talk to me about roses please

[MousyMouse]

have a north/west facing garding which gets a lot of sun nearly all day long. plus the front of the house is south facing.

there are a couple of mature roses in the back, but they look a bit sad, hopefully they will come back with a bit of care and fertilizer.

in the front I want some spikey climbers to give a bit more privacy and in the back some bigger varieties (I think I have space for 3 or 4).

we are in SE London, if that helps soilwise.

what should I look out for?
what to avoid?
can I plant now or better wait for a better time?

Plant in the Autumn when the 'bare root' roses come out.

You could order the David Austen catalogue.
www.davidaustinroses.com/english/advanced.asp

You could visit gardens and look at roses you like, although some may be past their best.

There was also a nice thread on here about favourite roses.

thanks will have a look at garden centres and plan the layout until autumn.

does lavender/onions/garlic really work as aphid repellant? or are they 'just' pretty?

my mum did a bed of david austen roses - they are very good and loads of choice - she did a fair bit of preparing the bed - has lavender in front - a few years on roses are lovely and in v good condition

oh my, so much choice

lots of info on roses/pruning on gardener's world today.