We have very different zones, but I have something that might work for you. In my rose and perennial bed I've got a shrub on a standard which basically sizes out at a small accent tree. Mine is a Centerglow Ninebark which says it tops out at zone 8, but there are other varieties that will work in zone 8. Measurements put it at 8-10' mature height and 6-8' wide. This is one tough shrub in my zone and takes pruning well so you could keep it narrower to prevent to much shading of your roses. My favorite part about this variety is all the different colors the leaves turn throughout the year and it isn't a dense foliage. Not sure about availability abroad as it is a North American native plant.

Bart,
This is a question I've had on my mind as well, and one to which I don't have an answer living in my garden (yet). I was thinking about a columnar juniper of moderate dimensions. The Californians would have the definitive answer, I think. If box does well for you there's also the narrowly columnar 'Graham Blandy', which is an impressive plant. I find box has a hard time getting started in my full sun and heavy soil; it seems happier in part shade or understory conditions here. I'm not terribly knowledgeable about Italian cypresses, though we have them in our garden, but don't remember to have seen or heard of dwarf forms; and the tree-sized plants would be out of scale if there were no other trees or large shrubs around. I've heard that it's difficult to grow other plants around Italian cypresses, and in fact have heard them proposed as fire-inhibiting plants for this reason. They're some of the most drought-tolerant plants in our garden, definitely not water hogs, at least, not in heavy soil in a region with adequate annual rainfall. We don't water ours in summer and they don't mind at all.
Have you gotten enough rain by now? We're caught up for the time being, thank goodness; and the rose flowering season is starting. I hope we get some pleasant spring weather soon.
Melissa
P.S. One way I'm trying to supply narrow vertical height in the garden is by growing clematis in cages. How successful this will be remains to be seen, but clematis seem surprisingly happy in heavy soil and full sun, even with dry summers. I think that clay stays nice and cool.

I planted two cypresses on either side of the top of my driveway. I bought them as one-gallon plants and they were more or less planted at the same time as the roses around one of them. Perhaps because they grew up together I haven't seen any effect that the cypresses have on the roses and they seem to co-exist happily together. The roses I planted near the other cypress after it had already grown considerably are also doing very well. I will say though that I water the roses thoroughly so this might have an effect on the success of this venture. I also have some columnar junipers which are much shorter among the roses but they do need some trimming to stay narrow enough, which is not a big chore. There again that area gets watered quite a bit. I don't water the cypresses themselves much at all; they don't seem to need it.

Ingrid

I do not know if 'Tiny Tower' Italian Cypress is available in Italy, but it fits the bill. Dwarf version of the Italian Cypress, very nice.

Here is a link that might be useful: tiny tower

Have you considered pruning either ilex crenata or even bay into a topiary shape - much faster than you might imagine. Ligustrum japonica (privet) is also effective, especially if you fancy having a go at cloud pruning. Irish yew, especially the golden form is also a good possibility while their is a rather lovely sorbus called autumn spire (I think, but it is definately a fastigiate rowan) but also the smaller rowans (cashmeriana, vilmorinii or even huphehensis might work. A very daint tree (but not especially upright, is the little rose acacia R.kelseyii 'Rouge Cascade', very lovely pendulous shell pink flower clusters, droughtproof and beautiful foliage. Finally, how about going in for upright fruit trees - apples will grow as a single vertical cordon or can be trained into fantastical shapes such as the lollipop standard. Talking of standards , you could really push the boat out and try either grapes or wisteria grown as tight freestanding and very sculptural forms. I cannot speak too highly of the effect of a tree, any tree, to give a garden heft and depth.

Another thought, Bart, are you familiar with holly 'Sky Pencil'? Don't know if this variety would be available in Italy, but its very nice, stays very thin, and is supposedly adaptable, although I don't know how drought tolerant it would be. Anyway, here's a link

Here is a link that might be useful: Holly Sky Pencil

Not a tree, but there is a wonderful garden here with acres of antique roses, and the owners have planted dozens of very tall, white foxgloves among & around the roses (which are arranged in garden "rooms" bordered by climbing roses on structures). Another vertical accent - they contrast in shape and color with the roses, and the overall effect is stunning.

