If you were planning a new rose garden

[lunar1]

What colour would you go for?

I have an oddly shaped house, so have several smallish flower beds around on our corner plot in addition to the back garden.

I have already planted one with predominantly boscobell (pink) roses, underplanted with purple salvia. In another area I have a mix of orange and yellow roses plus yellow jasmine.

I have been looking on the David Austin website for inspiration for another rose bed, but I just can't visualise it. The centre of the bed has a white and pink magnolia, there is still plenty of sun. I was thinking predominately white or red, but don't have any inspiration for what would go with it. I can't have any climbers in this area.

[wanderingscot]

This year - red, white and blue (although you may have to choose another plant to get the blue - not sure roses come in blue)

[lunar1]

I'll probably be planting it up in autumn, this year I thought a wild flower garden would be nice. I clearly looked at marketing pictures, not actual wild flower patches as it looks unbelievably awful!

[LadyGardenersQuestionTime]

Red roses in a sea of white cranesbill?

[CatWithARabbit]

White rose - Tranquility- a David Austin rose. Scented and beautiful !

[BananaShrimp]

What about this? The rose is Ballerina, the delphinium is Faust, not sure about the daisies or peonies.

My other suggestion would be a white garden inspired by Sissinghurst, with white roses etc.

[lunar1]

I love the look of tranquility of all the suggestions so far, does anyone have it? I'd be planting 5 of them, what would you plant in between?

[DippingAToeInTheWater]

Hopefully you can learn from my mistake? I've got a walk through rose archway with 10 roses, so not quite the same but still lots of roses close together. I chose whites and pale pinks (David Austen), a mix of mostly climbers and a couple of ramblers. I've planted some Clematis with them. When the Clematis are in flower, their deep jewel colours look lovely against the pale roses, but once they've finished, the roses all blend in to make one pinky white mass. It's very pretty, but could definitely do with maybe a deeper pink or even a burgundy red to add something. Don't know if that helps at all.

[lunar1]

That's really helpful @DippingAToeInTheWater, I was just scrolling through the pinks!

I wonder how tranquility would look with some big white daisies.

[DippingAToeInTheWater]

These are both pretty. Don't know if they're a bit too cottage garden for you?

[lunar1]

No such thing as too cottage garden for me! I love all the pictures. The difficulty is, I have these random triangles dotted around my house, so it's hard to visualise what the designs will look like.

[lunar1]

The second picture with the pink and purple is what I've done at the front, just with a darker pink.

[starlingdarling]

DA Desdemona is another lovely white rose with a good scent. A whiter shade of pale is also beautiful with a white flower that turns more pink as it opens.

I put bulbs in around my roses when I planted them so they pop up before the roses and salvias get going. Snowdrops that pop up in late January, Crocus for late February (pickwick and flower record) and then a mix of scented narcissus for March and April (Sir Winston Churchill, Obdam and Replete are my favourites)

Sarah Raven has a good selection of different colour salvias. Until I'd seen them I assumed they were all purple (you might already know but I'm a newbie!).

https://www.sarahraven.com/plants/salvias?sort=bestselling&bccfsnf=1&Type+%28For+Filters%29=Perennial&gclid=Cj0KCQjwm6KUBhC3ARIsACIwxBjGRYfWEffzcPEtz-raUvQZHTxNBrIGZqRLJXImR8aJeKEzK4nHowaArGHEALwwwcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Ferngreen]

I chose cutting roses with scent from David Austen. However if yours are under a tree why not patio roses. A whole bed in one or two colours.

[MountainSun]

DAs all match really. I’d do a mix of pinks, yellows and deeper pinks.
Wildeve at the front (true mid pink but spreading habit, covers the ground) with Ballerina (not DA but a deeper pink ground cover)
Then some Vanessa Bell, Ancient Mariner, and Princess Alexandra of Kent. Intersperse with Tottering-by-gently.
Towards the back I’d put Gentle Hermione and Gertrude Jekyll, and train them along the wall.
Then at the edges I’d have Country Parson or Silas Marner, with wild spreading habits.

Depends how big the space is really - but DAs all go together in a lovely riot 💐

[lunar1]

I'm now looking at other bits of garden I can dig up with all these ideas!

I'm definitely leaning to white for this one, I found some white salvia and these pictured below to mix in with white DS roses.

[catwithflowers]

Sorry to piggyback on your thread, OP, but I'm looking at that first gorgeous picture posted by @DippingAToeInTheWater. We have a large garden and in one part of the garden, I would love to dig a new deep border and plant it up like this, but how do you cut the hedge each year? This is my husband's opposition to the idea. We have hedges similar to the photo, mostly hawthorn, which will need cutting once a year but not sure how this is managed with a herbaceous border right up to it. 🫤

[ErrolTheDragon]

@catwithflowers

Sorry to piggyback on your thread, OP, but I'm looking at that first gorgeous picture posted by @DippingAToeInTheWater. We have a large garden and in one part of the garden, I would love to dig a new deep border and plant it up like this, but how do you cut the hedge each year? This is my husband's opposition to the idea. We have hedges similar to the photo, mostly hawthorn, which will need cutting once a year but not sure how this is managed with a herbaceous border right up to it. 🫤

If you look at big herbaceous borders in spring (which afaik is when many types of hedge are pruned) there's usually quite a bit of space between the plants before they've grown up. That photo looks as though there's a bit of space at the back, the plants aren't right up on the hedge.

[catwithflowers]

@ErrolTheDragon thanks so much. I think you are right, looking again at the photo there does seem to be a 'walkway' between the hedge and the bed!

[ArtichokeAardvark]

I'm going to go against the flow and say a deep pink rose- something like DA Darcey Bussell.

[whatisthisinhere]

I keep looking at this thread, I have no space for a new rose bed.
Or maybe I do

[BeaLola]

David Austin ! We prefer pinks and reds although my favourite climber is the Generous Gardener plus crocus rose (cream) - I am not overly keen on yellow roses however I do like Graham Austin which is a lovely deep buttery yellow.

Whatever you plant you could maybe add a rose introduced this year to commemorate you planting the garden ?

If you can get to David Austin gardens or anywhere else that you can get to with lots of rose borders so you can see what you like when they are in flower

[lunar1]

@BeaLola I have added a pink introduced this year, I was tempted but the description of the scent of the Elizabeth! It's in the front with all the boscobell and similar coloured DA roses.

@whatisthisinhere you can always find a bit of room 🤣

I bet between now and the next DA brochure coming out I will change my mind a dozen times. I'll order them as bare root as soon as they are available, so I have till then to decide.