In the front bed with most roses together I have snowdrops then daffodils and hyacinths in early spring followed by Pasque flowers and then geranium macrorhizum which flowers before the roses do and then has good, scented foliage for the rest of the season. There are purple and white alliums because the onion family help keep aphids away and purple aquilegais and purple heucheras - silver something - which have quiet white flowers, and penstemons for later in summer and hardy cyclamen.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I have lots of DA roses all bought as pot plants, including Gertrude J and Munstead Woods. I prefer to plant as pot plants and use DA rose fertilizer and Mycorrhizal Fungi when planting. I have Gertrude Jekyll growing as a climber it works quite well against a standard 6ft fence.
Rubi, I bought Boscobel potted around a year ago - that's the one with several blooms and over 30 buds at the moment. The rest of the David Austins were purchased bare root and planted six months ago - some of them have no sign of buds yet, and I expect only half a dozen blooms from most of them this summer.
Sorry for the late reply Rubi. Got on the forum late tonight. Yeah the roots were definitely not pot bound. I went to the David Austin actual shop as I live near it. They grow them in the fields there. They had just freshly potted the roses into the pots from the field that day or so. So when you plant them into the ground, there is usually a reminder that the compost may fall away. I bought a lot of hybrid tea and shrub roses this year - 2 Bonicas, The Fairy, Old Blush, Troika, Super Trouper, Nostalgia and Rose de Rescht - only Bonica from DA but the rest from various places including British Roses online and my local JTF. All were potted and I am very happy with them so far. Time will tell!! Most of them looked fairly recently potted and not rootbound at all. They had buds on - I hope they will flower this year!!! I don't know much about DA English Roses. Other roses I have had for years are Arthur Belle, Peace, Chicago Peace, Scarlet Qu. Eliabeth, Mme Louis Lapperiere, Lucky and Glenfiddich. They're all modern ones. I don't know if these were from Bare roots or pots as these were inherited from the previous owners. I think you can't go too wrong with potted roses though, I really haven't had any luck with bare roots. You could ask when you buy it if it's freshly potted.
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Your border looks nice and tidy Lou
In the front bed with most roses together I have snowdrops then daffodils and hyacinths in early spring followed by Pasque flowers and then geranium macrorhizum which flowers before the roses do and then has good, scented foliage for the rest of the season. There are purple and white alliums because the onion family help keep aphids away and purple aquilegais and purple heucheras - silver something - which have quiet white flowers, and penstemons for later in summer and hardy cyclamen.
Thank you obelixx, I find plant combination difficult to achieve
but hope to get there eventually 
I have lots of DA roses all bought as pot plants, including Gertrude J and Munstead Woods. I prefer to plant as pot plants and use DA rose fertilizer and Mycorrhizal Fungi when planting. I have Gertrude Jekyll growing as a climber it works quite well against a standard 6ft fence.
Rubi, I bought Boscobel potted around a year ago - that's the one with several blooms and over 30 buds at the moment. The rest of the David Austins were purchased bare root and planted six months ago - some of them have no sign of buds yet, and I expect only half a dozen blooms from most of them this summer.
i am trying to remedy this yummymummy and let things go more but I am a neat/control freak and it does not come naturally
Sorry for the late reply Rubi. Got on the forum late tonight. Yeah the roots were definitely not pot bound. I went to the David Austin actual shop as I live near it. They grow them in the fields there. They had just freshly potted the roses into the pots from the field that day or so. So when you plant them into the ground, there is usually a reminder that the compost may fall away. I bought a lot of hybrid tea and shrub roses this year - 2 Bonicas, The Fairy, Old Blush, Troika, Super Trouper, Nostalgia and Rose de Rescht - only Bonica from DA but the rest from various places including British Roses online and my local JTF. All were potted and I am very happy with them so far. Time will tell!! Most of them looked fairly recently potted and not rootbound at all. They had buds on - I hope they will flower this year!!! I don't know much about DA English Roses. Other roses I have had for years are Arthur Belle, Peace, Chicago Peace, Scarlet Qu. Eliabeth, Mme Louis Lapperiere, Lucky and Glenfiddich. They're all modern ones. I don't know if these were from Bare roots or pots as these were inherited from the previous owners. I think you can't go too wrong with potted roses though, I really haven't had any luck with bare roots. You could ask when you buy it if it's freshly potted.