Roses Love Garlic: Companion Planting and Other Secrets of Flowers

by Louise Riotte

From deterring insect pests with hot peppers to encouraging strawberries by bordering them with chrysanthemums, Louise Riotte shows you how to use the natural qualities of common plants to increase your garden’s productivity. Roses Love Garlic profiles hundreds of plants, features sample garden designs, and includes recipes for using your harvest to make herbal cosmetics, medicinal mixtures, and plant-based dyes. You’ll enjoy learning about the fascinating ways plants work together as you tend to a thriving and bountiful garden. 

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Reference, Nature, Plants

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Beloved Storey author and life-long gardener Louise Riotte passed away in 1998 at the age of 89. She wrote 12 books on gardening, companion planting, and garden lore, among them the ever-popular Carrots Love Tomatoes, which has sold approximately 515,000 copies. Her father taught her to believe in and practice astrology, while her mother was a practicing herbalist. Together they inevitably influenced her life and her books, Roses Love Garlic, Astrological Gardening, Sleeping with a Sunflower, Catfish Ponds & Lily Pads, and her most recent book, Raising Animals by the Moon. Her own line drawings are included in all her books. Before authoring books, Riotte was a ghost writer for Simon & Schuster and for Jerry Baker's radio gardening show, and she also wrote a number of articles for Organic Gardening. Riotte took pride in her garden near her home in Ardmore, Oklahoma, which her son Eugene helped care for in her later years.

- from Amazon

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel guilty rating this at 2 stars, since the amount of work that went into this book is obvious. It has depth, rare knowledge, and a personality.

However, the organization is untenable. I started this book because I wanted to know what sorts of edible plants I could plant alongside perennial or annual flowers to make my edible garden a reality. In reality, only about 20 pages of this book relate to this topic, despite it being the namesake. There is a lot of knowledge crammed in here, most often randomly. Knowing what I know now about the authors life, and how this was their last book, it makes sense. She wanted to leave her knowledge behind for a next generation, which I respect immensely.

None of this makes up for the fact that the book wasn't as advertised, and I still wasn't able to find what edible plants work with tulip.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once there was a partly shaded rosebush at the entrance to myLaguna Beach home-I rented, so I couldn't remove the rosebush to a sunnier spot, and the coastal fog rolled in and over this rose bush. It was being eaten alive by aphids. I planted organic garlic bulbs in it's dirt after reading Roses Love Garlic...>/i> , and the new rose leaves grew in full and healthy and the aphids disappeared. I even remember it flowering, and it turned out to be a red rose.

[Sarah Alawami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the info in book.

[Sébastien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd order two

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is handicapped by the unfortunate disconnect between the title and content, only a small percentage of which is related to companion planting. It is a topsy-turvy collection of folksy advice and snippets of wisdom that reminds me of a grandmother’s scribbled notes in a journal. So it’s not that this isn’t a useful compilation of garden advice, but it’s more like a chaotic meadow compared to a well -designed perennial border. There’s beauty in both, but your eye just doesn’t know where to start in a meadow scene. And you’ve got to wade through an awful lot of milkweed to find the roses OR the garlic.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Carrots Love Tomatoes by the same author so thought I’d check this out - thinking about the small garden this spring and any seeds to start...

Do love books like these, additional information about companion type “hacks” or aids.

[Onceinabluemoon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cover is so cute but didn't live up to my expectations...

[Kimberly Sevilla]

Great follow up to Carrots love Tomatoes . Last book that Louise wrote. What a great treasure to have.

[Ash · Rating 2 out of 5]

Outdated and not what I was thinking

[Cynthia Wheelehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice introduction to all things companion planting can be used for besides beauty…. A fun and unexpected read…

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good tips (plant banana peels next to roses) some fun crafts (dying Easter eggs with onion skins), some outdated information (recommendation to plant Autumn Olive - now considered invasive).

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Carrots Love Tomatoes so much that perhaps my hopes were too high for this book. Although there is some useful information, most of the flowers and plants in the book aren't things a majority of people would plant or even have access to. For example a patchouli plant. My biggest takeaway from this book sadly, is that most bulbs are toxic, so don't eat them. Lol ok, I wasn't planning on it.

[Lesli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference. This works sort of like a dictionary. There are entries for various plants with short blurbs about what or what not to plant together. Riotte also covers a variety of topics like pests and planning. Definitely worth the read and the space on your shelf if you are hoping to make the most of your flower garden.

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains clear and helpful information on dozens of vegetables, herbs, and flowers in an easy-to-find index and chapter system. I highly recommend it!

Writing: B
Plot: B
Vocabulary: Easy
Level: Moderate
Rating: G
Worldview: Descriptive

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to look at this one earlier next year. I also need to save some more money to do anything I want to do from this book. Lots of good things coming, but this year I'm focusing more on the herbs and veggies.

[Slee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking for a lot of information about plants and whom they'd like to be planted with? This is the book you're looking for.
Let's face it, some plants just need to not be planted by others, and it's always good to know who they are.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good easy reading introduction to companion planting, I use it infrequently when planning my next seasons planting.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

lots of great info

[Noelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

a few good pointers, but not as indepth as Riotte's first book "Tomatoes Love Carrots"...still good to have as a reference book.

[kyle Wilcox · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good reference for gardeners!

[Jen Healey · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lot of work has gone into this book! An absolute treasure trove of practical knowledge and guidance from a woman who obviously knows her onions (and their benefits). Recommended.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

good reference tool. I'll be using this when I plan my garden

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found Carrots Love Tomatoes to be useful and thought this would be similar but flower-focused. This just seemed random and disjointed.

[Laura Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely useful for any gardener.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid sequel to "Carrots Love Tomatoes" with the focus on ornamental flowers as companions, but still with the same flaws in writing style and format. An encyclopedic layout but no real sense of organization. Many of the articles are not based on specific plants, but are more random like "high blood pressure", "eyes", "rose facial mask", and "plants with party tricks". Not a bad thing, but it's sometimes odd: "sharing" and "older citizens with green thumbs". Still, there are some gems of wisdom sprinkled about, and it's fun to flip around and read random tidbits of thought from a woman who so clearly loved to have her hands in the dirt.