Teri,
Here's the article and related post that I wrote back in 2004.
Shade Tolerant Roses
When it comes to growing roses, the natural environment of my Hudson Valley home is both a blessing and a curse. The front yard’s southern exposure floods the lawn with sunlight that roses would normally thrive in. Unfortunately, it is also frequented by deer, whose appetite for roses force me to grow my plants in the safety of the back yard.
Its fenced border provides an effective barrier against unwelcome visitors, and the surrounding arborvitae provide an evergreen background for colorful blooms. But the trees’ long shadows create a lot of shade. The yard’s limited number of sunlit patches have already been filled to the limit with a combination of floribundas, grandifloras, shrubs and minis; but like many rose lovers, I can’t seem to get enough! There are always one or two (or 19) more roses I’d like to introduce to the garden – but where?
As I pondered my dilemma during last fall’s pre-order season, I took notice of the occasional mention of “shade-tolerant” roses in various catalogs, and thought this might be the answer to my appetite for more rose blooms. So I made a winter project of researching the plants that the growers promote as needing less than six hours of sunlight per day. That’s not to say they can grow in the dark; they still need sunshine to thrive and bloom, but not as much as most other roses.
It turns out that the list I accumulated from various catalogs, garden guides, and databases was longer than expected. It includes 235 roses among 23 classifications. In the interest of helping other gardeners confronted with dappled or partial shade, I’ve listed the roses here by classification.
Alba (6): Celeste, Felicite Parmentier, Maxima, Mme Plantier, Morning Blush, Suaveolens
Bourbon (11): Barbara Worl, Bourbon Queen, Champion of the World, Charles Lawson, Hermosa, Honorine de Brabant, Louise Odier, Mme Isaac Pereire, Sophie’s Perpetual, Souvenir de la Malmaison, Souvenir de St. Anne’s
Centifolia (6): Alain Blanchard, Bullata, Duc de Fitzjames, Duchesse d’Angouleme, Fantin-Latour, York and Lancaster
China (11): Cardinal de Richelieu, Comtesse de Lacepede, Duchese de Montebello, Green Rose, Hermosa, Irene Watts, Louis XIV, Mateo’s Silk Butterflies, Mme Laurette Messimy, Old Blush, Sophie’s Perpetual
Climber (11): Altissimo, Blaze, Coral Dawn, Floire de Dijon, Fourth of July, Fred Loads Mermaid, Kiftsgate, Mlle Cecile Brunner, New Dawn, Sombreuil, Zephirine Drouhin
Damask (5): Celsiana, La Ville de Bruxelles, Madame Hardy, President Dutailly, Rose d’Hivers
English Rose (11): Abraham Darby, Ambridge, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Chianti, English Garden, Glamis Castle, Golden Celbration, Heritage Sharifa, Swan, The Alexander Rose, The Prince
Floribunda (16): Amber Queen, Angel Face, Betty Boop, Betty Prior, Blueberry Hill, Dolly, Gruss an Aachen, Ivory Fashion, Joseph’s Coat, Flower Carpet, Fred Loads, Livin’ Easy, Marmalade Skies, Playboy, Playgirl, Sweet Vivian
Gallica Rose (86): Apothecary’s Rose, Rosa Mundi, Tuscany, Jenny Duval, William Grant, Complilcata, Adele Prevost, Empress Josephine, Agathe Incarnata, Alexandre Laquement, Ambroise Pare, Antonia d’Ormois, Assemblage des Beautes, Beau Narcisse, Belle des Jardins, Belle Doria, Belle Herminie, Belle Isis, Belle sans Flatterie, Bossuet, Boule de Nanteuil, Bouquet de Venus, Camaieux, Camaieux Reversion, Charles de Mills, Comte Boula de Nanteuil, Cosimo Ridolfi, Cramoisi Picotee, Crimson Gallica, D’Aguesseau, Desiree Parmentier, Double Brique, Duc de Fitzjames, Duc de Guiche, Duchesse d’Angouleme, Duchesse de Buccleugh, Dumortier, Elegant Gallica, Ester, Fanny Elssler, Fornarina, Gloire de Grance, Gros Provins Panache, Henri Fouquier, Hippolyte, Ipsilante, James Mason, Juliette, La Belle Sultane, La Maculee, La Plus Belle des Ponctuees, L’Enchantresse, Mazeppa Mecene, Mercedes, Nanette, Narcisse de Salvandy, Neron, Nestor, Nouveau Vulcain, Nouvelle Pivoine, Oeillet Double, Oeillet Flamand, Oellet Parfait, Ohl, Ombree Parfaite, Ancienne, Orpheline de Julliet, Perle des Panachees, Perle von Weissenstein, Pompom, President de Seze, Purple Climber, Rose des Maures, Rose du Maitre d’Ecole, Pluton, Royal Marbree, Ruth, Scarlet Fire, Supasse Tout, Tricolore, Tricolore de Flandre, Triomphe de Flore, Turenne, Superb Tuscan, Veluntinaeflora, Zoe
Hybrid Musk (21): Ballerina, Buff Beauty, Cornelia, Danae, Darlow’s Enigma, Erfurt, Eva, Felicia, Francesca, Francis E. Lester, Kathleen, Lavender Lassie, Moonlight, Mozart, Nymphenburg, Pax, Pink Prosperity, Prosperity, Ravel, Robin Hood, Sally Holmes, Thisbe Vanity
Hybrid Perpetual (2): Rerine des Violette, Souvenir du Dr. Jamain
Hybrid Rugosa (2): Blanc Double de Coubert, Therese Bugnet
Hybrid Tea (2): Kordes’ Perfecta, Reveil Dijonnais (also a modern climber)
Miniature (1): Green Ice
Moss (2): Alfred de Dalmas, Shailer’s White Moss
Noisette (6): Blush Noisette, Juane Desprez, Madame Alfred Carriere, Marechal Niel, Narrow Water, Natchitoches Noisette
Other Old Garden / Antique (2): Eugene de Beauharnais, Reine des Violettes
Polyantha (4): The Fairy, Marjoire Fair, Pinkie, Seven Sisters
Portland (1): Rose de Rescht
Rambler (1): Alberic Barbier
Rugosa: Many varieties
Shrub (10): Abbotswood, Banshee, Basye’s Purple Rose, Carefree Beauty, Carefree Delight, Carefree Wonder, Flutterbye, Dortmund, Fritz Nobis, Knockout
Species (12): Alika, Anemone, Arthur Hillier, Eglantine, Headleyensis, Mme de Sancy de Parabere, Pumila, Red-leaved Rose, Red Wing, Rosa Mundi, Ramona, William III
Tea (1): Duchesse de Brabant
