Growing Roses In Shade / Shade Tolerant Roses

• personal comments.
• tables of suggested shade tolerant roses from books and other references.
• roses most frequently recommended for partial shade.
• printable list of suggested roses for shade.
• other discussions about shade tolerant roses and required sunlight
• web page links to roses and shade.

    Personal comments

• Below, I let the authors themselves speak to the issue of roses and the amount of sunlight required to grow them. I have quoted from a number of books, the matter of roses and their requisite demands for sunlight. Suffice it to say that roses, in order to reach their full potential of form, size, vigor, quantity and quality of bloom MUST HAVE PLENTY OF SUN. The most common recommedation is 5 to 6 hours of sun a day. That said, many gardeners have not the blessing of unlimited garden and landscape space flooded with optimal sunshine. What are we to do? In my gardening adventures, I try to reserve the most sunny locations for roses... and these prime rose locations are quickly filled. If the opportunity presents itself, I take my most used garden tool, my chainsaw, and clear the boughs from the sky allowing more sunlight in, and hence more room for roses! In my woodland setting, there are plenty of trees left to shade the landscape. Fortunately, many of the trees are very tall and slender black locust and wild cherry which do not form a dense canopy, but rather allow a good bit of filtered sunlight in. And filtered sunlight for a part of the day is what many of my roses get.
  
  
• It is difficult for the rose grower to make a good evaluation of a rose's shade tolerance.  Since a rose variety may be grown in only one location in the garden, sun or part shade, the rose gardener often can not compare the rose's performance in a more sunny or shaded situation. Perhaps the more experienced rose gardener would be able to make a more informed comment about any particular rose and it's penchant for sun or shade.
  
  The repeat blooming roses I grow that perform best in partial shade are: 'Ballerina'(hy.musk, Bentall, 1937), 'Knockout'(shrub, Radler, 1999), 'Darlow's Enigm'a (shrub of unknown origin), 'Cornelia'(hy. musk, Pemberton, 1925), 'Gartendirecktor Otto Linne' (hy. musk x polyantha, Lambert, 1934), 'Ghislaine de Feligonde'( hy. multiflora, Turbat, 1916).
  
  
• Growing roses under trees.......If the shade under your trees is very dense, that is no filtered sunlight ever, I would not grow roses under them. Roses must have some sun to grow and bloom. If some sunlight makes it through, roses should grow there. The amount of bloom and their overall health and vigor will depend upon how much sun they get. If the tree roots are many, then you have additional problems for the roses. They will deplete the soil the roses are planted in of moisture and nutrients. Even if there is sun, the roses still will not do well competing with tree roots. Some trees develop very large roots near the trunk that are very close to the surface of the ground or even grow above the ground. Roses don't like to compete with tree roots, and will usually give up. If this is the case, there is truly only one recourse if you must have roses under the trees: grow the roses in large pots. Some may decide to cover up the tree roots with soil of sufficient depth to grow the roses in. This is not a good idea and will harm the tree. Those tree roots are near the surface or above the ground for a reason: they need air, so to speak. If, however, your tree does not put out large roots near or above the ground, and there is sufficent sun, growing roses at least 18 to 24 inches from the trunk may work just fine. I have a number of roses growing this way next to black locust trees. Black locust, (Robinia pseudoacacia), roots tend to not rise to the surface and the soil next to the tree trunk itself can be fairly deep. The soil is still fairly dry, so the roses should be mulched well to preserve moisture.
  

These roses are specifically mentioned as being shade tolerant, or are recommended for use in filtered shade and woodland settings.

climbers & ramblers    older roses    species roses    shrub roses   hybrid musk     rugosa roses    hybrid tea & floribunda    polyantha & miniature

References Suggesting Rose For Tolerance of Partial Shade:

Links To Other Discussions About and Suggestions For Roses and Shade

Shade Tolerant Roses - list of by Rhode Island Rose Society

Ten Roses for Partial Shade - suggestions from a gardener in Alabama

Discussion on Antique Rose Forum - on GardenWeb.com

List on High Country Roses

What Roses Can I Grow in Shade? - Garden Web rose FAQ

"Unless we know the difference between flowers and weeds, we are not fit to take care of a garden. It is not enough to have truth planted in our minds.  We must learn and labor to keep the ground clear of thorns and briars, follies and perversities, which have a wicked propensity to choke the word of life."
--Clyde Francis Lytle

last updated 2005 March 16


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