Black Jade, a mini rose, seems to repeat well in partial shade.

Captain Samuel Holland does well. It looks like a climbing version of Knock Out, so should have a place in more gardens than it does. I don't know exactly how much sun it gets in my yard, but it is coming out of the pine tree shade now, at 10:30, and will spend almost all afternoon in shade from some oaks. It's cousin Quadra (the Great and Powerful) can't get much more sun. It looks like an Austin and acts like a polar bear. Then of course there is Darlow's Enigma, which is the size of those two put together because we prune it back. All three of these roses don't really believe in blackspot.

For smaller roses, the giant, hoofed midge have taken their toll. I am thinking good thoughts about Bouquet Parfait. This was the year it was supposed to start showing off. Somebody finally got through to Verdun that the battle is over, and it is safe to come out. I really like the color of that one. These get blackspot, but when I went out to look, they did have leaves.

Zack- I don't have good luck with minis here.

thanks Mad- Sorry to hear of your midge battle. It seems we're all battling them! I had Darlow's Enigma. It was a monster!! I bought Quadra on your recommendation but lost it to voles. I'm looking more for modern shrub roses of smaller size 3-4 feet and would like to expand my repertoire beyond Knockouts if possible. The rose beds get no less than 5 hours of sun but no greater than 5 1/2.

The Bouquet Parfait is pretty. How is her repeat?

Sharon

Try Olivia Rose Austin--an Austin shrub that is highly bs resistant and grows about 3 ft. tall, maybe slightly narrower. She seems to be somewhat heat resistant. Very delicate coloring.

I hope you are aware that growing roses in less than 6 hours of sunlight might mean fewer blooms. I grow my Olivia Rose in 5-5 1/2 hrs sun--it blooms and is healthy, but I admit that if I had an open spot with a bit more sunlight, I'd move her over there so I could see a few more blooms on her. Other than that, she is a beauty.

Kate

Kate- Olivia is on my to buy list for next spring. She will be getting a primo spot in the garden. Austins seem to do pretty good here. My Windermere is almost always in bloom and Queen of Sweden has nice repeat. Munstead was in about 4 1/2 hours of sun and always flowering but got bs and was not winter hardy. I tossed her this year since she only had one scrawny cane left. But her flowers were to die for and the scent was one of the best. Maybe own root would work better. DA Thomas A Becket is listed as shade tolerant and disease resistant but I've read mixed reviews on it. I wish I had more sun but our acre property is literally carved out of the woods with about 1/4 acre cleared for the house and yard and the trees are up on a hill so they shade even worse. Plus there are more across the road. I know I could get more blooms with better growing conditions but it's just not doable money wise so I have to make what I have work the best way I can and settle for the blooms I manage to get.

Zack- I would love to be able to remove some trees but they are probably 75 years old or more. The trunks are about a foot across and they're probably 50 feet tall. The white oaks are even taller. It would be very expensive to have them removed. We looked at installing solar since our house faces south perfectly but it would have cost close to $10K to have all the necessary trees removed so barring an inheritance I'm stuck with the limited sun I have ;-).

Sharon

I think Francis Meilland gives excellent performance in limited sun. I have a row of roses where every one of them is stretching and elongating due to lack of sun, except for Francis which is growing strong and sturdy and blooming very well.

I tried Francis Meilland once in my zone 6 garden, and it was frozen to death. I am trying it again in a warmer spot, but I would not recommend it even where I live, even in full sun.

Sometimes the Utility company will "trim" the trees all the way to the ground if you ask to protect the power grid. My next door neighbor just had two large maples cut down by the folks who normally do work for the power company.

zack- that would be great but we have probably 20 trees or more to trim. My husband actually works for National Grid but I don't think he has *that* much pull. They have cut down one dead tree on the edge of the road since we moved here in 1985.

farmer-duck- thanks for the info on Francis M. She sure is pretty so it's a shame she's not winter hardy for us. I'm z5b according to zone maps but we sometimes see even colder winter temps. Not as often as we used to but a couple nights last winter we had a low of -15 due to our high elevation.