Jennifer, first of all welcome! This is a great place to get advice on roses and beware, you might just get infected like the rest of us:)

Judging by you pics there is so much you can do. Sort of starting from scratch. I am actually a bit jealous and would love to jump in with suggestions but I think I am going to leave the advice to somebody with more experience in your zone. Good luck. Please keep us posted on the progress.

Sharlene

Jennifer welcome! I am from east Texas but am very familiar with Austin. I love the hill country! You have a beautiful back yard and i am glad you are going to plant some roses. I am going to make a few suggestions but if I were you I would call the good people at The Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham. They will be able to tell you what grows well in Austin and what will tolerate shade, plus they aren't that far from and you could maybe ride over and check out their gorgeous nursery. That being said I would say that Earthkind roses such as Caldwell Pink would do very well for you as well as Pinkie or Climbing Pinkie and also Mrs. Dudley Cross. All are heat and drought tolerant but I'm not sure about shade except for Pinkie, she does well in partial shade. I have also heard that Sombreuil and Gruss An Aachen can tolerate some shade. Hopefully someone else that actually grows roses in your area will chime in and offer some more suggestions. Also check out the rest of the Earthkind roses, they are roses that passed certain trials at Aggieland and are heat and drought tolerant and do well in Texas.

Happy gardening and welcome to your new addiction!!

Jennifer I was the same way when I found Garden Web. I had a few knockouts and one or two others and when I found this site I ordered prob 60-70 roses. I jumped right in with both feet and asked lots of questions on here. I know you know that already and welcome to the crazy rose lover club! We have the best hobby out there!! I don't like to give advice either but I do love the English and Kordes roses. I know lots of great folks on here will give you tons of advice. Have a wonderful beautiful time with your new hobby and post oodles of pictures!!! That wall will be absolutely gorgeous with roses in front of it or on it. I'm envious. I hope to have an aged cream block wall built to have some climbers grown horizontal!! Judy

Jennifer, welcome to the forum!

Some considerations:

1. Preference - ( Old Garden Roses, David Austin's, Moderns) - you can check out the antique rose forum and the regular rose forum for class specific eye candy and differences. ( like many members, I grow all 3)

2. Which colors do you prefer, and bold or subtle??

3. Boncrow suggested the Earthkind roses. Antique Rose Emporium stocks earth kind and many others. They sell own-root 2 gallon roses versus grafted. The own-root can be planted at many times throughout the year, but there is a window for grafted roses going into the ground.

4. Climbing roses could look absolutely gorgeous along your wall.

Tell us more about what you like.

Lynn

Thank you so much to my welcoming committee! I Took a short trip to Barton Springs Nursery today and bought a Lafter, Zephirine Drouhin (a climber) and a Souvenir de la Malmaison. Boncrow66 I think they came from the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham. But I love the suggestion and will go check it out soon!!!

Welcome Jennifer! I don't have any advice for you - I'm in a much different zone - but I will suggest you check out the website Help Me Find. It's a wonderful resource for all things roses (also clematis and peonies, but mostly it's roses) and many of us are on there as well.

Your yard is gorgeous! Can't wait to see some 'after' pictures!

ps - I know just how you feel! I expect we all do! :)

Oh and check out the rose alphabet xyz thread - there are some great Zephirine Drouhin shots!

Eden climbing rose is reported to be shade tolerant, but it still needs a minimum of 4 hours of sun. How many hours of sun would you say that you get by that wall?

Jennifer I have Souvenir da la malmasion (SDLM) and ZD. Both are good roses for me but are still young. You will fall in love with SDLM, she is fragrant and beautiful. I got both SDLM and ZD from Chamblees, another good source for roses in Texas. I would definitely call ARE, they will have good advice and suggestions and if you are able to visit they have beautiful gardens and you can see the roses growing and touch and smell :).

Welcome to our obsession!! It's fun, rewarding and beautiful! It takes a while to figure out which ones you love and which ones do well for you. Some you'll swoon over daily (hourly even!) and others you'll end up shovel pruning. But always always, you'll be looking for more to add! Best of luck to you as you begin the journey!

April

Welcome to Rose Addicts Anonymous, lol.

I have a handful of roses that grow in shady spots of the yard. These survive, but did take longer to grow than usual.

My experience has been to use OGRs (as a few folks have already listed here) and the new Kordes line of roses (the one's I'm talking about tend to have smaller leaves and roses but do very well). Clilmbers tend to do well too, but do take longer to grow.

I just thought of a few more that have done well or have been recommended to me for a shady spot......Perle d'or and Marie Pavie. Both have been good easy care roses for me and smell good too!

Mme. Antoine Mari, which also happens to be an Earthkind rose is stocked by ARE.

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.3967

Lynn

Thank you so much everyone! I appreciate all of the information! To answer a few of your questions. I love pinks, oranges, yellows, reds, and purples! lol. Pretty much everything! I have ordered a super sack of rose mix that's going to be delivered to me on Saturday and I can't wait to get started! Would y'all suggest I add anything to it? I've been reading you can add alpha meal, bone meal, epsom salts, but geez... how do I know? One more question because y'all are on a completely different level than me... is there a good rose book you would suggest? Roses for dummies? :)

When I first started out, I went to my local rose society. They gave me a rose care schedule for my area in Southern California. It helps me to know when to do what. They have a Minimalist one and a more detailed Monthly Care one depending on how much you want to fuss. I follow the fertilizer recommendations and ignore the spray, because I grow edibles along with my roses. Perhaps your rose society has care information that applies to your zone. Here's a link to the Austin Rose Society website. The San Antonio Rose Society has a rose care booklet for $4.00. Look for Rose Care on the left side of their website.

Here is a link to another rose care article that might be helpful: Magic Elixirs For Roses.

Your public library might have several books on rose care. I purchased a used book on Amazon, but usually verified the info by submitting questions on this forum, because what was written in the book didn't always apply to my area. Hope that helps. There are great sources out there :-)

I just finished reading Antique Roses for the South by William Welch. Very good information and history regarding roses found in Texas and Louisiana. I add alfalfa meal and blood/bone meal and also some 10/10/10 and sometimes Epsom salts to my roses in the spring. Oh and I also use a cow manure and compost mix that I get at lowes.