Question
I have come across several references to "companion plants" and I was wondering how you would apply this to rose gardening? Do you agree with this concept?

Answer
The concept behind "companion plants" is based on the back-to-nature theory that if you grow a garden naturally, successfully balanced, all plants will be free of disease and even the design will be visually seamless.

That means the formal, lined-up arrangement of Rose Bushes doing a solo act is not going to cut it in that kind of "natural" garden.  Roses are placed as though Mother Nature put them there herself, next to non-Roses.

Enter companion plants.

To keep insects out of your Roses, you would give a vote to aphid eaters and other bad-bug-lovers: Ladybugs. Praying mantids. Lacewings. Sparrows and Robins. Even hummingbirds. What plants would they vote for?

Make your list.

Garden writer and seed purveyor Diane Linsley has her lists of hummingbird annuals and perennials (www.dianeseeds.com/flowers/hummingbirds.html).  It includes four species of Agastache, Nicotiana, Salvia and Monarda, based on research and her own personal gardening observations.

The Limestone County, Alabama, Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners (www.aces.edu/counties/Limestone/MastGard/companions.htm) repel some bugs from their Roses: Tansy, Rue and Garlic will get rid of Japanese Beetles and Borers; Feverfew will repel aphids.

The Wimberley, Texas, Garden Toad (www.gardentoad.com/companionplants.html) bases selection on plants that "confuse or repel pests".  Alliums are great not only for Roses but for many vegetables as well because they will fend off aphids, weevils, moles, fruit tree borers, nematodes and red spider mites; the group says they also protect Roses from blackspot, mildew and aphids.  Marigolds deter Mexican bean beetles and, potentially, nematodes, if grown for several seasons. Parsley repels rose beetles.

Nevertheless, many groups with an internet presence are still stuck in the conservative approach.  Be careful when you read their lists -- which takes votes only from humans and asks only what plants look prettiest with Roses.  The balance of Nature is only incidental to them.

That includes Vancouver, Washington Consulting Rosarian Lou Little, who compiles his list for the American Rose Society (www.ars.org/About_Roses/planting_complement.htm) strictly based on color, form and texture, but advises readers to include Herbs for a little bug control; chives are good, but marigolds attract bugs and slugs.

The Do-It-Yourself Television program supplements its programming with a website for viewers.  Companion plants, they say, that "complement" Roses are Lavandula angustifolia (which repels aphids), Sage and Thyme (for caterpillars), and Marigolds (for nematodes).

Santa Barbara Rose Society member Dan Bifano(www.sbrose.org/roseslandscape.htm) selects companions for "compatibility", noting foremost that Rose feeder roots are replaced every spring and must not compete with companions for root space.  Alstroemeria, Dianthus and Dahlias are on their list, not just for looks but because he says they "help control spider mites".

Jackson & Perkins has issued a book it calls Rose Companions: Growing Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, Shrubs and Vines with Roses.  But their book emphasis is on the visuals.

Stick instead with Roses Love Garlic: Companion Planting and Other Secrets of Flowers by Louise Riotte. It devotes entire chapters to Organic ways of keeping pests away from Roses and other blooms.  You can get it from Amazon.com right now for $10.17.