thanks all, I didn't even think of cl. "Lady Hillingdon" and I do want the bush form of Lady Hillingdon, but for the house would prefer a more lemony hue to go against the pale gray house. I just added "Lamarque" to my order from rogue valley, yesterday, I'm getting two "Westside Road Cream Tea" rosebushes to flank the front of the pathway to my front door, they will be side by side with "Mlle. Cecille Brunner"( the smaller c. 4' tall form) with an arbor in back of these with yellow climbing roses "Marachel NIel" and "Cecline Foreestier" and French lavender on the other side of the arbor so the view from my front door will be of lavender, yellow climbers, and "Mme. Berkeley" and "Clementina Carboinieri" off to one side, where I'm planting a mandarin orange tree for evergreen winter interest. The yellow climber I'm searching for will be on this side of the house. Originally I planned for cl. "Cramoisi Superieur" but decided I love yellow roses more than red roses. I still can't decide although I'm leaning towards "Alistair Stella Gray"which I've grown before, or "Leys Perpetual" although I swore I'd never again buy a rose that I have never seen in "person". so many beautiful roses, and finite rose real estate. Lux.

You say it has heart-shaped leaves, which true rose bushes do not have. It must be a different kind of climbing plant with flowers that look like blue roses. If the previous owners experimented with different kinds of plants, it might be something very unusual. Your profile says you lack home support for your interest in gardening. Does your school offer classes in horticulture, agriculture or biology/botany? That might be fun for you!

If the long canes are going to whip around in the winter winds, you'd best trim them back a bit this fall. Otherwise, most of us here wait until early spring before doing any pruning. And the pruning them would be cutting out any deadwood and any weak or crossing canes and then lightly trimming back for shaping. If you aren't sure if your roses suffered any winter damage, clip off a small bit of cane towards the tip. If the inside area is white/clear, you are probably all right. But if there is a tannish color in the center, you need to keep cutting the cane back until you get to a clear white center (about 2 inches below the last cut that showed a tannish color int he center). I'm also in zone 6, and my hybrid teas and floribundas often suffer winter damage--bad enough that I sometimes have to cut them back nearly to ground level! But don't worry--they will grow new canes rather quickly. Hope that helps. Kate

Hello there. All the recommendations that have been poste here are fantastic. You just need to choose what would work for you. How bare are the legs of your roses? If they are too bare you may want to choose some of the taller companions to covered them up, otherwise you can use the smaller ones. I’ll look through my pictures of companions and post some. I have just recently started getting good companions into my bed so they aren’t as full and nice as the other gardeners here. for the very front of the border some dianthus can be nice and evergreen. They come in many colors. My all time favorite companion is Salvia. All kinds of salvia. May night and New dimensions rose salvias are everywhere in my garden. the purple blooms go well with everything to my eyes and it is easy to grow. Lavender dies here in the wet clay soil. Clematises will also scramble all over beds and add lots of color. Also don’t forget other roses. There are many polyanthas and hybrid musks or groundcover roses that can be added to the bed in front of your other roses. drift roses are great for bordering beds Here the hybrid musk Dr. Korms is covering the bare legs of Benjamin Britten. Hybrid musk Ballerina covering the legs of the climber orchid masterpiece Good luck!