0
Leanne Arons Minneapolis, MN

@CNDesigns: A favorite trick of gardeners for many years has been to plant rose bushes with Clematis Vines. Clematis like their roots kept shady, and the rose bushes provide that function for them. When planted with a climbing rose, the clematis helps to attach the rose to the trellis that should be in place for both plants to use. I just moved too, and at my new house I have some pink climbing roses planted, and at their bases I planted a bushy variety of purple/blue clematis. I also have ...»
a classic jackmani clemantis planted behind a beautiful variety of yellow rose called High Voltage that I hope will combine into a spectacular display. Clematis will give you the height you need on the tall wall behind the mini roses. And you could still include sage or salvia (reminds me of sage but comes in many colors) in the composition.

on Aug 20, 2012 · Like 1
Connie Nikiforoff Designs Mandan, ND

@ Leanne: Depending on how the Russian sage fills in, I like your idea of salvia. I have some of that in other places too. And yes, hopefully our new yard will in time be as pretty as the old one was. They're designed differently because our old yard had most of the interest in the back. We now live on a corner lot so the backyard is small (with a patio though) and more interest will be focused on other front/side areas! I supposed I could post some pics that I've taken so far to show the progress to date. ;-) Might do that :-)

on Aug 20, 2012 · Like 0
Connie Nikiforoff Designs Mandan, ND

Hey Fellow Gardeners,
This is our new house yard to date! A lot of the perennials were inherited from the former owners and yet my goal is to fill in empty spaces for a more lush garden. I found that when flowers grow, weeds don't have quite as much chance to. We'll be amending the soil with compost in every flowered area to alleviate the awful clay :-( How these flowers can grow in that stuff is pretty ...»
amazing! Remember: This is just Year 1 in my hands :-) Annuals supply the necessary color.
on Aug 20, 2012 · Like 0
Miriam I New York, NY

Wow, it's beautiful! You should post it to the main feed where more people will see it.

on Aug 20, 2012 · Like 1
Connie Nikiforoff Designs Mandan, ND

Miriam....how do I post to the main feed? Tried to find that info but couldn't, it seems. Oh...and thanks for such a nice compliment!

on Aug 20, 2012 · Like 1
Steve G Fort Collins, CO

Miriam will probably give you a better answer, but I think she means that you should post these new photos as a new item on the homepage, rather than as part of a response to a previous thread.

on Aug 20, 2012 · Like 2
Connie Nikiforoff Designs Mandan, ND

Steve G....Of course! That makes sense :-) Now I'll have to do that when I get some time :-)

on Aug 20, 2012 · Like 0
Leanne Arons Minneapolis, MN

Your new yard is lovely, CN! I particularly like the little seating area with the wicker bench and the coffee table. Does that coffee table do ok out in the rain? Or do you try to move it undercover when rain is expected? It looks like antique furniture that had its oragins in someone's livingroom (which is what I love about it, it looks so homey and cozy.) If in fact that is what it is, did you have to do anything special to it to use it outside? I also love the vines! Do you know what ...»
variety they are? I've loved climbers for years, but just now have really taken the plunge into growing flowering vines pretty seriously after having had several trellis and arbor structures built in my new backyard. Some things are off to a wonderful start, while others are not doing so well. I have one trellis that I planted a goldflame honeysuckle on that is looking a little stressed. I'm hoping it turns around as it is a beautiful cultivar with blooms that shade from pink to yellow. Whatever vine it is that you have growing is looking fabulously healthy! I hope mine looks as good someday.

on Aug 20, 2012 · Like 0
Douglas Hunt New Smyrna Beach, FL

You have great things going on in your yard. You could put a couple of trellises up in that narrow planting area by the house. You could paint them a contrasting color to provide some winter interest and they would help you "go vertical."