Jackie

Jackie,

I would love to see if you have a picture that you can share with the public.

I just planted a tiny start of a lilac bush in the center of a flower bed. The roses are arranged in a half moon around where the baby lilac is started. I put salvias, delphiniums and fox glove around it thinking they will provide both fill and background until the new roses and lilac have a chance to get bigger.

I forgot about yews, and second Suzy's suggestion of them. I have three of them in full sun and gray clay, growing slowly; I'd say they're the right dimensions. Ilex is iffy for me, while it grows fine down in the alluvial soils down in town, five miles away in the valley bottom. Yes, you can keep bay pruned to a broad column, but in my garden it hates an exposed, sunny, windy area. I lost two young plants that had suffered through last summer and then had the coup de grace administered by February's freeze. They're great in a shady protected spot.
Melissa

Y'all are just mind readers. Tomorrow we are planting my new garden (well, two divided by a large walk). They each include a half-moon of roses with Irish Juniper in large pots in the center!

The cultivar is called 'Stove Pipe', although I'm sure there are others. I already have an arc of them in the lawn near these new beds. They grow slowly enough that I don't think they'll get out of scale. They are to mimic the Italian cypresses :) They grow much more easily for me here than the real thing.

The pots have the bottoms removed. They are just there for design reasons.

Can y'all grow junipers well where you are? There are a few choices that make skinny accents that don't get too large, I think.

Umm, yes, I confess to offering bad advice since my bay also suffered this year.....however, the reason I suggested it was that after the freezy winds had done for all the outer leaves, Mr Campanula reluctantly climbed on a stepladder (I avoid this sort of acrobatic gardening) and set up string lines and clipped the whole thing into a surprisingly graceful column. It looks rather good as the centre of my (scrubby) herb bed and I got to scrabble around the previously unreachable trunk on a search and destroy couchgrass mission.
I do think that junipers, in all their varied forms, are really rather good plants.

As it happens, I've been putting in some small trees recently. I don't know if they would fit the bill for what you want, or whether they'd even be available in Italy, but I'll describe some recent additions.

Parkinsonia 'Desert Museum' is a thornless palo verde. It is drought tolerant once established and quick growing. It has wispy foliage so as not to shade out roses planted close to/underneath its branches. The trunk is green and the flowers are yellow. I have it planted in a grouping with Excellenz von Schubert, Rene d'Anjou, William's Double Yellow, R. minutifolia 'Pure Bea' and R. minutifolia. Desert Museum is from the pea family, known for its nitrogen-fixing capabilities. I got mine at the local botanic garden's plant sale last November. It has been blooming steadily since then!!! See pics and info here:

http://ag.arizona.edu/pima/gardening/aridplants/Parkinsonia_aculeata_hybrid.html

http://arboretum.arizona.edu/taxa/Parkinsonia_x_Desert_Museum.html

http://desertplantguide.com/trees/desert-museum-palo-verde

Another newcomer is Cercocarpus traskiae (Catalina Island Mountain Mahogany). It too is a nitrogen fixer. I saw one planted at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in a bed where it was surrounded by the species rose R. pinetorum--lovely sight! CT is a large shrub/small tree and is very rare. Offered for sale only once a year at RSABG which is preserving it in case the last natural stand dies out.

http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/collection/cpc_viewprofile.asp?CPCNum=872

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This plant would likely be hard to find in a nursery, but one of the other mountain mahoganies could be possible.

The third newbie is Citriodora Monterey cypress. The lemon-lime foliage color adds a vertical splash of cheer, and although it may get big eventually, it is pokey slow in getting there.

