I am new to rose gardening. Well, to gardening in general! We are
beginning our second summer in our new house. My gardens are all
around the outside of our backyard, with varying amounts of sun and
shade due to trees in other yards around us. We're in Ontario, zone
5. Right now my flower beds are a mixture of perennials, annuals that
re-seeded themselves from last year, and some roses. I have bleeding-
heart, pink phlox, daisies, lavatera, hollyhocks, pansies, various
herbs, lots of mint, elderberry... it's a real mixture. What I
*want* over time is to have lots of greenery as a backdrop, and roses
as the main source of colour, with some perennials... as you can see,
I am unsure and unfocused right now!

I should add that on two sides of the yard, the back fence and one
side, there is ugly chain-link fence. On the other side is a nice
wooden fence courtesy of my neighbour. So some taller plants would be
nice for privacy to cover the chain-link.

I'm thinking, bigger, green plants or small trees in the back of the
beds, then room for the roses, then perhaps something smaller like
dusty miller or alyssium scattered in the fronts of the beds, and
that's it.

So, any suggestions for greenery/trees/shrubs? Hedge plants? Is this
a bad idea in general? Please help! Thanks.

Elizabeth