Roses for Partial Shade?
David Austin – “The English Roses enjoy areas of partial shade, providing that there is at least four to five hours of sunshine every day. They make a great way to brighten up a shady area. The main thing is to take care to avoid areas where there are overhanging branches and dry places where there would be too much competition from the roots of other trees and shrubs.
Other shrub roses will grow in partial shade, especially the once flowering varieties. Repeat flowering varieties suitable include hybrid musks, rugosas, and ground cover roses.”
Shrubs
From David Austin –
- A Shropshire Lad
- Crocus Rose
- Crown Princess Margareta
- Gertrude Jekyll
- Golden Celebration
- Hyde Hall
- Harlow Carr
- Queen of Sweden
- James Galway
- Rosemore
- The Generous Gardener
- Wild Edric
- Wildeve
Other shrubs
- Roseraie de L’Hay
- Frau Dagmar Hastrup
- Hansa – most rugosas in fact
- Empress Josephine
- Cornelia (Hybrid Musk)
- Felicia (Hybrid Musk)
- Buff Beauty (Hybrid Musk)
- Jacques Cartier (Portland)
- Rose de Rescht (Portland)
- Francesca (Hybrid Musk)
- Cornelia (Hybrid Musk)
- Ballerina (Modern Shrub)
- Mme Hardy (Damask)
- Reine des Violettes (Hybrid Perpetual)
- Rosa mundi (Gallica)
- The Fairy (Modern Shrub)
- Mme Isaac Pereire (Bourbon)
- Viridiflora
Climbers and Ramblers
- Felicite et Perpetue
- Mme Greoire Staechlin
- Golden Showers
- St Swithun
- Teasing Georgia
- Tess of the D’Urbevilles
- The Garland
- The Pilgrim
- Veilchenblau
- Bleu Magenta
- Bobbie James
- Ghislaine de Feligonde
- Paul’s Lemon Pillar
- Rambling Rector
- Cecile Brunner
- Debutante
- New Dawn
- Madame Alfred Carriere
- Seagull
However, a note of caution thrown in by Peter Beales in his excellent book Classic Roses –
“Roses only tolerate such a situation (a northerly aspect), they don’t necessarily enjoy it.”
The North Wall is a problem, and I may add, not just for roses. Few worthwhile plants enjoy such a situation. Most roses will grow on such a wall but only a few will flower to their full potential. Because they show up better, Nature has decreed that the best of these will be white or cream in colour. The additional problem of a north wall and, to a lesser extent, the east wall, is hardiness. So this restricts the choice even further.
TEN GOOD OLDER CLIMBERS AND RAMBLERS FOR A NORTH WALL
Aimee Vibert, Alberic Barbier, Crimson Conquest, Emily Gray, Felicite Perpetue, Mermaid, Mme Alfred Carriere, Mme Gregoire Staechelin, Pau’s Scarlet, Rambling Rector
The Teddington Gardener 