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/eastbaywilds/3861629906/

http://www.yerbabuenanursery.com/viewplant.php?pid=1573

http://www.examiner.com/article/not-all-monterey-cypress-get-too-big-too-fast-1

Melissa

Kippy-the-Hippy - if you click on the below link, it should take you to a page on Vintage Gardens web site where there is a "virtual tour of the gardens" - watch it, it is amazing. I just did, and saw that they use a variety of vertical accents.

http://www.vintagegardens.com/about.html

Jackie

A tree's root system goes way out in every direction (easily 2 and a half times the canopy diameter), and those roots are serious competition for roses. I have a small (8Ft) tulip magnolia in one corner of my garden; the HM rose Vanity is doing well on the fence but I am having difficulty getting any perennials going. Normally tough plants like Gaillardia, Stella d'Oro daylily, and coneflower just sit there, not growing and barely blooming.
I once put in a pair of rose hedges-- Rosarie de l'Hay and Sarah van Fleet. Rosarie thrived, but Sarah van Fleet was too near a silver maple and I never got the nice row of uniform bushes I was looking for.
The best way to grow a tree is with a nice big mulch circle that extends at least to the edge of the tree's canopy, with nothing planted under the tree.
So if I were placing a tree within my rose garden it would definitely be in a pot!

I got to visit Stephen Scanniello's garden in Barnegat, NJ, and he is very fond of columnar trees as accents, and they look great. I don't recall what varieties he had, but they were evergreen and very nice punctuation marks to offset the roses and other plants.
Anita

I got to visit Stephen Scanniello's garden in Barnegat, NJ, and he is very fond of columnar trees as accents, and they look great. I don't recall what varieties he had, but they were evergreen and very nice punctuation marks to offset the roses and other plants.
Anita

Thanks, everyone, for your helpful and interesting comments and suggestions;I hope to hear more. But in the mean time I'm going to start Google-ing plants mentioned...@Melissa We did get some good rain, though not nearly enough to make up the deficit. I think that it will be necessary to ration water over summer; the rivers are by no means even close to full, though they look better than they did. And I'm grateful for what we did get; hopefully my garden is saved. How about you? regards, bart

I grow citrus with my evergreen roses so I have lots of color (and fruit) in winter.

I'm espaliering a 'Mandarin Orange' to form a wide wall of orange fruit with glossy green leaves, in back of two Old Garden Tea roses; 'Monsieur Tillier' and 'Rosette Delizy'
and I also have a 'Meyer Lemon Improved' espaliered near an espaliered 'Mermaid'
I'm also espaliering a 'Gold Nugget' citrus in back of of an arch of two climbing 'Cecille Brunner'. I think the view will be very pretty when the 3 plants have grown larger.
Fruit trees can also be pruned in a columnar shape, my mother did this with apple trees.

Good luck,
Luxrosa

Lux,

I would love to see some photos of your espaliered citrus. I put in several new ones this year with the thought that I would like to espalier them.

Kippy

I was going to suggest Japanese Sky Pencil Holly, too, though it does like acidic conditions. Here's some photos.

https://www.google.com/search?q=japanese+pencil+holly&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=LF6&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=1tihT5muCKHU2AXR7KDbCA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CCQQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=536&sei=9tihT6fzFsOM2gWJ0cTtCA

I didn't buy it since my soil is neutral, but I did buy a few Ilex crenata compacta Japanese holly, and they do fine. I like the teeny, round, dark green leaves on them. They different...and very handsome.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Hi, Bart!
Apparently we did better with the April rains than you did; I think water supplies are now adequate, and no one's talking any more about drought up here. We got a good rain the day before yesterday, possibly an inch, and I was glad, as a couple of snowball bushes planted last fall had begun to droop, and digging in the propagating beds I discovered that the ground was quite dry...this surprised me. But not any more, and today the sky is dawning sweet and clear, and I do believe it's spring.
N.B. is your garden listed on Helpmefind? I'm curious to know what varities of rose you have.
Enjoy your roses!
Melissa

Bart, what about a standard Lagerstoemia indica?
They are deciduous and flower later in the summer, when perhaps the roses are in between flushes.
Daisy

Hi, Melissa! I wanted to thank you for your interest in my garden. It's not on HMF...yet. At present, I am spending so much on actually making the garden that I can't really justify spending more money on HMF membership, but hopefully in the future that will change, once I've gotten the main garden basically established. Mainly I have climbers,Austins, teas, noisettes and chinas...no HT's.
Daisy, I've thought of Laerstroemia, too, but in a different context. For now, I am concentrating on extending my season of flowers in the sense of having it start earlier,mainly. Because of the way the climate is here (hot, dry summers)and the fact that I depend on rainfall for irrigation, I have not had much luck with stuff that flowers in late summer ,so far. ButI haven't given up! It's just that first I want to concentrate on spring flowering...regards, bart

