Rose recipes with award-winning landscaper and garden designer Jo Thompson

The rich pink tones of Rosa ‘Penelope Lively^® (Ausb18a15) are a wonderful addition to a mixed border. This recipe is a fusion of both the classic and the contemporary: the time-trusted combination of pink with lilac and blue is familiar to us both in cottage and country house plantings, with hardy geraniums clustering at a lower level, creating satisfying mounds of colour. The effect of the geranium’s violets and blues is extended by the far deeper, jewel-like tones of Salvia ‘Caradonna’, whose sumptuous purple flowers and dark stems bring punctuation to the planting and link perfectly with the wine colours of the Origanum. The rose’s pink is picked up in the Echinacea’s dusty ballerina skirts, whilst the deep brown-orange ‘cone’ of this coneflower also tones perfectly. 

The uplifting yellows of Rosa ‘The Poet’s Wife^®’ (Auswhirl) conjure up feelings of sunlight and hope, brightening a border and bringing a smile. Becoming paler over time, its blooms need little else in terms of the same colour from their neighbours. A hint of lemon in the centre of the Leucanthemum creates a link to the rose; the rest of this recipe uses silver, white and pale blue-violet with an ever-so-slight touch of the very gentlest of pinks to create a peaceful introduction to early summer. Silvery foliage is a perfect partner to a yellow rose, textural forms bouncing and reflecting light, creating a pretty haze which plays around the base of this planting and then seems to glitter up the spires of taller plants, almost seeming to sparkle as the taller plants move in the breeze of textures, forms and height which anchor this stunning rose to its space. 

Rosa ‘Mary Delany^®’ (Ausorts) is one of my go-to best performers for a North-facing position. Partially shaded spots offer a good deal of potential in terms of planting; here, taller plants with architectural stems such as Thalictrum create height and texture by the rose. Its pretty violet shades are enhanced by the rich burgundies of Aquilegia and also by the smartest wine reds of the Centaurea, placed at the front of the planting so as not to be sitting in deep shade. The creamy-white flowers of the tall valerian are echoed by the ornamental cow parsley at a lower level, with the spires of foxgloves adding to the range of textures, forms and height which anchor this stunning rose to its space.