The Beautiful Ground Cover Companion To Plant With Roses In The Garden

Are your beautiful roses looking lonely, or are they struggling to avoid being overrun by weeds? Consider giving them some company in the garden. Companion plants are species that grow especially well together. Rather than competing against each other, companion plants benefit each other's health. One plant that gets along excellently with roses is red creeping thyme (Thymus praecox 'Coccineus').

Red creeping thyme is a perennial herb, which unlike culinary thyme, is not usually eaten. Creeping thyme forms a tense mat and makes for a lovely ground cover grass alternative, and this particular cultivar even boasts pinkish-red flowers. Red creeping thyme goes well with roses aesthetically, too. The flowers bloom at the same time, providing color and visual interest at multiple heights in your garden. The plant even has a spicy, herbal smell that complements the sweetness of roses and attracts pollinators. And as a ground cover, red creeping thyme can cover the sparseness that often appears at the bottom of rose bushes.

But choosing a companion plant is about more than aesthetics. The right companion plants can have a range of positive effects on each other's growth, from improving soil health to deterring pests to boosting yields. Creeping thyme helps roses in these ways, too.

If you're sold on growing companion plants with your roses, red creeping thyme is an ideal candidate. First, because creeping thyme has shallow roots, it won't compete with roses for moisture and nutrients in the soil. On the contrary, it helps roses access more of those essentials by suffocating weeds and preventing soil erosion. Second, it repels Japanese beetles and aphids, two pests that can cause serious damage to roses. And third, it's resistant to both deer and rabbits.

Red creeping thyme is also a good choice because it's so easy to grow and maintain; it's drought-tolerant and resistant to most pests and diseases. Just plant it at least a foot away from your roses to avoid disturbing their roots. Red creeping thyme and roses both require full sun, or at least six hours of direct sun each day and prefer well-draining soil. Red creeping thyme is hardy in USDA growing zones 5 to 8, while roses, depending on the species and cultivar, can be hardy in zones 5 through 11.