Bart,
You're quite welcome, but you know, there's some intelligent self-interest at work as well. I don't know enough gardeners, especially in Italy, and fellow gardeners are a resource. It's a moral support just to know that someone else is interested in what interests me! Then, I can share information with someone who's gardening in possibly similar conditions; and there's the possibility of being able to exchange cuttings. Many roses are fairly easy to grow from cuttings, and most of the roses I grow come well from cuttings and don't present the problems of suckering rootstocks that are such a problem with grafted roses. So if I want a certain rose, I'd actually rather get cuttings of it rather than a grafted plant, and not just for reasons of cost.
Anyway, I'm happy when I meet a potential gardening friend. About Helpmefind, do you have to be a paying member to be able to list your garden? I have an impression that that's not the case, but could be mistaken.
Looking out the window as I type I can see the metallic orange-and-gold blooms of 'Clementina Carbonieri' above the purplish-lilac blooms of the sage that's coming into bloom, all rather blurred because I'm not wearing my glasses. The weather is dull today, and so am I, but even so the garden offers its rewards.
Melissa
P.S. I've decided I'm going to add a number of smaller columnar yews to my own garden, in narrow beds where height is needed. I'll wait until fall to put them in so they don't have to suffer through the summer drought.

O, are you ever right about the importance of being able to exchange knowledge, experience, etc. with fellow gardeners! I really started to learn and make progress finally in gardening once I joined the PB rose forum;later the PZ one, and now this . I don't have any experience with doing cuttings; another project for the future...
I guess I'll try posting about HMF on the forums, to see if I could list my garden for free. Not to be cheap, but for now... regards, bart P.S. we are getting more rain!!! yippee!!!

Bart, I wanted to jump in and tell you what I use for vertical accents among my roses because I'm so happy with them, but you did say that your were interested in something columnar. Then Daisy mentioned Lagerstroemia, one of the trees I use, and you mentioned you might use one when you get ready for a different context. At that time you might consider some of these flowering trees (basically all flowering shrubs or shrubby trees that I train into tree forms).

You mentioned that your climate is dry and you haven't had much luck with stuff that flowers in late summer. I live in Texas - very dry, not as dry as Arizona, but definitely dry. My favorite small flowering tree is chilopsis linearis or Desert Willow. I don't know if you would be able to get any where you are, but I LOVE them. They have erratic branching that is so interesting that it just cries out for someone to draw or paint them. Not formal, though, which you probably prefer. I have several of these planted among my roses - three that bloom pinkie-lavender, one that blooms white, and a very large one that blooms burgundy all summer. It starts in April and doesn't stop blooming until late September or October. It gives light dappled shade which the roses welcome in the heat of the summer. So when you decide to try another context, maybe you'll keep this one in mind.

Another flowering shrub that I train tree-form is althea or Rose of Sharon. My largest is Helene with white flowers that have dark red hearts. This one is about 10ft tall. It begins to bloom in May and doesn't stop until September. Another I have is Aphrodite with huge pink flowrs/red hearts looking like a hibiscus. This tree is still about 8ft. and has already been blooming a month.

The third flowering tree I use is lagerstroemia indica or crape myrtle as Daisy said. I have Glendora White which gets really large, Tuscarora - to about 15ft, and several bright pink seedling trees from my neighbor's trees - they grew to heights of 25ft. All these are trained tree-form so that the roses can happily grow beneath them.

Another gorgeous small tree-form - evergreen - I have is Texas Mountain Laurel or sophora secundiflora, but it only blooms in the spring. Lovely lilac-like clusters that smell of grape kool-aid.

So forgive me for not sticking to the columnar shape, but these are just suggestions - for what they're worth to you or anyone else. Lou

Thank you for your input, Lou,and please don't apologize for not limiting yourself to mentioning columnar trees; I'm open to all ideas, really.I like the idea of that Desert Willow, too, and looked it up. But I am not at all sure that I could find this here in Italy...regards, bart