Have you considered something soft-yellow? I planted the clematis 'Niobe' next to the rose 'Yellow Sweetheart, Climbing' and love how the velvety dark red plays against the pale yellow. This pic isn't the best, but it gives you an idea.

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I'm considering trying some smaller pale yellow or near-white Teas in barrels next year, thinking they'd go nicely next to my barrels containing dark red and crimson Hybrid Teas (and annual fillers and spillers). I made myself a little list of possibilities, and among them are some which might work for you:

'Alexander Hill Gray' (possibly aka "Soncy")
'Alliance Franco-Russe'
'Etoile de Lyon'
'Isabella Sprunt' ('Safrano' sport)
'Le Pactole' (aka "Mc Ginnis Tea")
'Perle des Jardins'
'Safrano'

Of course, there are plenty of non-Teas which are also in this color range, but I'm mentioning these because they were already in the back of my head (for myself!).

I tried the "apricot next to dark red" thing when I put 'Golden Buddha' next to 'Prospero' and I have to say that I wasn't too thrilled about how they looked when they bloomed together, until 'Golden Buddha' faded a little. Rather than move the roses, I put a blue-flowered geranium and a leftover dusty miller in the space between them, which muted the clash. And I made a mental note to find something white to put there next year. If you have roses in the potential color you're thinking about, see how they look together in a bouquet.

:-)

~Christopher

I had a similar thought, that apricot wouldn't really be very compatible with the other colors. I think a darker pink would look very nice, as would white, cream or a pale yellow. I feel that too much contrast would take away from the harmony of the composition and confuse the eye.

Ingrid

Personally, I like apricot next to red. When I lived in the Dallas area, I planted Mrs. Oakley Fisher next to Madame Antoine Rebe, and I loved that combination. Some apricots can play tug of war between orange and pink, depending upon the temperatures, so I agree that not all apricots would look good with dark red.

If you like the idea of pale yellow, I can heartily recommend Lady Pamela Carol, one of ARE's Pioneer roses. I tried several yellow roses before I bought this one, and I found some yellows to be too harsh looking with my other roses. Lady Pamela Carol is a lovely (to my eyes) soft yellow and looks nice with all the roses around it. It blooms regularly for me, is healthy, fragrant and heat tolerant, and it will also produce big orange hips, if you like those. It is my favorite of all of the Pioneer roses.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lady Pamela Carol on HMFRoses

Hmm, such glorious indecision! So much opportunity to click through rose websites! I had given some thought to cream, but not pale, soft yellow. I'm looking forward to checking out the above suggestions.

I still think that the right shade of soft apricot (on the cream/pink side, not the gold/orange side) could work. When I emailed ARE asking for fragrant apricot roses, Mike Shoup suggested Abraham Darby, Star of the Republic, or Perle d'Or. Any thoughts about those? Or maybe Arethusa, Anson Jones, Jude the Obscure, or Tamora?

I'd also love ideas for pink roses (I know, there are no shortage of pink roses, but something that would be a distinct shade of pink compared to Belinda's Dream and Souvenir de la Malmaison). I love the looks of Comte de Chambord, although I have no desire to get a disease ridden plant that does not repeat well. Any suggestions in that color range? I've been thinking about Hermosa, Natchitoches (sp?) Noisette, Old Blush, or Le Vesuve; any comments? Wish I had room for Mrs. B.R. Cant! I also love the looks of Eden (Pierre Ronsard), but I'm not looking for a climber. Is there something suitably sized and healthy that would have a similar cream and pink combo?

Thanks for all thougts and suggestions.

Oh, and I forgot, any comments about G. Nabonnand or Gruss an Aachen?

Not sure how these might do in your zone, but:

What about Prairie Sunrise? It's an easy rose for me, a good bloomer and would probably fit into that spot. The flowers are full and fragrant.

If you'd like something a little paler and more peach than apricot, what about Antoine Rivoire?

Here are some suggestions, by color.

Apricot.
'Lady Hillingdon' can be kept to 4' by c. 4', by pruning back a bit in each season, this works best by never letting it get larger than 5' tall, what you do not want to do is to let it get very large and then try to prune it down a great deal because of its Tea blood. (some think it is actually a H.T. instead of a Tea rose) we've done this for a decade+ in a local public rose garden. It's a pretty apricot hue and has the most constant bloom of any of the 150+ Tea roses I've known or grown.

White-Cream
Westside Road Cream Tea
is white and blooms nearly constantly. It is as fragrant as Ducher but far more resistant to p.m.. in our no-spray garden. It has a pretty growth habit, twiggy and spreading and matures at just under 4' tall by nearly as wide. Roguevalley roses sold me my two plants.

Yellow
A.R.E. sells Moores 'Yellow Butterfly' an almost single yellow rose that has pretty foliage and is densely foliaged. Very disease resistant in our no spray garden. The canary yellow blooms fade to tissue paper-blotchy pink, but I just shake the bush to clean the petals off.
Etoile de Lyon' would be my first choice of a yellow rose. If I could find one. , i love its' fragrance which has been called "delicious" .

Pink
The polyantha ' Borderor' has dark green foliage and pretty pom pom shaped blooms, it is a darker pink than Cecille Brunner. It has a bit of fragrance.
'The Fairy' has a darker pink sport (I think its' called 'Pink Fairy) that would be excellent. it has attractive dark green foliage.
I like Tea class rosebushes and Polyantha roses in borders and rows because of their nearly constant bloom.
Did you know that Souvenir de la Malmaison is half Tea by breeding? It's why it re-blooms so quickly and plentifully.

Good luck choosing a great rose.
Luxrosa

I have Thomas Affleck in a bed with BELINDA'S DREAM and Madame Lombard. That bed also has Russian sage and other perennials. The colour contrast is great. Thomas is almost mauve in the cooler weather, but reads deep, dark pink in the summer. He is just gorgeous.

I have Thomas Affleck in a bed with BELINDA'S DREAM and Madame Lombard. That bed also has Russian sage and other perennials. The colour contrast is great. Thomas is almost mauve in the cooler weather, but reads deep, dark pink in the summer. He is just gorgeous.

Kes and Lux, thanks for more roses for me to research! (I think I love doing the research almost as much as enjoying the roses in the garden.)

Shopshops, I have been very attracted to Thomas Affleck. I have heard such good things about him, and he was looking fine the other day at the Farmer's Branch rose trials garden. I just wonder how he would look next to the deep red of Francis Dubreuil/Barcelona. What do you think? I'm giving some consideration to playing musical roses, and putting Souvenir de la Malmaison in the empty spot, and then I could put Thomas Affleck next to Belinda's Dream, where I'm sure he would look very good. (But, I really don't want to move roses, because I'm impatient, and I'm sure that it would set them back a year. Besides, I worry that I would not do a good job and hurt the rose. But maybe it really is what needs doing.)