Lavaglut would be my first suggestion in case you like very dark red roses. The blooms stay on the plant for a long time and the foliage is superb.

Bolero and Yves Piaget (Romantica series) would be also nice though Yves Piaget gets blackspot. Both are very fragrant. Buck's Prairie Sunrise is a very beautiful apricot/peach.

Snowbird (was a slow starter from a rooted cutting) became one of my favorites from year three.

Clotilde Soupert is a very nice and very fragrant polyantha, still 3' tall, so that would also fit your requirement. If balling and powdery mildew are problems in your area, then you may not want to consider her but as to blackspot resistance it is a good rose.

Jubilee celebration looks like it would be low, around 3', but I have planted it only a year ago so I am not so sure yet.

Since these roses stay low, around 3' for me in zone 8, I assume they would also be low growers in zone 6.

Home Run. Disease resistant, child of Knock Out, true red. Should stay around 3' - 4' tall, can be trimmed back to 3' if needed. Knock Out gets 5' - 6' tall, cherry red to hot pink, can be trimmed back, but would be more work. Blushing Knock Out, light pink, shorter than Knock Out (3' - 5'). Pink Knock Out, pink, around the same height as Knock Out. For a yellow, Carefree Sunshine, 3' - 5'. And maybe, just maybe this year we will see Sunny Knock Out, the yellow version of the popular shrub (no photos at Helpmefind.com).

Also Double Knock Out and Pink Double Knock Out, same colors as the ones names above but more petals and fuller flowers.

You should be able to find all (except maybe Sunny KO, it is a new introduction this year) at local garden centers. Knock Out is the biggest selling rose in the US, and it isn't hard to find early in the season (May and June).

Here is a link that might be useful: The Knock Out Rose Family

Thanks for the advice!

Ceterum - Thanks for all the suggestions. Buck's Prairie sunrise looks superb and is a definite contender - and from the temperamental status of the rose bush we inherited with our house, I would say that mildew and/or black spot are problems here. So a Buck's rose might do the trick.

Diane - I do like the Knock out roses - I have a few in my side yard already - thanks for that! The 'Sunny' yellow ones are really pretty.

I just started getting into roses last year - and have the mystery HT in the front (that is sooo pretty in spring but a pain in the bum to keep healthy), plus I bought a really pretty Charles Aznavour, Livin' Easy (for that pop of pure orange) and a Darlow's Enigma for climbing on/around my deck.

I can see that this gets very addicting, quickly!!
:)

So these roses are to go behind wildflowers which are behind the rock?

I wonder if you would like Seafoam, a very healthy white blend groundcover rose. It blooms a lot and has very disease resistant foliage. It might be pretty with the river rock/wildflowers and wouldn't block the view of your house or any kind of bed you put behind it. Just a thought.

HMF lists it as hardy to zone 4b also.

Here is a link that might be useful: sea foam

Oooh! The Seafoam is nice too - how many hedges can I make?? LOL

Yeah, Duchesse, the thought is the rocks, the wildflowers, then a low 'hedge' of rose bushes... Hopefully it would look nice??? My husband and I are kind of making it up as we go along - are going for the cottage garden look along the house front (link below)

Here is a link that might be useful: http://picasaweb.google.com/rdubray/AdvicePlease

More Knockouts? Diane NJ - nothing else suffice?

I don't like it either. There isn't a lot that is really disease resistant here that would make a nice hedge. I'll admit that my knowledge and experience is still limited.

Bolero is nice, but it is really short, about 2' tall. I don't think Lavaglut is resistant here, but I'll need to confirm with some of my society members.

I'll pull out the list of roses that we have in the no-spray garden in Eatontown. From my head, they are Hot Cocoa, Knock Out, Home Run, Starry Night, Sunsprite, Bonica. A couple more that are escaping me. The Austins are hit-or-miss.

I put Olga's list somewhere, I'll have to find it. I welcome any other recommendations at any time.

Thanks for all the suggestions - I definitely have some reading to do - but that's half the fun, right?? ;-)

Although I'm no rose expert by any means, I think I'm leaning away from the Knock outs - as much as they're easy and disease free, I'm not that excited about their looks. I'm also not that fond of red roses - is that strange??? LOL

But Seafoam, Starry Night, Sunsprite - I like those a lot. Bonica looks nice too - but we already have a big pink rose bush that we inherited with the house in the front - it's lovely but enough pink in the rose department...

