Hi Babera: In my neighborhood in southern California, it's easier to ask who doesn't grow iceberg roses than not. Even though it's commonly grown, I wanted a hedge of iceberg of my own, because it is beautiful. It reminds me of snow which is at least a visual relief in the 100 degree heat we are having. I have it in the worst spot under the shade of a tree and it blooms and blooms. It grows nicely. On my bushes, some of the stems grow long and irregularly in all directions. As Kim Rupert wrote in his article, "Poor Old Iceberg", the canes "dance" in the wind. In my neighborhood, I see mature bushes about 5 feet tall, but everything is supersized in southern California. Jeff Worthman, a landscape architect has a nice detailed video on iceberg. He lives in northern California. The only thing that surprised me about the video is that he said iceberg likes to be fed, because it blooms so much. IâÂÂm sure iceberg would appreciate rose food just as any other rose, but I donâÂÂt think it demands more than any other rose. It is care-free and doesnâÂÂt demand much of anything. Other than dead heading, I do little for it. In fact, when people ask me what roses I grow, sometimes I forget to mention it. Poor old iceberg! ItâÂÂs so dependable. It did get slight mildew for me in early spring, but my plants are young and it disappeared when the weather became warm and after I gave it a good spray of water. Do you see them where you live? Hopefully someone in zone 5 can answer this post too. Here is a link that might be useful: Jeff Wortham on Iceberg video

Olga, Lori, Patricia, Ann, Bboy, Jeri, Ron, Scardan, Jon, Catsrose, Dave, Geo and Mad Gallica (and anyone I missed): Thanks for your kind help and the suggestions! The purpose of the hedge is to help frame my small front yard. I have yews out there right now (so it's not that interesting anyway year-round) with deutzia and salvia in front of them. I live in an urban city with lots of foot traffic. The yard is bounded by 2 long driveways -- mine and my neighbors, and there's a walkway leading from the sidewalk to my front door, and a path from the driveway to my front door. The drives are narrow and "Keep out" hedging here would be very unneighborly for getting in/out of the car. I was hoping for a little more privacy so I could maybe put a bench in the yard. But not so much privacy that someone would feel free to take a seat or could try to break in undeterred. We spend most of summer out back, so it would be nice if it's fairly easy to maintain in the summer and pretty in the spring. That's why I thought of gallicas and other OGRs. That's the truth, and the justification I'm giving my husband. The real, real underlying reason for the hedge, though, is that I'm running out of room for roses and I want to help the Vintage cause, too, so if/when I ever get more room in actual beds, I'll still have a few places to go for roses. If I have to, I'll hedge them along the very back of the back yard, too. Thanks for the Rugosa suggestions -- the thorny security would be appreciated back there. The ideal height would be about 4-6 feet. Shorter in front, taller on the sides. I already have Alain Blanchard and Belle de Crecy and suckers and a grafted Tuscany Superb. I have grafted Belle sans Flaterie and Belle Sultan on reserve from Pickering (and though I could switch them over, I'd hate to hurt one nursery to help another). I'll definitely check out Ipsalante, Glorie de France, Beau Narcisse, Jenny Duval, Rosa Mundi and the Apothecary rose and Belle Herminie at Vintage. Since a couple of you mention Charles de Mills as a bully, he will not be welcome. Maybe two or three of the others, though, would mix very well. That Jacques Cartier hedge sounds glorious... maybe I could try that for the space between the sidewalk and the street for more constant color that people will more immediately see. Thanks also for gorgeous picture and the inspiration and the idea about the clematis! Mildew really isn't a problem, except with Leda (who wouldn't be in there) and Belle de Crecy. But I also don't spray for it. Has anyone found a way to control the suckering? Does lining the hole with landscape fabric work? Thanks again

You've given me a great idea! I'm not familiar enough with the noisettes to know which ones can be planted together in such a fashion. Any ideas? Then we'd have to come up with planting distances from each other that are somewhat compatible. I have an island bed, quite large, with 3 palm trees in it that I think has adequate sun for roses now that we trimmed the palms. I had thought of hybrid musks, but maybe the noisettes would do better in Florida. I have a "matching" island on the other edge of our property with mostly Archduke Charles in it, so I wanted to do something different. Sandy

Thank you everyone for your input. I will share some of my experiences. When I moved into my home 5 years ago and first got into gardening, I heard about this main garden tour that is run here through the local newspaper, free to the public, anyone can be listed in it - you just write your description and indicate the times and days you are open within the allocated time period. I thought, why not? The good. It was probably one of the most nerve-wracking thing I have ever done, but everyone was so genuinely appreciative as soon as they stepped in the gate, and expressed it. People were astounded at how many gardens in the afore thought 'lower city' were actual gems. I met some truly interesting people along the way, and some became close friends or people I would see regularly during the year throughout the city (one worked at Lowes, and I would make a point of chatting with him whenever I went there). And many people would come up to me out of the blue and tell me they had been to my garden. There was also a woman who responded to my description (I didn't write a straight forward description; it was very artistic). She was the only person who asked me directly what it meant, and then we had a very intimate discussion where we both shared some of the pains and losses we had gone through - it was amazing to connect on that level. The bad. One of the visitors to my garden was a young couple who were quite smitten by these large flexi-glass cones I had placed in my garden, which I had gotten from my former workplace. They went on and on about them, and literally insisted I sell them two, they wouldn't leave unless I did. This was when there were already a large number of people coming, going and asking me other questions, and I was on my own, felt a bit overwhelmed. I more or less said why don't you just take them now, and you could come back another day and give me some money for them. Oh yeah, they were giddy, they would definitely do that they said, I could trust them...never saw them again. Honestly, I had more than enough of those cones and they weren't a cost to me; it was the principle above all else. It was disappointing to come up against low brows when everyone else was so respectful. The ugly. Sadly, I found from the get-go the organization of the event to be a mess, with no support for you as a person who is volunteering your garden. When I first did it, I had absolutely no idea what i was doing - so I asked a few questions via email to the person coordinating it. No response. After a few emails, I phoned and left a few messages. No response. Ended up winging it as best I could. Found out later that I was not unique in this; many people experienced the same thing. Even the regulars would be trying to get answers to questions - like what the dates might be for the year so they can plan around it - no response. Some people were sympathetic, because "it's just that one person coordinating". And I appreciate the difficulties of organization, I have lived and worked it! But I found out that over the years, people were very interested in helping out, but the person coordinating - no response. So I'm calling BS on that. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, but you get the picture.