"mmarteen" wrote in message
...
Like the poster who wanted something to cover bare ground around roses, I
am
concerned about filling in the rose bed as well until the roses get
bigger.
Better homes and gardens online magazine has a bunch of combinations that
they are showing, one of which is to grow sweet peas on Rugosas, as if
they
were a trellis.

http://houseandhome.msn.com/Garden/S...irsSlideShow0.
aspx (flip to #9)

I guess the theory is that when the Roses are just coming out of dormancy
and don't look too good, the sweetpeas cover them and they are gone by the
time the Roses have fully leafed out and begin blooming. If you let them
reseed, then you have a combo that is as good as perennial.

Has anyone done this successfully? I would concerned about the sweetpeas
creating an unhealthy situation for the roses.

mm

Hello mm

Here is a shot from last year, a bit out of focus
because the wind refused to cooperate. In Oregon
at least I have never had any luck getting sweet peas
to reseed. I don't know where you are, but one of
the things that I like about sweet peas beside the
obvious is that it is really easy to pull them out if
something within the arrangement doesn't work.

The rose is Belle Story and the rest is too ;)

Allegra

http://www.theoldrosarian.org/photos/BelleStory.jpg