What a gorgeous front yard, Laurie! And, don't listen to the advice to take out that Magnolia!!!! Since I spray, I may not be the best advice-giver, but I would recommend the floribunda Pretty Lady. It is highly disease resistant and the colors would go with any of your plants. I have one in my front corner island bed, and people admire it all the time.

Your yard is so beautiful, balanced and symmetrical.
I would put the same rose that you have on the left, Thomas Affleck on the right as well.

That magnolia tree is going to get huge one day,and I would have never planted it in the middle like that,but,what ever you like there.I would go with more red Knockouts and a couple Seafoam roses too.That sure is pretty how you have them tiers built.

Jean

I'm no help, I can't stop admiring your fabulous brick and stone work! That is so Beautiful!!!!

Thank you for the suggestions and the comments!

Jean - The variety of magnolia is Little Gem (I think) and it's not supposed to get big like the regular magnolias, at least it better not :)

Laurie

Too much empty space around those Knock Outs--of course, I see empty space and automatically think "MORE ROSES."

How about a rose like Starry Night (white) around them? I'm a strong advocate of white mixed into any gardening scheme. Lightens and brightens just about any color scheme--and cools off hot gardens. It also works good as a buffer between different color roses, helping them to blend in better.

I haven't grown Starry Night but have long admired it. Works good as a groundcover rose and probably reblooms more than the link below indicates. (HMF is always conservative in its statements about rebloom.) Maybe other posters can chime in on it, or you could post a separate posting asking about Starry Night.

Just a thought. You have a lovely front yard, to say the least.

Kate

Here is a link that might be useful: Starry Night

I really love the design of your house - it looks 'historical' - if that's the right word to use. I'm short of vocabulary.

If this was my house, I would use roses that have light pastel colours from David Austin or OGR to blend in with the stone walls and confiers at the back. The outcome would be a tranquil, airy, serene, and graceful setting.

I would avoid growing any more bright flamboyant roses such as hybrid teas as this would ruin/downplay the beautiful structure of your house.

A pale, pastel pink such as 'Heritage' or Felicite Paramentier and a light pastel yellow or apricot rose such as Tamora and perdita would look nice. Although the petals tend to blow fast, to me, this reveal the delicate beauty of the rose.

A white osteospermum (african daisy) and some silver foliage plants lke lamb's ears would alos look nice too.

How would you discribe the color tones in the stone and how is the brick a bit different? Can Magnolias be pruned to shape and thin? I know nothing about them but studing the first picture, I feel I want it to arch gracefully horizontally and be opened up - that the other forms can be seen through it , not densely straight up in front of the window to match the roof peak. It must be so lovely in bloom. I really love your 'rounds' and it is the yellow that distracts me from the over all beauty, but that may just be from the lighting and camera. The yellow may be perfect with the stone/brick in person. There are so many wonderful details already in place, I would want to be very careful not to clutter the look. I like jumbojimmy's soft view and personally, I would let the colors in the stone/brick tell me which roses. And your two children are precious. What a beautiful home!

Exactly what Jumbo Jimmy said. Also you need light colored, pastel roses there, particularly white or soft pink, yellow to bring the view to you. The dark colors take it away and make it all insignificant, but the light colors of white and/or yellow, will bring it to you. You need far more light color with all the green and the dark Knockout.

What about Carefree Sunshine. It is related to Knockout but is a very pretty yellow, blooms constantly, needs no deadheading and has great apple-green foliage, and more of an OGR look than HTs, etc.

Kate - It's hard to tell because they're so small, but I just planted some white dayliles around the Knock Outs because I also thought a touch of white would be pretty. I could put Starry Night on the tier below it, but would that be too much white with the white daylilies behind it and the white blooms on the Magnolia?

Bodica - the colors in the brick and stone are brown and off white with a yellowish undertone. I don't think it would work to thin the Magnolia. I would be fine with taking it out, but hubby really like it. We originally had a Purple Plum tree there and when it died, I tried to talk him into something besides a tree. For some reason, he thinks that spot needs a tree.

I wouldn't have thought that a pastel would look good, because the color wouldn't blend with the Knock Out, but several of you seem to think it would. I love the form of Austin blooms, but I'm a little leary of buying them because the few that I've had (Pat Austin, Molineux, The Prince) had blooms that blew fast. I would need something in that spot that doesn't get too big and doesn't require spraying. Jumbojimmy, would any of the ones you mentioned fit those requirements? I'm thinking Tamora may be the smallest of the bunch, but would the peachy color really look good with KO?

Laurie

Your garden is almost void of contrast, the reason you need pastel, white or yellow to give it some "pop." Carefree Sunshine is a carefree rose and related to Knockout but has a different form, but then I have become redundant.

Thanks, Patricia. The only thing I was unsure about is if that would be too much yellow if I put Carefree Sunshine in the middle of the Golden Eunomys. Is Carefree Sunshine a bright yellow or more of a pastel?

Laurie

Looking at the top picture, I might be inclined to put either Starry Night or maybe Carefree Sunshine in that larger space between the Knock Outs and the boxwood (or whatever those green balls are). Then I would move the daylilies at bit more to the right of the Knock Out by the driveway (and do that in reverse I assume for the other Knock Out at the other end.

