It does not really sound as if your spot is "in shade" if it gets afternoon sun. How many hours of sun per day would you estimate? I live in a similar climate to yours in No California. My entire front garden gets morning shade and afternoon sun.

I have different tastes in colors than you do, but I can tell you that i have china roses, tea roses, and hybrid musks which are all fine with this situation. I agree that your problem was probably lack of water. I would amend the soil, make sure the rose gets adequate water, and put a nice layer of mulch around it.

Jackie

In our climate, it helps a great deal if the rose is either disease resistant, or sprayed for fungal diseases.

It is common for plants to be wet in the morning due to condensation--with morning shade, those plants will have wet leaves for many hours each day...

Hi Bart, I grow Lavender Lassie in a spot that gets some sun in early spring, but once the trees leaf out it is in pretty Stygian shade all the rest of the season (May-October). It grows as a big sprawly shrub and blooms beautifully (big flush) in spring. No bloom after, however. I'm trying a baby LL in a sunnier spot, to see if I get re-bloom, though others on this forum have told me LL is basically a once-bloomer even in sun. My only hesitation about LL in your conditions is that the flowers might kind of bleach out in the afternoon sun. One of my MIPs is in a rather shady spot, and does ok - not as well as the ones in sun (smaller plant, fewer flowers, a bit more BS) but ok. I have a recommendation for your spot - how about Carefree Beauty/Katy Road Pink? I have multiple specimens of this rose in various conditions: full sun, shade, partial shade with major root competition from trees, a too-small container, etc etc etc. Nothing seems to bother this rose - they all bloom well (the one in shade is a bit leggier and blooms a bit less than the others, but still) and are healthy and trouble free. If you are ok with once-bloomers, Constance Spry and Himmelsauge are ones that I grow in shade that do quite well, and I bet they wouldn't mind afternoon sun. Anyway, good luck with this problem spot!

Bart, it sounds to me as if your spot gets plenty of sun. Roses are not allergic to shade, they just need enough sun .

To answer your question, I have happy bushes of the tea roses Safrano, Josehp Schwartz, Susan Louise, and Mrs Dudley Cross; and the china rose Cramoisi Superior (or some other similar red china) loves it there. Also the hybrid musk Pax, the rambler Dawson's Apple Blossom, and the hybrid multiflora de la Grifferaie, and the polyantha Little White Pet. In my garden these all get less sun in the afternoon than you describe, and morning shade

The best repeat bloomers of the above list in these conditions are the tea and china roses.

Jackie

Thanks, forum maties! bart