I would recommend Gertrude Jekyll for colder zones. It is very hardy. I don't have too much trouble with blackspot in my no spray zone 5a garden although Lady Emma Hamilton sure gets some. Mary Rose is also good. Rugosa roses such as Pierette Pavement or Foxy Pavement are another alternative. Hardy Buck roses like Earth Song or Country Dancer are also hardy and disease resistant but, like rugosas, do not have old fashioned bloom form. Easy Elegance roses are also disease resistant.

Kay, I can't think of any rose that's going to be that dense. I've done similarly with Iceberg here, which works well, particularly when you hand select the plants for lack of prickles. They DO vary quite a bit! Four feet isn't very tall for the roses we're discussing and the whole area only appears to be about four by three feet, which also isn't very large. Personally, I'd think you would be MUCH better off using something like a Myrtis communis compacta, Dwarf Myrtle. If you want to form it like that so it's dense and perfect, you can form a chicken wire cage to the size and shape you desire, then plant it densely with the Dwarf Myrtle, keeping it trimmed tightly to the wire form, as they do for topiary. It is ever green; nothing eats it; it smells heavenly; grows virtually anywhere, in any level of sun; flowers nicely with attractive blue berries which don't stain and aren't poisonous; and it gets very dense and soft. It would be beautiful and it wouldn't bite the mail man (or you!). Plus, there is NO deadheading to keep it flowering and it doesn't get ANY fungal diseases. What could be more perfect? Kim Here is a link that might be useful: Myrtis communis compacta

The shrubs suggested will all work fine in that location. While the statement "nothing really ever stops growing at some magical height ... " is more true than not with trees, it is not entirely accurate with shrubs. There are dozens of shrubs that will literally stop putting on any significant growth once they have reached their projected mature size and others that will continue to develop in height, attaining almost tree-like proportions. The ones listed all fit into the first category :-)) No direct sun is a different situation than full shade. Unless there is a wide overhang from the house or garage roof and no close by large trees casting shade, the north side of a structure typically offers bright but indirect light. That should increase your choices. I am going to take a wild guess from your screen name that you are located in Oklahoma? All I know about gardening in OK I've gathered by watching an old HGTV program, Gardening by the Yard, with Paul James. Paul lived and gardened in Tulsa and most of the show was filmed in his personal garden. IIRC, he could grow a very wide range of plants, almost what I could here in my warmer, northwest coastal climate. The only thing I don't recall clearly was soil pH -- not sure how well he could do the acid loving Ericaceous stuff like rhodies and azaleas or pieris. If available in local garden centers, then it must be okay! And if you are not located in OK, then ignore this :-) Other small shrubs you could consider are the above mentiooned evergreen azaleas, dwarf rhodies and pieris, Leucothoe 'Scarletta', 'Gold Mops' or 'Golden Charm' threadleaf cypress, Viburnum davidii, even some of the more compact hydrangeas, like the Endless Summer series. And if your planned boxwood is indeed 'Wintergreen', it is not a Buxus microphylla (Japanese boxwood) but Buxus sinica var. insularis, or Korean boxwood. The big difference as far as you are concerned is that Korean boxwood is hardier and also much more compact. Although relatively slow growing, Japanese boxwood can get big! btw, rejuvenation pruning is seldom applied to broadleaf evergreen shrubs - this is a technique that is most appropriate to deciduous flowering shrubs, especially "caning" shrubs or those that produce multiple stems from the root crown.

I second William Shakespeare 2000--wonderful bloom. But you might also consider an Austin descendent bred by Clements called Braveheart--gorgeous red that never fades to purple like Shakespeare 2000. Braveheart is available at Heirloom Roses as a small band and at Roses Unlimited (where I got mine) in a much larger pot. If you use the search function above, you can probably find the pics of it that I posted several times before. Kate