Kathleen is a Hybrid Musk famous for shade tolerance. I don't know where in New York yankeesrule (you have no idea how painful it is to type that ;p) lives, but assuming it's somewhere in the metro NYC area I would fear that Darlow's Enigma would come to be too large for the garden spot in mind. Olga (a mainstay on the Antique Rose forum) has posted pictures of hers. She lives in Maryland not too terribly far from DC, and hers reaches the second floor of her house. My impression therefore is that over time Darlow's Enigma becomes a massive beast.

Hi Kate, we're in different climates, but I'm no spray and all of my roses grow in less than ideal sun conditions cause that's all I have. :) Have you considered Royal William? I hesitate to recommend a rose I've only had for one year, but it shows real promise. Very disease resistant (here,) nicely bushy, bloomed a lot (especially for only a 1st year rose.) It's a Kordes (I purchased from Palatine Roses, who sells it as Duftzauber) and I have seen it recommended as one of the easiest/best roses for beginners. So far fragrance is only light-medium to my nose-which surprised me-but hoping that will improve with time. For comparison, I have both Oklahoma (5 years old) and Firefighter (3 years old), both of which have stronger fragrance than Royal William. I prefer the darker color and heavier fragrance of Oklahoma to FF and I agree it has both very good disease resistance and shade tolerance. Absolutely magnificent blooms especially in cooler weather, rich deep sophisticated burgundy red-I can't think of another red HT I like better-it just hardly blooms! Firefighter blooms much more than Oklahoma-and those blooms last longer than Oklahoma-but Firefighter is NOT disease resistant (here) and in fairness that may be worsened because it is growing in part sun instead of full sun. Because of it's strong fragrance, productivity, and lasting qualities, I think Firefighter would be a candidate for "best overall red HT" if it shows good resistance in your area or, of course, if you spray. But I expect F.F. might just continue to decline on me since it almost completely defoliates from blackspot each year. Hence why I have such high hopes for Royal William :) Hope that helps... Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Royal William at helpmefind.com

I tried scarlet runner beans one year, growing up a downspout on the northeast corner of the house (maybe 2 hours sun). Because of the shadier spot, the leaves were larger than normal but the plant itself was very lush and very attractive in bloom. So, I think they do fairly well in shade too. And if they don't, well, they are only an annual so it's not like you are stuck with them in that spot every year. One year I tried morning glory in that same spot, but not a good idea. I guess they don't tolerate shade, or at least not that much shade. They had nice lush foliage (but larger than normal leaves) but barely bloomed. Then again, for whatever reason, morning glories aren't one of the flowers that does well for me. Maybe they struggle in our clay soils.

Is this area getting morning or afternoon sun? It sounds like you're getting the 3-5 PM sun. Almost anything can take some sun, but it's the afternoon sun that causes the damage to your shade lovers. Are you making sure you have good soil and soil that drains well? You can plant heuchera, tirella, lungwort, with afternoon sun, but long continuous days at 85+, you need to water daily and really well. You may want to try daylily (Stella's do well in shade/sun combo), sedum are great with both light levels, as are elephant ears and I've had caladiums in heavy sun. But whatever you put there has to get well watered.