New Rose Garden

On Thursday Last our garden was hit by a mini cyclone with winds reaching 100km per hour resulting in severe damage to 4 of our much loved Manchuriar Pears. I spent yesterday with my family cleaning up the debris and now have huge truckload or two to take to recycling.
Our garden which used to be called the "Secret Garden"because it was hard to find amongst the trees is now the not so secret garden. It is very protected by our courtyard from most hot dry winds and has shrubs all around so is a sun trap.
Our idea is now to convert the area to a rose garden of about twenty roses.

Suggestions please.
Favorite roses welcome, colour schemes, spacing does my preferred 1.2meter spacing fit with everyones opinions?

The soil is excellent and will suit roses as I previously dug it over deeply with my backhoe and worked in compost (6 years ago).

Comments?
Suggestions?
Everything welcome I am trying to turn disaster into triumph here.
Dennis

Commiserations on the garden damage.
On the other hand.... roses!  

In regard to types - pick YOUR favourites. It's your garden. *g*
I'm also cautious because I have a different climate here to you...
That said, if you like bright (almost gaudy) roses then you can't go past 'Gremlin' [low, spreading, floribunda] for health, vigour and blooms. Just walked past mine this morning and the first bud has cracked open. It will be a riot very soon.

Take it as a message from Mother Nature, Dennis: "Darling, I've found a perfect spot for a rose garden. Here, let me show you. I'll just clear away some of the overgrowth. Oops, sorry about those Manchurian pears..."

AutumnDamask is so right - you should get what YOU like. Also what you need - do you cut for the vase, or are you more into landscaping? Does fragrance matter? If so, how much? Shape and height? A bit more info would help.

And then there are all those roses in the Parliament House gardens to consider as your own personal living catalogue, too. Do you see anything or things there that you particularly like?