Daylilies look nice with roses, but daylilies often bloom only for a couple weeks. Even the so-called repeaters often do very little repeat. By including both a smaller rose (Starry Night or Carefree Sunshine) plus the daylilies, you have a greater chance of something repeating throughout the summer and continuing the provide the contrasts.

Next tier down, I'm not quite getting a clear concept. Maybe I wouldn't put anything in the yellow-tipped semi-circle bushes. Instead, I might put Pink Knock Out (or maybe Starry Night, if you don't use them next to the Red Knock Outs) about half way between the yellow-tipped semi-circles and the central tree. That way the tree wouldn't be standing there all by itself, looking too noticeable perhaps.

I don't think there is any problem using several different types of whites. Mostly they will be blooming at different times, plus the daylilies and (I assume) the magnolia only bloom for a couple weeks. In fact, I would stick a couple white mums in there around the Red Knock Out just to make sure I had some white showing by the end of the season.

In case you are wondering, Pink Knock Out looks fine near Red Knock Out. My neighbor has one of each on each side of her garden path--looks good. But I wouldn't use Pink Knock Out unless I made sure I had more white first of all.

But, hey--what finally pleases you is what you should do. That's what gardens are for--to please the gardener. If the neighbors also like it, so much the better.

Kate

I agree, your home must please you! What you love is what to do. Also, how it looks in all different lighting is never exactly translated in photographs. So you and your family know best. I still think caution when adding too many colors. The brick/stone is active, the contrasting shapes are exceptionally well done and also active. Another way to look at this is where do you want the viewer's eye drawn? What colors do you absolutely want? Personally, I start with only three colors and then experiment from there. You don't want a 'cottage' look with the strong architectural lines and shapes do you? Do you also have a landscaped back yard? The front is so well done, I'd hate to see you loose what you have by it growing too busy. I love the look of your home and the obvious work spent to keep it meticulous. Hope you will love the end result, what ever that may be and I hope we may see pics of your result. Just my view, thanks for letting me express.

Kate - Thanks, again. I'm really liking the idea of Starry Night. The picture makes it look like there's more empty space next to KO than there really is, so if I was going to use it, it would probably work best on the next tier down.

Here's an older picture of the circle of golden eunomys. There was originally another golden eunomys in the middle, but I took it out so I could put the rose there.

Bodica - I did have Coreopsis planted in front of the KO, but I decided that it did have more of the cottage look and it didn't go with the rest of the plants, so I recently took it out and decided I would try the daylilies.
The backyard isn't landscaping anything like the front yard. I adore roses and daylilies, so that's pretty much all I have back there. It doesn't look quite this good right now, because I've replaced alot of my roses for more disease resistant varieties and they're pretty small, but this is what it looked like a couple of years ago.
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Laurie

OH, that is Lovely! I love the way you made the groundcover light and fluffy for the bench, like a comfy rug. And your precious little children were in the back. That is a very nice restful spot! You have a good eye for balanced design! Nicely done! I see all your fabulous stone work was later, that must have been quite a project to the spectacular result.

From that last pic of your pruned euonymys, I see there is more space in the middle than I realized. Starry Night might look terrific there. But how often do you have to trim the euonymys (how do you spell that?)? Mine grow into very large shrubs over time. You must have to prune every couple months.

I'd still be inclined to put a Pink Knock Out to the left and right of the tree, but that might just be me. You certainly are capable of coming up with a design that pleases you. (Love your back yard also, by the way.)

I was a little worried after I recommended Starry Night (regardless of where you put it), since I've never actually grown in myself. I was glad to see on the other post that others had good things to say about it because it strikes me as the perfect look for your front yard.

Happy rosing!

Kate

I would pack as many KOs in there as I could, remove the Euonymous and replace with more KOs. The KOs look great with the brick and stone. I think you just need more of them.

hoovb - I just found out a local nursery is supposed to be getting Double Pink Knock Out in the next couple of weeks, so I will definitely be buyng more Knock Outs. I don't know if I'll put them in the front, but I will definitely get one for the backyard.

Laurie

Hi to ya msrose, I agree with hoovb. I think
since you have knockouts already in the front, you
should add more of those. Adding all kinds of different
roses with your style home, might look hodge podge. You
have made your front yard pretty. It already looks good.
But I think a uniform look with repetition would look best with your home.
Love the stone-work on your home.
Obviously, you have good taste, from the looks of your
front yard. The dwarf magnolia looks nice, by the way.

devon - Are you thinking that you would add more of the red KOs that I have there now, or would you mix in some pink ones?

Laurie

Laurie, I think I would keep adding more red ones,
since that is what you started with, for the sheer drama of it. It would
draw attention to your beautiful home, for sure. But if
you wanted to mix in other knock-outs, I'm sure you would
work it out to look great. And at least they would still
be the same kind of rose-bush, to give continuity to your front garden.
But obviously Laurie, you have a good sense
of gardening perspective, from the looks of your yard.
Good Luck!!!

I'm with devon gardener- staying with just red knock-outs in front and maybe doing the color wheel in the back where you have a simpler canvas to build from. There are so many fabulous eliments already established in the front, the eye doesn't want to go crazy trying to find where to look and admire. They say "Artistic genius is knowing when to "stop" and you are already ok with moving what you don't feel 'works'. The front view of your home is so spectacular, what are you 'Feeling'you need there? What would it be like for you to 'go crazy' in the back, with paths winding through everything your heart desires and keeping the front balanced and controled?