Nepeta (catmint) is an excellent choice for attracting beneficial insects. It is low-maintenance and can be planted with all roses, but its soft blue flowers pair wonderfully with yellow and orange roses, such as Tottering-by-Gently^®, Dannahue^® (Ausa6b15),Bring Me Sunshine^® (Ausernie) and Lady of Shalott^® (Ausnyson)adding variety and visual appeal to your garden.

The colour of foliage is also worth considering when planning a mixed border. Choose both darker and lighter greens, as well as red-toned foliage, to add both depth and colour, or grey-leaved cotton lavender and artemisia to act as a natural backdrop to vivid colours.

Combine with purple

Plants with purple or blue flowers, such as salvia and catmint, work especially well in mixed borders as there are not really any roses in this colour group. See our recommendations for Purple Partnering Plants.

Create height variation in a mixed border by planting taller shrub roses and companion plants towards the back of the bed. Towards the front, place shorter, preferably fragrant roses and accompanying plants. Punctuate the middle of the border with tall flowering annuals or perennials, such as foxgloves, alliums, verbascums and delphiniums.

EDGE WITH BOX

As a finishing touch, edge mixed beds and borders with a low box hedge. It will also hide any bare stems.

In winter and early spring, small evergreen shrubs and perennials are vital for adding colour with foliage. Hellebores, pulmonarias and primulas all work well. You can also incorporate bulbs, such as snowdrops, crocuses and dwarf daffodils. 

LATE SPRING

For late spring colour in a mixed border, before the roses come into full bloom, try tulips, aquilegia, vibernum and dicentras.

autumn

From early autumn until the first frosts, use sedums, salvias, verbenas and compact forms of bedding dahlias to inject colour.

When planning your mixed border it is important to allow enough space for the mature space of the plant. See our Planting Guide here. Immediately after planting it may look a bit sparse,but this will change as the plants mature. It can be helpful to place the plants out in their pots to ensure you have allowed enough space. Also consider the height of the mature plants, taller plants placed towards the back, getting gradually shorter towards the front of the border. Placing the smaller sedum at the front will help to obscure the lower part of the rose stems which can look bare once mature, giving a finished appearance to your border.

Combine a variety of apricot and copper colours and textures

It is important to consider foliage colour as well as bloom colour. The three different apricot rose varieties give a gentle variance of warm blooms which are lifted further by the golden grasses and topped off with the dark copper-toned sedums. The addition of the lighter green grasses at the back compliment the darker green foliage of the roses. The thin, airy grasses offset the larger more dense rose shrubs creating a combination of textures. The three rose varieties feature slightly different bloom shapes which add a subtle variety with the compact shape of the sedum at the front adding further interest.

Adding purple salvia and the dark foliage of the heuchera gives depth to a border. The silver touches from the stachys and grass keeps the overall effect from being too sombre.

Combine different plant textures

The thin, pointy salvias sit interestingly against the full blooms of the roses.Towards the front of the bed, the combination of the silver soft, wide leaf stachys and the spikey silvery grass provides interest and a sharp contrast to the larger, dark leaf of the heuchera.