If you like purple, and a very natural look, consider Mr. Bluebird from Rogue Valley Roses. I have one and just ordered three more for just such places as you describe. I almost think of it as a companion plant because it doesn't have the typical fluffy rose look of which I'm beginning to tire. It's a china or polyantha, depending on whom you ask, and is supposed to be a prolific bloomer. Best of all, it stays small, great for the front row.

Ingrid

Try the mini rose Green Ice--small white blooms with a hint of green sometimes. It may reach 1.5 ft tall and sprawls a lot. It's a great smaller rose, and rarely has any disease problems.

Kate

Ingrid, I wouldn't mind having a simple bloom as a contrast to what I already have (similar to what you said). Mr. Bluebird looks lovely, do you have any photos of yours? There aren't that many on HMF. It might look really pretty with the more raspberry-ish tones of William Shakespeare 2000??

I wouldn't mind a single white that has that old wild look, either. (I wonder how prolific simplex is...?)

Of the roses I grow, I would choose these to put in front of a bed:
Perle d'Or - a china that can grow to 6', but you can keep trimmed down to about 3'. Cute little blooms and almost thornless.
Gruss An Aachen - floribunda with big beautiful blooms on a small plant. This one is new to me this year, but already one of my favorites.
Flower Carpet - modern, but very disease resistant and easy to care for.
I would second a polyantha. They generally stay small and bloom well.
And you may also want to check into a mini. I only grow a couple, but they seem to be prolific bloomers.
As for Austins, you could probably keep Tamora at around 3'.

Kate, Green Ice is very pretty! Thankyou!

I was considering one of Paul Barden's roses, Golden Buddha, too... about 2-3', heat tolerant.

Holley - I love Perle d'Or, it was already on my list... how hard is it to keep it small though... doesn't it tend to get big like Cecile Brunner?

I had no idea that Gruss An Aachen was a smaller rose.... I've been admiring people's photos of that for a while. That's definitely something to consider. Does it really do ok in the heat, though?

I'm not adverse to Flower Carpet or a polyantha either. I'm also interested in Minis. I've seen and like Cinderella.

Princess Marianna is a lovely pale pink that stays small and blooms alot.

As a class, I would go with the polyanthas. Many are nearly continuous bloomers. There are a few over 4' but most stay under 3,' are usually verynhardy and require little maintenance. Vintage Gardens and Roses Unlimited both have good selections. Since VG has pictures for most of their roses, plus decriptionof the class, visit their website.

I'd be a litte wary of Perle d'Or since I've seen pictures where it was eight feet tall and just as wide and mine was easily 5 x 6 feet and that was with pruning. I'm sorry I don't have a photo of Mr. Bluebird but in my opinion you simply can't go wrong with this rose. Also, would you be interested in mixing in companion plants that are not roses? It can make a huge difference in the beauty and interest of your garden. Roses by themselves can look a little tedious and companion plants also attract beneficial insects and birds. Diversity always makes for a healthier garden environment and also gives a softer, more natural look.

Ingrid

I wonder if polyanthas will do ok in our alkaline clay soil. I amend as I plant, but yeah.

After looking a bit, I was interested in:
Mr. Bluebird
KORDES' Lion's Fairy Tale
KORDES' Kosmos Fairy Tale
Marie Pavie
Simplex
Paquerette
Pomponella
Baby Ballerina
Green Ice
Golden Buddha
Princess Marianna
Gruss An Aachen

(or anything similar really)

Ingrid, if I can stand it, I'm probably going to wait till next year to buy. I'm just kind of researching right now. I'm not sure where I need smaller ones yet, I need to think about it for a while.

but after I get my larger plants in well in the front, I'm going to be adding more companion plants. I just figured it might be fun to have some low growing roses, too.
In the back I already have a lot of companions... a lot of penstemon, chinese foxglove, lavender, daisies, lambs ear, nepeta, etc,... :)

Green Ice is superb, you can use it as a ground cover. Grus an Aachen is a wonderful rose and it is fragrant, even shade tolerant. I just planted the pink Grussie but it hasn't bloomed yet. Lion's rose, I am told by Hoovb stays 3' in SouthernCal, so it is OK, here on the east coast it has become a climber. Snowbird seems to be a low growing old fashioned very nice white rose, Bolero is a low growing fragrant bloom machine.

Marie Pavie here gets 4'-5' tall just as Perle d'Or - actually for me it is easier to keep Perle lower but our climate is so different.

ceterum, thanks so much for going through my list! I really appreciate it.