:) Rebecca

It's hard to know what to do. I can relate! I have a year old seafoam which is under pine trees and doesn't get enough sun - but it still blooms and is black spot free. Here's one of the first pictures I ever saw of sea foam from a garden in north Alabama.

I also thought of white as being a good color for a front hedge if you're not sure what you're going to do behind it. White goes with everything. Anyway - Good luck! and post pics after you're finished with it!

Here is a link that might be useful: another view of sea foam

I just bought an Electric Blanket floribunda and it is supposed to stay smallish and would make an outstanding hedge. It is a salmon pink Kordes rose.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:260280}}

Rebecca:

You are probably familar with Pappu's roses already. If you have not seen his hedge of Carefree Wonder there's a link for you.

HTH

Kate

Here is a link that might be useful: Carefree Wonder Hedge

Thanks again everyone!!

katefisher - Pappu's roses are ridiculously gorgeous. It's like seeing a master at something that is so much better than you that it makes you want to quit! lol

I think I'm leaning towards Sunsprite and Seafoam... So here is my next question. High Country Roses is sold out of Sunsprite for 2008 (boo hoo) - I had great luck with them last year.

I see Heirloom Roses has it - any comments/reviews on them? Does anyone else know of where is good to find these specific types of roses online - or in New Jersey???

Thanks all!!
Rebecca

Oh - and thanks for the electric blanket advice decobug!! It looks gorgeous too - but I'm taken with the yellow and I think white would be a nice contrast (plus, as I mentioned, we have a large pink unidentified rose bush in the front bed already)...

Here's a pic:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rdubray/AdvicePlease/photo#5189244841759752946

Here is a link that might be useful: mystery rose

Just keep in mind that the rose form of Seafoam is a lot different than Sunsprite...

Also, a band of Sunsprite from Heirloom would be tiny... Not sure how many you would need to create a hedge... It would be a good 3 years before you would have a hedge that looks like a hedge...

Sunsprite is not resistant everywhere at all. It is hit or miss.
Olga

I'm in Monmouth, two of the big garden centers here have Sunsprite (or will have it shortly). I'm kind of iffy on recommending Sunsprite as a hedge. I don't know that the form will be right.

And I've seen Electric Blanket here, it isn't resistant.

Hmmm...well, I'll have to find somewhere to put Sunsprite - I don't have a yellow rose yet and have a crush on it!!

freber, if you do decide to use a groundcover rose like seafoam, please remember that it is not going to make a neat hedge like the carefree wonders do in the pappu picture above. It is a groundcover. I don't deadhead mine; it just grows wild and I enjoy looking at it when I wander down by those trees. I do prune it back in the spring. It is thorny.

If you want a hedge that looks more like the carefree wonder picture, then seafoam is not for you! It depends on the look you're going for. Again - good luck!

I grow Lady Elsie May (shrub) along the west side of my porch and house, plus two in the front rose bed. I love the bright pinkish-coral color. They have been in for several years and stay around 3 ft. They bloom for about 10 months here and are maintenance free although I do occasionally deadhead a bit. No diseases or bugs but I am in a dry area. I'll link to a couple of pics - you'll have to scroll down the page a bit.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lady Elsie May

Thanks Duchesse - it is good to remind me about the overall look of a rose bush - it is way too easy to get carried away by how pretty the flowers are and forget about the rest of the greenery! lol

Hubby and I are changing our minds by the minute as to the direction we want to go for certain, but have some lovely specimens to consider for sure! I personally like the somewhat more wild look compared to the pristine hedge - so maybe seafoam as a groundcover somewhere would be a good thing...

Angelcub: Thanks so much for the recommendation - and the links to your gardens! WOW!!! Some gorgeous specimens there. I think I may need to move to California (or next to you / Pappu or some other master gardener...wait, on second thought - my modest efforts look much better next to people with ever green shrubs... lol) What is 'Arnold'? It's gorgeous.

:) Rebecca

Haha! Arnold is a CA. poppy. That one got so big I had to name him after our governator. ; ) They are everywhere this year thanks to all the rainfall and snow we got this past winter.

Btw, there is a house for sale on the hill next to me. 5 acres too! Come on out!

Diana