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What Should Be Planted With Knock Out Roses?

Companion plantings with Knock Out roses can show off and highlight the rose blooms and act as a living, growing mulch that prevents moisture loss from the surrounding soil. Companion plantings can also camouflage bare rose cane structures during the winter and provide protection from the cold. With hundreds of thousands of plants to choose from, a logical way may be to select companion plants that either complement or contrast with the color and or texture of your Knock Out roses in keeping with your own garden design aesthetic.

  1. Blue & Purple Hues

    • Knock Out roses would be complemented by the blue, lavender, violet and deep purple blooms of the following plants: Asperula, campanula, centaurea cyanus, cleome, cynoglossum, delphinium, lavender, salvia, nigella, verbena, sweet peas and larkspur.

    Pink & Red Hues

    • Companion and underplanting options in the hues of salmon and pinks include digitalis, lavatera, coral reef poppy and salvia. In the red family some good options would be dianthus mini and full size, cosmos, lychnis, geum, poppies, salvia and penstemon.

    Orange & Yellow Hues

    • Bright yellow, gold and orange-colored blooms that will complement one or more of the eight Knock Out color varietals are cosmos, coreopsis, hemerocallis, tangerine poppies, oenothera, digitalis and hollyhocks.

    Crisp White & Unique Foliage Plants

    • In crisp relief to the bright colors of the Knock Outs you can plant a few or a sea of crisp cool white plants or distinctive foliage plants. Fresh white flowering options include sweet alyssum, campanula, cosmos, foxglove, feverfew, hesperia, lavatera, nicotiana, daisies, sweet peas and valerian. For showstopping foliage with unique variegation or coloration look for bronze fennel, bupleurum, silver foxglove, eryngium, feather grass and rue.