I wonder if a strategically placed mirror could work.

It could be expensive to run lights but I guess you could make them solar if you had a long cord so the charging unit reached into a sunny area.

Sharon, here I thought I was the lone eccentric gardener on here. I remember on here once there was someone that placed mirrors on a wall behind the roses to reflect extra light on to the rose. All I could think at the time was hail and glass are a poor combination.

I already have security lights, I was just wondering if I changed the bulb, or type of lighting to a grow light.... others in the neighborhood use lighting to accent trees or bushes..... again I thought why not grow lights.

This is actually something I have been thinking of recently! LOL!! I have those standard yellow lights on the balcony and was wondering if I should switch the bulb out with one that is used specifically for plants. There are big trees that cover a lot of sunlight in front of my west-facing balcony... yikes. Roses are doing ok-but I know they could do A LOT better. I wonder if you get those transparent light covers for your light bulb like they have on balconies maybe it could work?

I grow seedling annuals under lights indoors and keep the lights very close to the plants, about 4 to 6 inches.

A potential disadvantage with this experiment is that the roses may stretch towards the light and become leggy...?

I like that you are thinking outside of the box. I assume the light would need to be in a water-proof structure.

It's easier to just cut down the tree......and you'd have full sun! :-) I have been growing roses under huge trees in the land of tree roots for over 10 years. I cut down the lower branches to let some sunshine came through. here are a couple roses that would bloom in the shade or on a north facing wall: Dalow's Engima, New Dawn.

Last winter I finally hired a tree service to cut down all the trees but 1 by the street, now all the roses in my yard can soak up the sun.......I have thought about outdoor lights that could light up all night under the trees for the roses and for landscaping & security. You'd need to find a farm pole light, very powerful light, many neighbors in the countryside have them, but don't do it if you're in the suburb........it's super bright like a mini moon. :-)

This is by no means a "dumb question", Sharon! What a great thread! You sure are "thinking outside the box", and your post has gotten some creative wheeels running in my own head as to how to increase light in a certain area of my garden. Cutting down trees isn't always the best alternative; in my roasting-hot garden, shade is so welcome-to me. But the roses in some areas don't benefit from it, since it's morning/early afternoon shade.

Cutting down the tree is not an option. I would never get permission from the city even if I wanted to cut it down. The tree is over a hundred years old. It is also probably 20 feet in diameter. Someone from down the street built a home and they had a much smaller banyan tree and it cost them oodles of money to move it 15 feet so they could pour the slab..... but the main reason I wouldn't cut down the tree is that it probably cuts my electric bill 30 to 40%!!!

Now I know that roses need morning sun, but when I started several years ago I planted roses at my office. I did not know any better and I planted 4 roses in a bed that I build on the top of the asphalt in front of my building. The roses are on the west side of the building and they don't get sun til sometime around 1 or 2 depending on the time of the year. So the poor things get major morning shade, after noon blazing sun and reflection off of the white walls and roots that sit on top of asphalt..... Would I do it again. No. And I am sure that the 3 (yes, I lost one from not knowing what I was doing) I have would bloom much better, or more. But they do look lovely. But the place I want to plant the roses at my home, would not get much afternoon sun, or morning sun. They would get overhead sun, and then afternoon filtered sun.

Have you tried digging in the soil to see if you can actually dig? A tree 20' in diameter might have a lot of roots. If the shade doesn't make the roses miserable, the tree roots might.

Actually, the tree roots are not a problem. It seems to have deep roots, not shallow like ficus trees. In fact, when hurricane Jean and Francis, and Wilma came by, it decimated all of the ficus trees in the neighborhood. The ficus trees were uprooted. My banyan tree lost a lot of limbs (6 FEMA dump trucks) and it still looked pretty good. It is a massive tree. A nice thing that I noticed about the tree, is that the soil around the tree is awesome. As I said, my tree lost 6 dump truck's worth of limbs. I moved them out to the street by myself. I had to deal with losing the roof at my office, part of the roof of my house, and my mother's death all at the same time. I did not feel, like also picking up the leaves. I just left them. The leaves made the most dark earth I have ever seen here in Florida. I was so impressed, I bought a Sun Joe and I now grind up the leaves and dump them in my rose and vegetable garden. I notice that my soil in both locations. So, I think the roses would love being under the tree for the soil..... though during leaf falling season I would have to diligently pick them up or a tree that size the leaves could smother the roses....

I agree , I love your way of thinking!! I wanted to add , I have a leaf blower / vac that picks up leafs and shreds them. Right into an attatched bag Really good tool to have if the tree and roses work out! :)

Go for it Sharon!