Best Rose Varieties For Shady Gardens

All roses flower best with plenty of sunlight: that is true for the majority of ornamental plants.

However, the tough varieties listed below have the most tolerance for partial shade - less than half a day of sun during summer - and should flower reasonably well growing against a North facing wall with open sky above and in front of them (i.e. not in an alleyway!), where they receive little direct light in summer. 

Modern bush roses like Hybrid Teas and Floribundas generally need plenty of sun to support their large or numerous flowers.

A good way to make an educated guess about whether a rose is likely to be shade-tolerant is to look at one of its flowers: the simpler the flower, with fewer petals, the more shade-tolerant it is likely to be.

Officially, there are 5 tiers of roses by petal count: 

• Single: 4-8 petals. 
• Semi-Double 9-16 petals. 
• Double: 17-25 petals. 
• Very Double / Full: 26-40 petals
• Very Full: 41+ petals 

When browsing for the most shade-tolerant roses, Single and Semi-Double roses are mostly a sure bet, but there are some Double and even Full roses that roses can manage quite well.

The best shade-tolerant Shrub Roses

In most cases, the shrub roses that perform best in the shade are Old Rose varieties, especially the Hybrid Musks (which tend to be taller) and Polyanthas (which tend to be shorter). 

• Fru Dagmar Hastrup
• Princess Anne
• Dame Judi Dench
• Golden Celebration
• Ramanas / Rugosa wild roses, white and red, and their respective garden versions, Blanc Double de Coubert and Roseraie De L'Hay.
• The Fairy
• Gertrude Jekyll (can serve as a climber)
• Madame Plantier
• LD Braithwaite
• Buff Beauty
• Mutabilis
• Ballerina
• Lady of Shalott
• Versicolor

The best shade-tolerant Floribunda Roses

Floribunda Roses are some of the hardest working, and generally don't do well in the shade: these are the "least worst".

• Champagne Moment
• Blue For You
• Iceberg

The best shade-tolerant Hybrid Tea Roses

It's a similar story with Hybrid Tea Roses: they have been bred for excellent flower production, not shade tolerance.

• Isnt She Lovely
• Ingrid Bergman

The best shade-tolerant Climbing Roses

Climbing Roses have the advantage of climbing up, which is conveniently where the sun is! In very approximate order of shade tolerance (best to less best):

• Mermaid (Single, Pale Yellow, to 10m)
• Iceberg - Climbing Version  (Semi-Double, White, to 2.5m – 4m)
• Madame Grégoire Staechelin (Semi-Double, Pink, to 4m – 8m)
• Maigold (Semi-Double, Yellow, to 1.5m – 2.5m)
• Golden Showers (Semi-Double, Yellow, to 3m)
• White Cloud (Semi-Double, White, to 4m)
• Agatha Christie  (Double, Pink, to 4.5m)
• White Star  (Double, White, to 2.5m)
• Danse du Feu (Double, Red, to 2.5m – 4m)
• Zephirine Drouhin (Double, Deep Pink, to 1.5m – 2.5m)
• Chris (Double, Yellow, to 3m)
• New Dawn  (Full, Light Pink, to 1.5m – 2.5m)
• Cécile Brünner  (Full, White, to 2.5m – 4m)
• Madame Alfred Carrière  (Full, White-Pale Pink, to 4m – 8m)
• Constance Spry  (Full, Pink, to 1.5m – 2.5m)
• Compassion (Full, Apricot-Pink, to 3m)

The best shade-tolerant Rambling Roses

Rambling roses are much closer to wild roses in their genes, so they generally perform well in less sunny conditions, and with a bit of creative tying-in, they can fulfil about the same role as climbing roses.

• Ghislaine de Feligonde
• Albertine
• Felicite Perpetue
• Pauls Himalayan Musk
• Phyllis Bide
• Rambling Rector
• Veilchenblau
• Wedding Day
• Crimson Showers
• Alberic Barbier 

The absolute most shade-tolerant roses are the wild hedging roses, but for most gardeners they are not ornamental enough.
The exception is the red-leaf glaucous rose with its vivid pink flowers, great foliage and hips for winter interest