Sorry, forgot to say that I'm in the Dallas area.

I had a similiar problem with a backyard flowerbed - it just didnt look right. So I layered the bed - already had a clipped boxwood hedge in back of the bed by the tall fence - put 2 star jasmine on trellis for height, birdbath in the middle with 2 large white crepe myrtles equidistant for a little shade from the hot afternoon Texas sun. In front of the boxwood, I put Little Pinkie Indian Hawthore, a small shrub. Giant lirope every 4' in front of the Little Pinkie. In between the lirope go roses and daylilies, and in front of all that, yellow profusion zinnias, lantana coming up from last year, purple angelonia, red pacifica periwinkles and patches of pure white periwinkles. I now intersperse white with everything - makes the other colors show up better.

You could put a smaller boxwood behind the roses - the one I use is Baby Gem [I think thats the name - its easy to keep clipped and doesnt grow out of bounds. I have some of the Drift roses, new to me this year - they seem to hug the ground and not get tall, so the boxwood in back of them would provide some layering. A couple of pots of giant lirope on either side of the roses would lend another kind of texture, then you could intersperse white periwinkles or white profusion zinnas in front of the roses to intermingle. Your bed looks really good now - I think you are well on your way to a good look for it. If you wanted something to tumble over the walls, asparagus fern or potato vine could be used [have to trim the potato vine back periodically - it can go crazy]. Post a photo when you get if finished.....its a lovely bed!
Judith

Thank you Judith! Do you have any recommendation on what to replace the azaleas with? There is room for 3 "rows" in that bed. I don't have any room at all in front of the roses unless I move them, which I'm not opposed to doing.

My son "redid" my north facing flowerbed with the Coral Drift roses and Indian Hawthorne as foundation planting; it's growing and blooming right now, but hasn't been in long enough to really evaluate.

Beautiful home!

Your flower bed could probably use some rich compost or manure plus mulch for soil renewal. I would not pub boxwood near to roses the roots might interfere rather give the roses some low-growing ground cover plants, e.g. marigolds, phlox, or some purple to go with the pink roses. Eliminating the bxwood would also leave room for ayellow rose or two - Julia Child comes to mind because i tis a constant bloomer

aggierose, I really love Giant Lirope - it is truly foolproof - it is taller and gives a graceful look to a bed. I have used it in pots in front of my brick garage [with a concrete oriental statue attached to the wall]. The pots are sitting on river rock - very carefree and tidy and it has a bit of a formal look to it which I like. NO care except to water. I will try to get a few photos to show you tomorrow. The Little Pinkie indian hawthorne is something new I am trying. I dont much care for the bigger version, though it is used alot. So far, I like Little Pinkie...it is staying small, stays green and is blooming now. If you want to take out the azaleas and cant decide on what to put there.....try the Giant Lirope. If you dont like it later on.....its super easy to dig out and grows fast and it is a plant you can use anywhere. As I mentioned, I love it in pots.

If you wanted to use roses.....I have become very fond of white in a landscape. I adore the look of white bridal wreath against the green spring grass.....that is fleeting however so I am collecting white roses to mimic the look. I love the Pioneer rose Old Baylor - just got one on my visit to Antique Rose Emporium. Since that area gets sun....white might look nice there, and it could play off the eves of your house. Sunny Knockout roses are also good - start out yellow, fade to creamy white. I have a pair at my front door that are eyecatching even though my house is well off the road. Purple Angelonia is extremely heat tolerant and blooms all summer - a bunch of that would look great, and peach and lavender are gorgeous together, so would look good with the Drift roses. I got so fed up with the heat killing everything last summer that I did some experimenting and made a list of plants that would thrive in the broiling sun - angelonia was one of the top survivors. Massing one or two colors to me makes a bigger impact. I do my deck in all purples and lavenders [all potted plants] and it never fails to wow everyone. Your house is lovely - doubt you could go wrong with anything you planted!
Judith