"Lavinia Zammit" . wrote in message
...
I have David Austin Roses in my garden and mixed it with Delphiniums and
Irises in the same bed. I would like to compaign plant with certain
plants
to prevent diseases on my roses. I have noticed lots of spiders and lady
bugs and I am a person who doesn't like to use pesticide. Any suggestion.

Sorry about the spelling.

Regards.
Lavinia

You do know lady bugs are beneficial, don't you?
They eat aphids. People actually buy them to
release around the roses. Most spiders are also
beneficial, eating the more destructive critters. I
would do research on beneficial and harmful
bugs before trying to cure a problem that might
not exist. Try this site:
http://members.tripod.com/buggyrose/
I would start with the link to beneficials first:
http://members.tripod.com/buggyrose/ibeneficials.htm

That said, what I've read about "companion planting"
for roses (or any other type of plant) is a mix of
old wives' tales and very little (if any) science. What
you might do is google on companion plants for roses
and see what comes up. Try different things that make
sense to you. Something might work.

I usually plant garlic around my roses which is
supposed to help deter grubs in the soil that
will attack roses. I don't know if it helps or not but
I'm pretty sure it's not hurting anything.

Gail
near San Antonio TX USA Zone 8