How to Grow Clematis Vines in a Rose Garden

Gardeners find growing clematis and roses, as a perennial plant grouping, a smart combination that has good success. The rose and clematis plants’ cultural needs are similar, as is the need to include annual pruning into the plant maintenance schedule.

Roses attract butterflies and are well known as cutting flowers. The best choices are varieties that are fragrant, disease resistant and hardy in local regions. For winter interest, roses that develop attractive red or orange hips after flowering offer added value to the garden.

Clematis has fragrant varieties, can be used as cutting flowers and discourage deer foraging. Both roses and clematis mature to varying heights, some which will fit small spaced gardens.

How to Plant Clematis and Roses Together

Gardeners who choose sequence flowering ensure a longer span of blooms in a garden. Sequence flowering requires plants that have bloom times that follow each other or overlap. Roses are a summer blooming plant but some rose varieties have longer blooming periods. Clematis plants can be chosen by early, middle or late blooming time-frames. For example, Clematis terniflora is autumn blooming with fragrant white flowers.

Clematis and rose plant sizes are another consideration and should be chosen based on the size of the garden bed to be planted. Individual varieties and cultivars have height, spread and space dimensions that are reliable guides when making plant decisions.

One pitfall to growing clematis and roses together is inadequate spacing. Clematis requires being planted, at least, two feet away from a climbing rose bush. Another issue is providing sufficient water, while roses like approximately one inch per week; clematis also needs a lot of water. Both plants prefer moist, well-draining soil that has been amended with organic matter.

Roses and clematis plants need pruning to continue growing healthy. Clematis are pruned following three types of guidelines, based on when the plant flowers. The Clematis jackmani grows 10′ – 20′ tall with a spread of 3′ – 4′ and blooms mid-summer. This clematis blooms on new wood. Pruning instructions for roses is based on the type of bush it is, in addition, roses stay healthy by deadheading the dried flowers.

Climbing Roses Intertwinded with Clematis

Climbers are the rose bushes most often intertwined with clematis. Climbers are hardy from zones 2-8 depending on variety, older climbers called ramblers are very tough plants. They will grow as much as 30′ tall and spread 6′. A good rose to clematis ratio guide is one climbing rose bush plant to three clematis plants. Climbing rose ideas include:

• Rosa ‘New Dawn’ has pink and white continual blooms. It is known to be hardy up to zone 4 and is disease resistant.

• Rosa ‘Compassion’ has continuous flowers with petals blended with pink and apricot colors.

• Rosa ‘American Beauty’ is an older variety with very red fragrant flowers that grow up to six feet tall. However, it does not grow well in cool summer climates.

Floribundas are another type of rose bush that grows approximately three feet. These bushes will complement lower growing clematis as the vines crawl through the clumps of roses.

Shrub Roses Supporting Clematis

The shrub rose is another lower growing rose that will support clematis and needs less pruning. Rosa ‘Knock Out’ and Rosa ‘The Fairy’ are two well-known shrub rose cultivars.

Shrub Rosa ‘Bonica’ has shell pink flowers that create a mass of blooms. This tough rose bush is easy to grow. A ground cover rose series called Flower Carpet® creates a mass of blooms, as well but is hardy farther south in zones 5 – 10.

Growing Clematis in a Rose Garden

Clematis and roses make good companions in a summer garden that has full sun. Neither roses nor clematis should be crowded, allow good air circulation to avoid powdery mildew issues.

Readers may be interested in additional winter rose care, essential for successfully growing healthy bushes in a cold climate.