Roses have inspired gardeners and poets for centuries, with their stunning, delicate blooms in iconic colors. But providing the perfect environment for your roses to flourish includes more than finding a sunny location with the right soil. Some common flowers, herbs, and shrubs can compete with roses for sunlight, nutrients, and space, ultimately stunting their growth (and undermining all your hard work). Here, gardening experts share which plants to avoid if you want your rose bushes to thrive.
Mint
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Some fast-growing plants can crowd out your roses and drain them of vital nutrients. “We might love the strong aroma of mint, and it can deter some pests from coming near your rose bushes,” says Lucie Bradley, gardening expert at Easy Garden Irrigation. “But it can also smother the more delicate scent of roses, which they use to attract pollinators,”
Combined with the aggressive nature of mint (sending out runners quickly to cover the ground around your roses), mint will deprive the less aggressive rose of space and sunlight and directly compete for water and nutrients, resulting in poor growth and fewer blooms.
Fennel
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Another plant to keep far from your roses is fennel. Fennel pulls a lot of nutrients from the soil and can attract pests that harm roses.
“A heavy feeder, fennel will extract important nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from the soil, which roses need for healthy growth,” says Bradley. “Not only will it affect the growth of your rose bushes due to the lack of available nutrients, but fennel will also attract pests such as aphids and diseases like powdery mildew and black spot, which will affect the health of your roses.”
Hydrangeas
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Another plant with contrasting needs to roses is hydrangeas, which thrives in shady areas.
“Roses prefer places with plenty of direct sunlight,” says plant expert at Plantum, an app that helps identify plants and improve plant care. “A lack of sufficient light can cause their stems to weaken, blooms to be small or fail to develop, and overall growth to be stunted.”
Shade-loving plants like hydrangeas are undesirable neighbors for roses because of the different light conditions required for their growth.
Sunflowers
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Sunflowers flourish in full sunlight, similar to roses, but they can present a problem due to their heavy feeding and deep root systems.
“A popular, easy-to-grow annual, sunflowers are unsuitable for growing near roses due to them being heavy feeders, preventing your roses from getting the necessary nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium they need to thrive and bloom,” Bradley says.
Bradley adds that their widespread root system will also take over any space in the soil, stifling your roses and preventing them from establishing a strong root system, which they need to produce beautiful blooms.
Morning Glory
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Morning glories are a fast-growing plant that can overwhelm your rose garden, so keep them far away for the sake of your roses.
“Known for their rapid growth, morning glories are abundant climbers that will rapidly cover walls and fences and also your rose bushes,” Bradley says. “Their strong vines will wrap around your roses, damaging the more fragile stems and preventing the plant from getting the necessary sunlight it needs to thrive.”
Below ground, their root systems will be competing with those of the rose for both water and nutrients, affecting the overall growth of your roses.
Lilac
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While lilacs and roses might seem like a pretty pair, their similarities can actually cause them to compete for water and nutrients.
“Their extensive root systems mean that these two plants would be constantly competing for water and nutrients in the soil,” Bradley says. “So both would have stunted growth and fewer blooms.”
Plus, both lilacs and roses are susceptible to powdery mildew, so when planted close together, cross-contamination would be easy.
Canna Lilies
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Canna lilies are a fast-growing plant that can overpower roses if they’re planted too close.
“With their vibrant colors and tall stature, canna lilies are a great addition to your garden,” Bradley explains. “However, they have aggressive root systems and are fast growers, quickly overtaking the space around roses with their height and preventing the full sunlight your roses need to thrive.”
Walnut Trees
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Walnut trees have toxic compounds that can kill roses, so it’s best to keep them far from your rose bushes.
“Some plants secrete substances that inhibit or suppress the development of other plant species—this is called allelopathy,” explains Borisevich. “Walnuts are a particular threat to roses because they can release a toxic compound called juglone into the soil.”
She explains that juglone negatively affects the development of roses and other plants, causing their leaves to turn yellow, shoots to wither and dry out, and the plant to die. It accumulates in the soil’s root zone. If you have walnut trees on your property, plant roses as far away from them as possible.
