Does this area get any direct sun light at all and if so, how many hours per day? There no roses that I know of that will grow with no sun light and only a few that will bloom well with less than 6 hours of sun. Where do you live/what zone?

I am not sure if it does get any direct sunlight. I work away from the house most days so can't say for sure. But from the angle of the sun, I doubt it. It's not deep shade as I have a couple of solar lights and they get enough light to charge and run the landscape lights for 4 to 6 hrs at night.

I am in Houston, zone 9a.

You might try Mlle. de Sombreuil, which can be grown as a small climber. White roses often seem to need less sunlight than others, although of course this would be an experiment. With global warming and increased sun radiation I think roses in the hotter areas will benefit from less sun and more shade. It's worth a try! This rose does have thorns but they're not large or vicious.

I'll tell you honestly, I don't think 'Mlle. de Sombreuil' would flourish with NO direct sun. Half-day, sure -- particularly if it's morning sun -- but I agree with Seil ... this is a fine place for other sorts of plants, but roses really do need some sun.

Thank you Ingrid, I am willing to experiment. So many times I come across posts saying some rose is blooming in full shade etc. I need to start combing the forum and making a list of possibilities. Mlle. de Sombreuil looks good, will research.

I certainly thought this area was too dark, but my camellias put out hundreds of blooms. Of course Rose's need more, but maybe I could find one that would do ok here..

Thanks Jeri, I posted as you were posting as well.

I was looking for something else on this forum and came across a few people commenting x or y was growing in full shade, a most full shade etc, so wanted to give it a college try before giving up.

When we moved in, we removed a few bottle brush shrubs that were blooming. To my knowledge, this spot does not get any direct sun...

You might also try Mme. Alfred Carriere. Mine was blooming on a north wall until eaten by varmints. Interesting observation about your solar lights. I wonder how much light they need to charge. That would be good information to have as shade can actually be measured with a light meter. Hmmm. However, I think in many of my more shady areas I'm going with other plants and put the rose in the front. One question : when the climber reaches over the wall will it then receive sun? If so, hat could work for many roses?

Vapor, wouldn't Mme. Alfred Carriere be too large? The wall is only a pony wall or a half wall and all the pictures of this rose I have seen are huge.

Alas, when the climber gets to the other side, no difference in light conditions!

Maybe I need a light meter

'Mme. Alfred . . . " really is a big, big girl.

I think you said you have some camellias there, yes? It seems the right sort of area for Camellias, Azaleas, Gardenias, and the like. Rhododendrons, if you have a real winter.

Thanks Jeri, I was looking for something to come up and drape in front of the wall as its it's an eye sore.

Not a star jasmine though!

How about one of the Hybrid Musks? Not all are recommended for shade and they may not give continuous bloom, but worth a try. So far my best are Belinda, Felicia and Sally Holmes.

Rekha A, I might have misled you when I said in the other thread that my Clotilde Soupert gets almost no sun once the pecan trees leaf out except during sunrise and sunset. That’s true, but sunrise and sunset do give it some direct sunlight each day, and there’s a little bit of dappled sunlight through the tree at times during the day…not enough light for most roses, but Clotilde does okay there. If your area gets no sun, you probably won’t be happy with a rose’s performance. If you think the area gets some direct sunlight or has indirect, dappled sunlight, you could try a rose in a pot there first. That way, if needed, you could move the pot to a sunnier area for a few hours when you’re home on Saturdays and Sundays or move it permanently if you decide a rose won’t work at all in that spot.

Softee blooms decently for me in semi-shade. It’s in a pot under a different pecan tree and gets more sun than Clotilde, but still not a lot. It is thornless, gets tall enough in the pot and has lax enough canes to drape over a half wall, but not much fragrance at all. It does get some BS here and there, too, in my no spray garden.

At Pat, thank you for those pictures! I have wanted softie for a long time but didn't realize she had such a Charming little shade of yellow in her Center. Now I think I will have to get her. Good suggestion about putting something in a pot and moving it around stop.. I should have done that with a couple! LOL!