I really think I have to get Grus an Aachen... I adore it... I'll have to do some serious thinking about the others. I really like Lion's rose though, too.

and any rose that is really really groundcovery like you say bolero and green ice are sounds really interesting to me.

That is how my border developed....I added the low growing roses last in between the larger ones. The ones I have that have worked well are flower carpet pink, and flower carpet apple blossom, gruss an aachen (love it!) china doll (not blooming yet in the pic) palmengartner frankfurt, lilian austin and a pink mini called "my favorite one" . Oh, and sweet chariot is in there too but not blooming yet. I went with pinks to carry the color along the border:
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You would adore Bolero. Apropos, Louise Stone would also do very well for you - here it does getsome bs, but in California I am sure it is clean - also a petaled packed white with apricot hues.

In case you are considering low growing Hts as well, I have 2 Elle for 4 or 5 years and at least in my garden it is lower than either Marie Pavie or Clotilde Soupert. Very fragrant and a good bloomer, fast repeater.

I try to find the tag of a pink rose I planted this sping that is very low, has many petaled full blooms, almost cabbage like but opened without any problems and acts like almost a ground cover. Has very clean and, may I add, beautiful foliage (here in coastal NC!!!) and the blooms were absolutely beautiful - looked like an Austin but I know that it is not an Austin - either a Harkness or a Kordes or maybe a Fryer rose; I must be crazy not to have the label by hand. As soon as I found it I let you know ASASP that is positively a front of the bed rose: it grows sideways not upward, LOL.

Bolero is Meilland floribunda 2004, right?

I didn't see Apropos, Louise Stone on HMF, do you have more information?

Do you mean Louisa Stone (Harkness 1997?) if so... I LOVE that one. the white-ish peach color is perfect.

Elle looks gorgeous, too. How big is yours? I'd prefer something 3' or smaller.

thanks a bunch for all the suggestions!

Sorry, by "apropos" I meant "by the way". And yes, I did referred to the Harkness' Louisa Stone. Elle is positively under 3' here, smaller than Clotilde S. much lower than Marie Pavie, maybe even lower than Louisa Stone but in that one I am not so sure since MP and CS are in the same row along the driveway with Elle while LS and Bolero are in another bed. Elle likes to grow sideways. Very fragrant, so I cut sometimes for the house but the flowers don't last very long -strange for a HT, especially for a Romantica.

Here is Bolero, the Romantica flori. Super rose! Mine came from Northland Rosarium.

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I wonder if you might like Sea Foam or Popcorn.

These do very well for me as ground covers as they tend to sprawl in my garden....haven't grown higher than 3 feet.

These are white in color that looks really good at night in the garden border.

Audrey :)

I would check with some others who grow Elle in your region before I picked it. In my garden (Zone 6 KS), Elle is not a particularly smaller rose. It grows about 3.5 to 4 ft and is a rather stiff upright rose--not what I picture as a front-of-bed rose. But, of course, roses will respond differently in different regions.

Kate

seafoam is lovely, but... wow, I really like popcorn!

I really like the idea of a super pale rose that will mix well with everything

Now that I looked at the J&P website I should ask, do you have Our Lady of Guadalupe? Ask around but here on the east coast it is a low growing, very prolific bloomer, two-toned pink with a silvery sheen. I have no idea about its size in CA.

Sorry for the typo abut Grussy it isn't Grus but Gruss an Aachen (greeting from Aachen).

Cass recommended me a wonderful mini, Gentle Maid as front of the bed rose I still have it and it does very well. I got it from Pickering, I don't know who else has it. Its a very double, disease resistant Harkness rose. It has never reached 2' - is it too small/low?

There are many more that you may like, I give you the link to the page, maybe you find something you like. You have a lot of white by mow, so here are some other pastels (and not pastels but those can be disregarded).

Cafe Ole is absolutely stunning! I had one own root in a pot but during our drought I lost it. I try to remember to order it grafted, it must be stronger. Very fragrant indeed. Since it is a R. Moore rose it must be widely available in California.

Here is a link that might be useful: patio, miniature and miniflora roses

Thanks again, I like Our Lady of Guadalupe, too.

I'll obsess about these for a while and make some preorders later in the summer. :)

I believe this was probably my first miniature when I first got into roses in the 80's. In my warm climate it truly stays low to the ground. It's a Ralph Moore mini from the 50's called Spring Song. It's in bloom as I type and I took a picture of it. Available from Chamblees where they call it a climber and will not be swayed by the evidence to the contrary....Btw, I grew Cinderella and had to find her a new home. Hard to believe on those small blooms that hundreds of Thrips could spend the dinner hour there, but they did and it looked pretty bad once they showed up.
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