If I were you, I'd be looking at a polyantha. Little White Pet grows in my garden happily with less sun than you are describing. It can get to 3' high. It blooms continually, and is clean. If you go to the Vintage Gardens website at "www.vintagegardens.com", you can look up polyanthas and easily see individual descriptions, growth habits, etc.

Jackie

I highly recommend a polyantha rose called Marie Pavie or Marie Daly (a pink sport of Marie Pavie which is more of creamy white with hint of pink). Not sure where exactly you live in Dallas but try Petal Pusher in Cedar Hill or North Haven in north Dallas. Nice fragrance too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marie Daly

Lou, I was worried that the Maries' would by to tall. I have seen Marie Pavie 5 feet tall in Ft Worth.

Jackie, Little Pet would be the perfect size. I have 6 'Ducher's on the other side of the yard so not sure if I want white, but it may just have to be it. Thanks.

I have two plants of Spice, a tea rose, since I've heard it does well in partial shade. It's supposed to stay small for a tea, which I fervently hope is true. Pretty pale pink blooms with a lovely fragrance. I got rid of my Gruss an Aachen since I discovered rust on it and my garden had never had rust before. If you love old roses it really is difficult to find smaller ones that do well in partial shade.

Ingrid

The Spice they have in the test gardens at the Ft Worth Botanical gardens was over 4 feet tall and wide when I took a picture of it a few years ago. The picture is a little deceiving but it was taller than me and the bed was less than a foot tall. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/147627/ It is a beautiful rose though and I hope one day to have a place for it.

I really have to have something that will not ever get over 4 feet. And I don't want to have to chop it back every year.

Oh, rust is not good. I have never had it on roses either and don't want to start.

Don't worry about rust in Texas.

Oh, thanks Michael. I thought that was the case but I was not sure.

Hybrid Musks are supposed to be THE roses for shady areas. Are there any in your size range? Vintage would be a good place to look. Or HelpMeFind.com

fsadallas,

The 5 footer MP that you saw in Ft Worth, was it in full sun all day long? Maybe with no fertilizer and not as much sun may not yield 5 footer MP/MD for you? Mine gets half day of sun so who knows how big it'd eventually get. I was looking through Chamblee's to see what they have... Have you heard of Baby Alberic, another white polyanthia? I'm curious about Green Ice because of it's supposedly high disease resistance so I may try that eventually. I'm also curious about Clotilde Soupert as well.

I have one rose planted in the "sun" you describe that stays the size you want. Hybrid Musk - Eva. Huge flush in the spring (not as much shade then) and fairly good repeat afterwards. We have removed some of the shade so am hoping for better reblooms this year

Lou, yes it was. That's very true about the difference in less sun.

Rozannadanna, I will have to check out Eva. It sounds promising.

This location probably actually gets 6 hours now plus filtered sun, but the tree to the south is going to grow more and shade it more in the next few years so I am trying to be prepared. I wanted Martha Gonzales for the spot originally but I don't want to move it out in a couple years as the shade increases.

Anyone have Gruss an Aachen and want to comment about blackspot? I am still keeping it open as an option.

chinensi louis XIV, ancient black rose, loves a lot of shade else its flowers get "burned" and it leaves suffer as well.

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Hi, fsadallas - I'm in the Austin area and I can HIGHLY recommend Perle d'Or for the type of light conditions you describe. Mine has been in the ground for four years and is just under 4 feet and approximately 3 feet wide. She is planted in a shady corner and gets about 2 hours of direct morning light and dappled shade through the rest of the day, almost no supplemental water, and I do not spray. I've seen no BS at all, and this little rose seems to always have a bloom in progress, and the blooms are fragrant and lovely. I have to say that I like her most when she's in bud, though - Perle d'Or has the most beautiful buds you can imagine.

