I suggest that you get the book "Landscaping with Roses: Gardens Walkways Arbors Containers" by Jeff Cox

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How about a double knockout?

Here is a link that might be useful: knockout roses

Well, I am strictly an amateur at roses... a newbie. I know others here will be much more qualified and talented at helping you fill in your crescent moon shape.

For me, looking at pictures online has helped me formulate my ideas of what kind of look I especially like in rose gardens (this after figuring out my soil, the sun, my region, etc).

To find pictures, I go to Google, and I type in "rose gardens" - and I look under the "Image" part of Google, not the "web" part. That way you are looking only at pictures. I also try to pull more pictures by trying different words - "rose borders", "front yard roses", "back yard roses". Some combinations of colors and design capture my heart's affections - and then I try to duplicate what I like with the roses I choose.

Not unlike how I decorate --- make a file of what I like, analyze what common elements I like in what I've gathered, and then copy it as best I can for my situation.

For a hedge type of thing Floribundas or shrub roses would look better than HTs. You need something cold hardy because IN gets pretty cold in winter and blackspot resistant because of humid summers--unless you want to spray fungicides, which is work.

Maybe a mass planting of the Buck roses like 'Prairie Sunshine', 'Carefree Beauty', and the like.

If you're a newbie and want a hedge of roses that is easy to care for, I second the suggestion of the Double Knockout roses in a hedge there. They require virtually nothing other than regular water and at least half-day of some sun, and you can deadhead/prune them using hedge shears and they will come back like champs. I have several, and the older KO's in the paler pinks too, and they are lovely shrubs. They make such great shrubs that I removed some other roses that had nicer flowers because their shrubs never filled out like the KOs do. If you want a kaleidoscope effect, mix Double KO's, Pink KOs, and Blush KOs with a Carefree Sunshine or 2 and you'll have a quilt of color that's easy to care for...though they are not that fragrant and not good cutting roses. I think they do what they were bred to do very well...make excellent shrubs that need no care, and you'll get 3 or 4 flushes of blooms every year.

Yup I planted a blushing knockout at the start of summer with no blooms and it has come back 2 months later with about 15-20 blooms.

brkieffner - I am a strong advocate of getting advice from those who garden in a similar climate to yours. Results in other types of climates might be completely different from what would happen in your garden. I would encourage you to seek out local rose associations, and find out what does well in your area.

Also, run do not walk to your bookstore (or amazon) and get the book "Right Rose, Right Place", by Peter Schneider. He is one of the most knowledgeable rose people in No America, and "TA DA!" he gardens in Ohio, which should have a similar climate to yours. This book will answer any questions you might ever have about what rose to put where in your kind of climate. It is well written, easy to understand, and has glorious photos. Good luck!

Jackie

Which way is North in your drawing? You will probably want different roses if they're getting shaded by your house compared to if they're getting reflected heat off a southern wall.

If you're growing them close to berries that you plan to eat, you won't want to spray anything toxic, so choosing plants that are disease resistant is a must.

I'm not sure roses do a good job of attracting beneficial insects (unless aphids and japanese beetles have some use I'm unaware of...). As much as I adore roses, there might be better plants for this purpose.

Heirloom Roses actually a crescent that they use to display Buck roses in their display gardens (unfortunately I checked and do not have a pic) but it is quite lovely. I have also seen Ebb Tide used in mass quite effectively.

Although if you would be happy with just a spring bloom for your purposes and in your climate I would seriously consider putting in a selection of Gallicas.

Also, I've grown edibles (tomatos, chives, hops) in amoung my roses for years without incident, just mindful if you have to spray I like to use Neem oil to minimize toxicity.

I have roses fairly close to my berry beds and veggy garden and while they don't attract beneficial insects they have been acting as quite an effective 'trap crop' and have been drawing the spotted cucumber beetles away from everything else in my garden. There's not a one on my squash but they are crawling all around my open rose blooms.

I suggest planting companion plants to draw beneficial insects to both your roses and your berries. Some of my favorite flowers for drawing in the 'good guys' are: Asters, Daisies, Chives, Lavender, Salvia, Pinks, Cranesbill, Coneflowers, Yarrow, Mums, and Queen Anne's Lace. I think planting perennials among your roses makes the roses look better, and it is also nice to have something blooming when the roses aren't.

- Besides the Buck roses, you might also search this forum for comments on the Canadian Explorer series, lots of people seem to like them very much.

- Regarding a rosarian in Indiana, you might also search this forum for karl_bapst_rosenut and check his web page.

- Another resource is www.helpmefind.com where you can look up particular roses and find out more about their habits, see pics that have been downloaded, etc. If you click the gardens tab, you can sort contributor's gardens by geographic area. A rose database without peer. If you get hooked on roses, please feel free to donate to this worthy project.

- Finally, if you're going to order these roses and you're thinking about ordering from Hortico, you might also search on that topic here as well. I won't comment otherwise as the other threads speak for themselves.

Good luck, I hope you become as hooked as we are!

The 2011 David Austin catalog, p. 106, offers a free rose garden design service by Michael Marriott. Go to the Austin website for more information.

I am in a similar zone as you and I planted a hedge of Earth Song. I am super thrilled with it. ES is a continous blooming grandiflora bred by Dr Griffith Buck and a very beautiful bright pink colored rose. The fragrance is rather mild, sadly. But the rose is very winter hardy and disease-resistant. Another advantage is that the blooms stand up extremely well to the heat (no crisping).

I searched high and low to find a variety that would be perfect for me as a hedge and I think ES is it. The only drawback is the lack of fragrance.

Here's my thread on Earth Song. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/roses/msg071053215689.html?6

If the depth of the planting is an issue, have you considered creating a taller fence or trellis which will withstand your weather and planting climber (s) on it? You can create a fairly shallow "wall of roses" by building a free standing, open trellis of materials which will endure any weather issues you have there, then planting the appropriate number of zone hardy climbers, even suitable English roses on it. They should eventually fill in the gaps creating a wall of flowers in a relatively shallow space. Might be worth considering depending upon the budget, room and potential maintenance and hardiness issues. Kim

Thank you all for the great opinions. I've been doing some more research and I think maybe the center/middle of the curve will have some trellised climbers and then taper off to the edges going down in size. Other plants will be planted to benefit all involved, the berries and the roses. Again, thank you all for the great ideas. I loved seeing what else I could do to my garden!