Pink Rose and Purple Clematis Combination for June

In our Driveway garden, an old pink rose bush makes a wonderful host for purple Clematis 'Etoile Violette'.

June is underway and the roses are blooming here in Pennsylvania. Our Driveway Garden is covered in pink and blue this week, with a bit of white thrown in to lighten the color palette.

When we bought our home, we inherited an old rose bush by the back corner of our house... and one to match it across the driveway. It blooms its socks off once and year, and then needs quite a bit of pruning to keep it in line. A newer rose would give more for repeat bloom, but the light fragrance and pink color make it worth keeping. And even better yet is the combination that happens when Clematis 'Etoile Violette' blooms along with it. The clematis it is planted at the roses feet and it appreciates the cool shade the rose provides. It easily grabs a hold on to the rose brambles and pulls itself to the sun.

Around the perimeter of this rose, which is 5 feet high and 6 feet wide (1.6 m x 2m), there is ground cover of variegated deadnettle (Lamium maculatum), evergreen moss phlox (Phlox subulata), and yellow-blooming Sedum 'Acre'.

The Driveway Garden this week: Rose with Clematis 'Etoile Violette', blue Geranium 'Orion', Lavendula 'Munstead', white Allium multibulbosum, bishops' weed (the very aggressive/invasive Aegopodium podagraria), and yellow-blooming Sedum 'Acre'.

Pink Rosa, Clematis viticella 'Etoile Violette' and the pink-whirls of Lamium maculatum woven together.

To the left of this pretty combination is the beautiful ornamental grass, Miscanthus sinensis 'Dixieland'. It is a dwarfed sized for smaller gardens and gets lovely plumes in October.

Clematis viticella 'Etoile Violette', now five years old and covering this large rose bush.

The Driveway Garden the other evening at the golden hour.  This garden was designed to bloom from March through November so that we would always flowers and foliage to greet our comings and goings.

The evening light through Miscanthus sinensis 'Dixieland' by the rose and clematis.

 I hope you are soaking up June in your part of the world!
To read more about our small, corner garden, take a look at our map.

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