Perle d'Or is one of the reasons I became more interested in planting more roses and I've received a great deal of help from the forum members here, and I now have 20+ new roses to add to the garden. One of them is Gruss an Aachen. That one arrived from Chamblee's covered in buds and has 5 flowers in bloom right now while still in the 1 gallon pot. I don't know if she'll get BS, but I don't care - this is a beautiful rose and I can live with a little BS. Good luck!

Perle d'Or is one that I have always admired. It sounds like I should really think about her for that spot. But you are encouraging me to look at Gruss an Aachen more with that talk. I am going to be going through Tyler in a month so I may just wait to buy something until I then. I can go through Chamblees and if Gruss an Aachen draws me in while there, I can go with her.

Wow! chinensis louis XIV sure is a beauty. I am off to look into that one.

LOL! Life is short, fsadallas - why plant just one?

Lyda Rose is doing great for me in the same conditions, but we don't have the intense drying winds that Texas does. In general, hybrid musks are not all heat-tolerant. Perle d'Or is simply terrific & should do well for you. Ditto Spice, whcih is really vigorous but dome to think uvvit, I don't know how big it might get. And Caldwell Pink, no fragrance to speak of but marvelous vigor on a low-growing spreading plant.

In those conditions, I would select Marie Pavie, Marie Daly, or Gruss an Aachen.

Randy

One of the lovliest roses in the world and of all time, is the light pink 'Madamoiselle Cecille Brunner' and its' darker pink sport 'Marie Daly', which I'd suggest for a hot climate place like Texas because it does not bleach out like the original Madamoiselle Cecille Brunner.
Here in the S.F. Bay area 'Marie Daly' matures at a height of 4' tall on its own roots, which I prefer, for their better bloom production over a 20 year span, and because roses budded onto rootstock can grow to be 25%-50%larger than the same cultivar grown on its own-roots.
helpmefind.com has photos of Marie Daly and says it is disease resistant in Texas.
vintagegardens.com sells Marie Daly' on its' own roots, and A.R.E. might.
White roses that are less than 4' tall, and shade tolerant.
'Katherine Zeimet' a white Polyantha, with dark green glossy foliage that is resistant to most fungal disease. In our neighborhood near San Francisco, it stays lower than 3' tall, when grown on its own roots. It makes a nice low hedging plant because of the density of its foliage and blooms.
The clone of 'Little White Pet' that we got from Canada has shaplier flowers than the 'L.W.P.' I bought from California and the Canadian one (from hortico.com) blooms nearly constantly. It has matured at c. 2 and 3/4' tall. Good health, a little bit suseptible to p.m. but never defoliates from it, and keeps on blooming steadily.
Good luck, let us know which rose you choose.
Lux.
P.S.
I adore 'Perle d' Or', but because it reaches a mature height of c. 10 ft. tall in California, unless pruned regularly, I'd suggest one of the smaller rosebushes for anyone who doesn't wish to prune for size.

Well, I went with RM Finch Polyantha. Part of me wanted to get Gruss an Aachen, but I could not find it within 30 miles of Dallas and I am not going out to Chamblees for another 3 weeks. Gruss will go somewhere else in the future.

I went to a local nursery (Northhaven) and put Marie Daly next to RM Finch. I prefer the darker pink buds of RM Finch and shape of the flowers so that's what I went with. Thanks for all the help!

I have Marie Pavie and Gruss an Aachen in the side yards and they get a lot of shade and both are healthy and bloom like mad. In particular Marie---she only gets a touch of morning sun and only what light might be reflected to her by a nearby house the rest of the day. She is under 4 feet and lovely. Good luck on your hunt.

Ronda

I just received mine a couple of weeks ago. It is all of 2" tall so it will be a while before I find out if HMF is correct. I am putting mine in a spot similar to what you describe as far as sun/shade. I think it will make a bright spot out of my dark spot. I was really excited about getting this rose - rose red/white, shade tolerant, smallish & disease resistant. Sounded like a winner to me.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: Marjorie Fair