Pat, I was not thinking of your Soupert, I had come across some posts while searching for something else.

Maybe not a rose for this spot...I don't think it gets any direct light.

Eta: Rose's like Sally Holmes, darlows enigma, bubble bath, lyda, Ghislaine de Feligonde etc have been mentioned as growing in almost full shade. That is what I was thinking of when I started this thread.

I have a Dr. Huey on a trellis shaded by a maple tree. He works there only because he is a once bloomer anyway. He gets enough direct sunlight early in the season to set buds but once the maple tree leafs out he gets no direct sunlight. If I put a repeat bloomer there it won't ever set new buds after the first flush because of lack of sun.

I grow roses in bright shade, north facing... but they are planted 6 foot out from the sunless north wall, so they pick up a little sun first thing, about half hour maybe, then no more until 3pm, and that's only from mid May to July, otherwise very little in the way of sun.. and none at all the rest of the year, it just doesn't make it around..

I sometimes think I'm being cruel putting roses in such locations, they must be thinking they've drawn the short straw.... but they go where I want them to go and it's trial and error from then on... but as a famous rosarian once said, all roses will give some blooms in sunless positions, they will just flower better in sun...

Austin's do especially well, they just don't seem to care...

'The Poet's Wife'... you can see the sun shadow in the background... photo taken around 1 pm.. this is almost my best blooming rose, non stop all season...

...and of course my favourite 'Thomas a Becket'... which is a non stopper as well, and misses totally the morning half hour bit.. so nothing until 3 pm.. you can see the sun in the background.. photo at 1 pm..

lots of other roses have done well for me in this border...

If you want a near thornless rose, I would be tempted to try the hybrid musk 'Cornelia', for me it grows about 4 foot tall and 10 feet wide, and is constantly in bloom... it's another that only gets sun from about 1 pm in this case, but it does get some..

I've no idea what a pony wall is, or whether any are suitable for your region..

I am going to watch this area carefully this summer to figure out if it gets any sun during summer. if not, it may be experiments with a large container!

I have a few roses in front of the house that faces the south. Right now they get full sun all day because it’s “winter” but in the summer the sun shifts and the backyard gets full sun all day. About 4-5 hours max of full sun is what I’ve noticed they get during the summer because the house shades it. There are no trees or any other structure in the vicinity that creates more shade. It is still very bright but no full sun after the 4-5 hours and they seem to be doing ok for me

I would NOT try to grow any rose in a place where it never gets any direct sunlight at all. Even if you found one that survived, I think it would not bloom much at all, and would not be healthy or look good. My only exception to that would be a very tall climber like MAC, which could climb into the sun. However, you say you just want something to drape over a low wall, so that idea is out.

Why not try a draping sort of one of the plants you say already like it there? I know there are "climbing" types of hydrangeas which would probably drape nicely (hydrangeas, camellias, rhododendrons, LIKE shady places!) - I would look into that. They are easy to prune, and do not have any thorns! I have even seen adds for re-blooming hydrangeas, but do not know anything about them.

I have roses all over my garden, and all over my house. However, on the North totally shady side of my 3 story house (despite living in zone 9 warmth as you do), I do not have ANY roses, only lots of hydrangeas, calla lilies (the way old fashioned kind which are left over from an ancient planting by the ancestors - they love it there), and yes, star jasmine which climbs on the house all the way up to the roof. I think camellias would like it there also, but our house is only about 2 1/2 - 3 feet from the lot line in several places (in 1905 not much attention was paid to side lot set backs!), so I have never tired that.

Jackie

I put a pink jasmine and a non invasive honeysuckle in container last week. Today I was weeding the bed around 2pm and there was bright, direct sun on the pony wall. Since it was an overcast day, not sure how long the direct sun lasts...I'm usually not home during the day but I need to figure out how much sun it gets. But also happy with my selections, assuming they do well. Time will tell!