I grow a lot of stuff under roses. It all depends on the location, as far as what I choose. To put it in perspective, I asked my husband what he thought my garden theme was. His answer was a rose garden....since he always buy at least 6 hybrid teas for my B-Day in May. Most are not hardy here and I treat them as annuals. The kid says "Did he not see the petunias!" and the neighbor, who loves to cook says I have a wonderful herb & veggie garden
I've done containers with Hybrid Teas on their own, with an assortment of herbs, with Creeping Jenny (green is better than lime with a rose) draped over and also some...you guessed it petunias for an exciting color combo
I have a couple of container beds that are typically color themed and usually have at least 6 roses in the group (including mini's). One container bed is dedicated to roses each year with smaller pots of coleus, wax begonias, mimulas and other "shade lovers since the roses will shade the smaller pots/plants for the front NW facing direction of the bed.
In the flower beds, the Roses get the best sunny spot and share the area with many perennials, lilies, irises, shrubs etc.
If your question is truly under and not beside, then consider how much your rose will shade the companions at different seasons and choose something that suits in height, direct sun exposure and as Zuzu mentioned, moisture requirements.
I have some spectacular early spring full sun perennials that disappear once the roses leaf out and fill the area. Most of my border plants in the beds are annuals
Hope this helps.
Stay tuned with the gardening ideas: I have an article about using annuals with a color theme and as mentioned, every direction has a rose in the mix. Also doing an article on roses in containers for Rose week and will share my experiences
Here's some pictures of my garden
The thread "July 23 @ Joannabanana's" in
Garden Photos forum
