I have 6 hybrid teas and 2 hybrid perpetuals growing next to my neighbor's garage. They are planted facing west and doing fine. I keep an eye out that they don't dry out badly, what with all that hot afternoon sun, but otherwise, no problem.

Oh, they do have a tendency to lean to the west. I have a couple inconspicuous green plant supports per plant keeping the more pliable canes from leaning over too far.

The one thing I'd be careful about is that the roses I planted do not fade in the afternoon sun.

Kate

I've had trouble with some roses in a west facing bed. The blooms can burn/crisp up in the hot afternoon sun. And like Kate mentions, they do tend to lean out - trying to get a smidgen of morning sun, poor things, I suppose. East is better, but if west is what you have give it a try. I'd leave the dark red roses off your list for that spot however.

Earliest morning sun is best. You want rose leaves to dry as quickly as they can to lessen leaf fungus diseases.
Planting near a solid? wood fence MAY cause some further air circulation problems and combined with the roses only getting afternoon sun MAY not be a good combination.

You could try planting 3 roses in containers in that spot to see how they do? Then, they can be moved if needed.

Jim has a good point. Do not plant west-facing roses up close to the fence. My west-facing roses planted next to my neighbor's garage are about two feet away from the garage. That allows for air-circulation. I also plant only disease-resistant roses in all my gardens, so that helps keep down disease-problems also. However, I have never had problems with the leaves not drying out quickly enough. If it is warm enough outside, the leaves will dry in a timely manner even before the hot noon sun hits them.

I really have had no problems with my west-facing roses.

Kate

I have Illusion (red) on west wall of my house and very happy so far. As the blooms age, the color fades a little but there are always new ones coming on. Anyway, light colored roses can fade too and then they will all look white-ivory. Get a strong rose and try it.

>I'm hoping to plant 3 new roses against our wooden fence and they would get the afternoon sun, facing west.
Would this be a good location for them?
Also, we planted an 8 foot flowering cherry tree about 6 feet in front of that spot. I know they are fast growers (it's not the weeping kind, it's a prunus kanzan) but the foliage isn't much to speak about for now and probably won't provide much shade for years.

Hi Natanya,

It probably mostly depends on whether you already have the roses or not, and if so, which varieties you chose. Probably hybrid teas wouldn't work because they mostly need more sun than that, and many wouldn't get tall enough to discount the shading effects of the fence. If your rose variety can grow tall enough, the influence of the facing direction won't matter much; which direction of exposure a larger and taller-growing rose gets next to a fence isn't as important as which exposure it might have next to a (much taller) house. Disease resistance and shade tolerance in getting to that taller condition would be things to consider, though.

If you have bought or can choose to buy now a longer/larger-growing rose variety/varieties that are reasonably disease resistant and that can also take a bit of shade, even a little bit, by the time it gets to the top of the fence, it will effectively be growing in full sun--if it's not directly in a northerly line with the flowering cherry you planted to the west of your west-facing fence. Most roses can take full sun, though not all.

If you haven't bought/chosen the rose variety yet, consider something like a hardy Cornelia (or another hybrid musk hardy in your area). Cornelia can take a good bit of shade, and will do well in full all-day sun too. Lyda Rose would work beautifully there too. (Don't go by what just a single bloom of Lyda Rose looks like when estimating its impact; it's spectacular as a whole large plant gets covered in blooms with a faint lavendar pink edging to each petal.)

Some shade-tolerant climbers might also work well to climb on your fence: Annie Laurie McDowell, Renae, Climbing Pinkie, Cile Brunner. Many of the hybrid musks can serve well as climbers too, and many of them would be hardy there.

If a taller or larger-growing rose doesn't appeal to you, the hardy (and wonderful!) florabunda Grüss An Aachen would work, and it starts blooming early enough that it might well have blooms at the same time as your new cherry tree. The floribundas Iceberg/Brilliant Pink Iceberg/Burgandy Iceberg ought to work too (and likely blooming with your cherry tree), and Snow Gosling would look good too. Many lower-growing polyanthas might fit the bill: Marie Daley, Marie Pavie, Baby Faraux, Lovely Fairy, Lullabye, The Gift, Cécile Brunner.

If you go with these smaller (disease-resistant) roses, I don't think they'd look good if you plant them two feet out. Maybe 15-18 inches--even taking into account some horizontal growth. Another thing to consider: if you go with smaller roses, you will probably need more of them than just three if the intention is to create a line of color all along the fence.

Best wishes,
Mary

I guess I neglected to add that it wouldn't get any morning sun because on the other side of the fence are full grown maple and oak trees.

Thanks so much for all the info. I will definitely try to figure it out.

Did you plant your roses? How did they turn out? Please update. I found this thread very interesting

Thanks
M