I think either Felicia or Grandmother's Hat would be lovely there. I wonder if you might consider trimming the boxwood instead of removing it to provide a rather nice frame for the rose. Were you to do that I'd probably recommend Felicia rather than GH, which has rather large and somewhat coarse-appearing leaves. It's such a prominent spot that it deserves a worthy rose. Francesca in my experience has fleeting and somewhat floppy flowers, other than of course not being pink.

Ingrid

You're right Ingrid, Francesca would not be good for that spot. You can see where I trimmed back the boxwood so we could use the stairs down to the driveway. I reached the woody stems very soon. That was last summer and the picture was taken this year. I'm not sure how to salvage the boxwood.

You can make a start on the box right now. Ideally, I would do it around May when the frost no longer poses a danger but yours really needs a start and as you are going to be planting and digging, now would be a good time to consider the life of the boxwood.

First, you need to actually thin it out to encourage light to get into the centre of the bush (this is why the inside branches all look bare). Unless there is plenty of green growth (and yours does not look too dense) avoid reducing the all over size more than a couple of inches. Spread the branches apart and look into the middle of the plant - you should see at least 6inches of green leaves and then the branches are likely to be bare. Well, you need to cut back SOME of the canes to the point where the green growth starts - this could be 6 inches or, if the box is not so dense, this could be as much as a foot. This will encourage new twiggy growth at the point where the light reaches in to allow for photosynthesis. You want to do this thinning all round the bush - yes, it will leave little gaps but they will look better if the gaps are evenly spaced and uniform. You can also reduce the overall length of branches by a couple of inches at the same time. This is regenerative pruning and will take a few years (Box can be pruned hard but it doesn't like it and will sometimes simply die back). The idea is to keep a nice woody bush which allows light to get into the centre of the bush so that when you do decide to reduce the overall size, you are not cutting back into leafless wood (and removing the plants ability to feed itself). A lovely meditative task which will reap rewards in the years to come.

Brenda

I'd also put in a vote for attempting to salvage to the boxwood. Helpful instructions from Campanula!

Rose: Felicia would be nice. Or, if you're a hybrid musk fan, Cornelia is relatively thornless and one of my favs. Buff Beauty and Penelope are also great shrubs with lovely flowers. If you like deep color, maybe a tea rose? I can't tell exact bed size from the photo, but Mrs. BR Cant might be too big? (I saw a car in the background and tried to use that as a guide. Mrs. BR can grow like a car.)

Carol

Thanks Campanula! I'll have to sit down with a cup of tea and go over your instructions. I live in California and we don't necessarily have frost each year, so perhaps it's not too late to start. What I can't figure out is how to remove the I.X.L. bush without removing most of the boxwood. I can't see the bottom of the rose, only it's bare legs which extend as high as my husband's truck. I'm sort of afraid of what I will unearth under there.

There is some nice brickwork around the bed which you can barely see under the boxwood. Carol, I really do like hybrid musks, of the ones you mention I especially like Penelope. I haven't measured it but the bed is roughly the size of my husband's truckbed. I'd say 6 feet long is a good estimate and maybe a bit less wider. Reading posts in this forum has had several results, the foremost is that I've learned a lot about roses. I've also learned to be thankful for my mild climate and to be really terrified of how big tea roses can grow here. B.R Cant is at the top of my list of tea roses to be terrified of after reading that it can be as big as a VW bus.

Very pretty and persuasive, Jeri. I'm in the Bay Area. We are currently in a huge fog bank, the fog barely burned off today before it rolled back in. I hope that Grandmother's Hat turns out to be as foolproof as advertised. I ordered a band from Burling this spring and Grandma isn't the healthiest of my baby roses right now. I hope she gets better with age because I like her big leaves and her spicy scent. Felicia has a really lovely fragrance for me. I can't seem to smell tea roses.

This post was edited by brenda_l_w on Tue, Jul 16, 13 at 21:51

I was thinking GH as well because of its narrow, vase-like shape. The space in the boxwood (which I, too, would try to save) doesn't look very wide. From what I understand, HMs grow wide as well as tall. I've just planted my first, though, so I've no personal experience. I planted GH in the winter and she is showing her vase shape. Sorry the following pic is not great quality, but I hope you see what I mean. BTW, I'm in Mountain View and GH has been very robust.

Anne

Another less than ideal shot of young GH.

Oh gosh--look at all that mulch! There was an interesting thread on mulch a while back. Lots of opinions :-). Clearly, I'm in the pro mulch camp.

Anne

Brenda, I can't smell Teas, either.

Honestly, in the East Bay GramHat seems to be fine -- but I'll defer to Bay Area Folks (tho -- that's where she comes from).

I still think Felicia may be too spreading. Consider Ragged Robin -- but I'd look for Bay Area suggestions.

Anne's got a point -- nearly every HM mentioned that I also grow (Livermore -- sort of "outer-outer" East Bay) would want to be too large for that spot. Buff Beauty may be "mannerly" but she also starts throwing out 10'+ canes at some point. Francesca is a climber at heart. Cornelia is pretty hefty, too. The only HM I've ever personally witnessed as being kept to roughly 6' x 6' (might be a little larger) and looking good is the Felicia at the Annie's Annual growing grounds. How they do it, I don't know.

I agree, also, that the vase shape of Grandmother's Hat may be optimal for that spot. I prune mine to stay at a compact size (my definition: no larger than 6'x6') and she is not hard to prune for that objective, at all. She was subject to BS (totally defoliated at one point -- in Livermore!!) and was very awkward, structurally, in her early days, but has filled out nicely now (one of my best-shaped roses, actually), a couple of years in the ground, and hasn't gotten any disease this year at all.

Anne, thank you for the pictures. I think GH's vase shape would be perfect. Even in the pot I can see my GH's vase shape emerging. And I like mulch too!

Catspa, I got my Felicia at Annie's. I live close to Annie's and am there more frequently than my bank account likes. I asked one of the staff how they prune the Felicia there. Since it is near the entrance she was afraid of pruning too much so she she did it sparingly this past year. I'm not sure if they even prune it each year. Grandma's Hat does have some blackspot here but I'm glad to hear she grew out of it. I have a feeling once I put her in the ground she'll take off.