Take a look at Apricot Drift. It has miniature, very full petaled, fragrant flowers, with shiny very miniature leaves. It is the best of the Drift Series roses, IMHO. It can even cascade over the wall's edge. It is very cooperative to staying the height of width you want it to be. Left to its own will, and with good care, it can mature to 18" X 24-30" .

Moses

Houzz "Design Dilemma" and "Paint" forums have several posters/advisors who are color coordination enthusiasts.

Yes, you'll need hardy roses because the roots will be exposed to colder than normal temperatures. Unfortunately, I can't think of any truly hardy roses that are small.

Several of the Morden roses are 3 feet or under and they're rated to zone 4 at least. For instance Morden Blush is a nice pale color that would complement the clematis well. I've found Lovely Meidiland to be nicely compact and a good bloomer in a similar blush pink color. If you want more color, Cathrine Guelda is a pinkish purple low grower that has taken my zone 4 pocket without complaining and the blooms are semidouble and quite nice. Any of the Kordes Veranda series should stay small in height though they might spread out a bit. I'm particularly fond of Mango Veranda in a nicely saturated apricot color that has liked my zone 4 pocket as well. Campfire is a relatively low growing rose that has mutable colors from dark pink fading to light pink with yellow highlights and it's pretty bullet proof in cold areas. My LavaGlut is a dark red that stays quite small and compact and has come back nicely from zone 4 conditions.

Cynthia

Moses, I saw Apricot Drift locally earlier this year. Good to get a specific recommendation from the drift roses. They would look lovely spilling over the edge of the wall.

Hmm I might brave those forums, Rifis. Not sure. I recently bought "color in the garden" at a library sale and have been enjoying lots of great garden combo photos. Still feel like my color coordination could use some strengthening tho.

Gallica, yea a lot of the super hardy roses seem to be monsters that could swallow the entire garden bed. Hoping some of these newer landscape rose introductions could survive for me here though. Some are quite darling.

Cynthia, I appreciate the varied and suggestions. I have a small morden blush planted this spring and I will see how it does. Wow when I look at the Kordes Veranda series, I kind of want one of each. The more calm me thinks I should have a mini hedge of all the same type. Maybe I can alternate between two. That Mango Veranda is a beauty. I am going to mull over this and try to order early spring and get them planted at the ideal time, instead of during the hotter early summertime.

Thanks all for your input and suggestions. Much appreciated.

I have drift roses planted in a raised bed. My garden is z5b so maybe a bit warmer than you. They come through the winter pretty good. Some cane dieback but the roots survive fine.

I also have Kordes Cream Veranda and Lavender Veranda which stay small. My front garden is raised beds only and the roses planted near the edge do fine but are mostly taller varieties. The Fairy does well but might be too tall. David Austins are surprisingly hardy in these raised beds but none are very short.

sharon

FWIW too, I forgot to mention that Calypso isn't nearly as small as claimed - mine with pruning can stay about 4' tall but it would swamp the peonies after bloom. Sunrise Sunset is absolutely tied for my biggest climber - along with the thorny monster Quadra - and I wouldn't consider it unless it has a lot of ground it can cover. It starts out looking small but has 12-14' canes and lots of them at maturity. It's called a ground cover because they're not very upright canes unless supported but it's huge. In general though, the Easy Elegance roses should be nicely hardy for you and return well. They're just not usually small. My smallest Easy Elegance rose is probably Pinktopia or Little Mischief, and they're both a little over 3'. Macy's Pride doesn't get that big either come to think of it.

Cynthia

Okay, I may have planted Calypso in too small of a spot. I think next spring I will be playing musical chairs with all my roses!

I planted Sunrise Sunset along a short fence; it would be lovely if I could get it to grow up the fence a bit.

Going to look into the drift and cream veranda roses. I do like the cream colors up close but from a distance I kind of like ones that "pop" a bit more. So hard for me to decide. I am going out soon to check on the garden and I might find all the Japanese beetle damage discouraging though.

Iowa- if you like pop Kordes Jolie Veranda is a pretty salmon color. She definitely pops in the garden and stays small. The flower isn't as pretty as Cream Veranda though.

sharon

Thanks for the suggestion Sharon. Boy the color of Jolie Veranda is quite stunning. The area I above this wall is on the far side of the garden and I think a darker color like that would be a good fit.

Jwusauk, thank you so much for the photo. What a lovely, cascading affect from those roses. Plus your overall garden and stone work adds to the beautiful scene.