I would say no more than 2 climbing roses, because you have to consider the ultimate spread of them. What would their mature spread be? As far as the trellises go, which way would be easier to tie them to train? Also, since the area only gets 40% sun midday, I don't know that you want the roses so close to the fence. Roses need some air circulation, and for drying off the leaves so they don't black spot. Will it be easier to prune if they are towards the front of the bed versus the back? I have some lower growing perennials planted in front of my roses. I know you are in a different zone, so I don't know if these will work for you. I have myosotis sylvatica (Forget-me-nots) which like some shade, campanula's, and sweet william dianthus planted in front and around the bed. My roses were just planted too, this week! So, I have a long way to go to get them where I want them. I also have clematis planted there. I think daylilies would work fine there. They might not flower as heavily because of the limited sun though. How about some hosta's? Here are some other options, amsonia's, ajuga, brunnera's, echinacea, geraniums. Garden Crossings is a great place to look. I bought some plants there this spring, and I have never seen healthier plants! Dave's Watchdog lists them as their top 30 places too. Here's a pic of my new rose bed waiting to burst :)

>I'm open to other suggestions in the pink or pink-apricot range Hi Ingrid, Our situation is that we have close to full sun in the winter and very early spring when the leaves are off the deciduous trees. Gradually there's more shade but when the sun is its highest from about mid-May to early in August, the higher angle means that our roses in the sunnier rose bed get sun all afternoon. By now the hours of sunlight are greatly reduced to 2 or 3 in the afternoon maybe and it will continue getting worse until the leaves fall off the trees. Anyway, Duchesse de Brabant is still as healthy as you can possibly hope for (perfect condition in our no-spray yard) and it's blooming quite well. It's a new plant (new 1-gallon last fall) but there are at least 2 or 3 new roses that we cut every single day, with a few that get overlooked and some more that need disbudding. With a little shade to help it along through the heat, it bloomed well all summer long here too, in the hottest summer on record. We cut about 5 General Gallieni blooms today, and disbudded a whole lot more. Spice has also bloomed well once it got going. Because of the shade of a mature azalea, Spice is dealing with more shade than the others but is blooming well now. We had to toss our General Schablikines a couple of days ago because of Rose Rosette Disease, but they had a bunch of buds on them. They bloomed well in June, though not much in July/August, and it looked as if they'd started in on a fall flush. These varieties have all been very healthy no-spray here, but if you're mainly counting blooms, and if you were choosing among those we happen to have, Duchesse de Brabant would be the one to go with. Nice question, Ingrid! I'm glad to read about Mrs. B.R. Cant and Monsieur Tillier, as I have just the spot in mind for them now... Best wishes, Mary

Susan, your spot sounds ideal for growing johnny jump ups in the winter. I love those things. While searching for impatient varieties, I found one I've never heard of--Balsam. It's an old fashioned, upright, re-seeding variety that has rose-like blooms. I've read it attracts hummingbirds and bees too. It was supposedly THE Impatient before the hybrids took over in the 50's. I'm going to give it a shot, though I've never seen it growing before. I'm also trying something called "browallia americana." I have some mondo under the palms now. It's about the only thing that's doing well. But will rainlilies bloom in such shade? Bromelliad people: I have some pineapples in pots. Do those count?? Thanks again, Bill

Ick. I'm not much of a gardener (yet) but the way I play it is: better safe than sorry. I suppose they don't call it a "weed" for nothing. How about a nice friendly Hostas, Forget-Me-Nots or Bleeding Hearts for the shadey spot? The best part about Hostas is, if you're patient all you need to do is buy one and then through the years divide divide divide and you can have so many from one plant. And they are forgiving too..at least to me.