on Aug 21, 2012 · Like 2
Sharron W Memphis, TN

@Leeanne the vine on her fence is called Virginia Creeper, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenocissus_...
It's invasive here in the south, although I don't attempt to get rid of it, and was seriously surprised when some of the inlaws from KY confused it with poison Ivy.... although where you find it you can often find poison Ivy as well because they like similar growing conditions.

on Aug 21, 2012 · Like 1
Connie Nikiforoff Designs Mandan, ND

Sharron...Virgina Creeper? Oooh it is! Now I know for sure what it is! Thanks so much. Around here people just call it woodbine ;-)

on Aug 21, 2012 · Like 1
Miriam I New York, NY

Oops, sorry I didn't see this earlier. Steve is right -posting to the main feed is starting a new thread on the homepage. The advantage is that the whole community will see it, since it is new, v. only the people on this thread, Sorry i wasn't clear. :)

on Aug 21, 2012 · Like 2
Connie Nikiforoff Designs Mandan, ND

Leanne...The coffee table is an old 1980's end table we'd cut down to use as a coffee table in our other home. Got it at a thrift store for $6 so no, we don't do anything special for outdoor use....if it falls apart, we'll just find another ;-) We did however paint it with exterior paint...it's holding up well enough all things considered ;-)

on Aug 21, 2012 · Like 2
Leanne Arons Minneapolis, MN

I love the end table, its so sweet. I often have enjoyed the look of "real" furniture repurposed for outdoor use. But I get nervous when I think about trying to do such a thing myself. You know what I really don't get? When you see on a design show or magazine where someone has made an outdoor bed, complete with sheets, for use on someone's patio. I have a hard time imagining sliding between those sheets with all the other little critters who might be enjoying the comfort of those sheets! I get the willies just thinking about it!

on Aug 22, 2012 · Like 2
Sharron W Memphis, TN

@Leeanne....ESPECIALLY white....which is the color the bug people use to determine if you've got fleas because they are so attracted to the color...LOL makes me cringe...

on Aug 22, 2012 · Like 1
Connie Nikiforoff Designs Mandan, ND

Leanne and Sharron...Yeah I love the look of beds on patios but you're right: all those little critters and bugs...eewww! Of course in the old days, they did this (sleeping porches) because they didn't have AC for the summer. I suppose they just had to "check the sheets" before they got in ;-) And hopefully they had some mosquito nets too! The whole thing puts a new meaning to the song title "Dancing in the Sheets" from the movie Footloose ! Haha :-)

on Aug 22, 2012 · Like 1
Leanne Arons Minneapolis, MN

@cndesigns: My mother often speaks fondly of sleeping outside on the sleep porch at her grandmothers house in Fairmount, ND when she was a little girl. But the sleeping porch was quite well protected from both bugs and the elements I believe. It had screens on all of the outside walls of the sleep porch, and shared the same sturdy roof as the rest of the house. My mom's family lived very near to her maternal grandmother and I understand my mom used to move out to her Grandma's sleeping ...»
porch for the whole summer at a time. She brings the story up often both because its a happy memory for her, and she uses it to contrast with how times have changed in that many people would have to think twice now before allowing a little girl to sleep out on a sleep porch all by herself. Of course on the hottest nights her Grandma and anyone else staying at her house would be out on the sleep porch too! For anyone curious, I'll attach a pic of the sleeping porch my mom was so fond of. :)
I know I'm way off topic too, but I've enjoyed sharing a little of my family history with you all. I hope no one minds, but in case someone does, I'll get back on topic if I post again. :)
on Aug 23, 2012 · Like 0
Connie Nikiforoff Designs Mandan, ND

@Leanne, Well I for one LOVE that you shared this memory and photo! Often those porches were not originally enclosed with screens. But as families grew, summer were hot, they got smart and enclosed them with screens. When these old homes get renovated today, the screens (if they're still there) get removed and AC is put in for hot weather. There was a time when life was simpler......ahhhhhhh :-)

on Aug 23, 2012 · Like 1

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