I haven't been here in a while, it's winter in the northeast so quiet time. My biggest concern is that I forgot to mulch my roses before the cold weather hit, so I'm hoping they make through ok.

But that, isn't why I'm back. I have only a little bit of room left to add roses in my small yard (unless everything dies off :O). The one place I'd like to plant this year, is near my porch, where we put up lattice to block off the view from one side last year.

I'd like to find a climber for that side, the problem is it doesn't get much sun there at all. Some early in the morning if I remember correctly, and then later in the afternoon, the porch is washed with sunlight for a couple of hours. So, I'm thinking it probably needs to be some kind of OGR that can tolerate shade?

Ideally I'd like it to bloom continuously but I realize that may not be possible given the requirements of the area it will be planted in.

Good disease resistance would be optimal since it will be planted in a shady area. If it had a sturdy stem, even better; I'd like to be able to bring the blooms in for vases but it isn't totally necessary. I'm more interested in finding a rose which will do well in the area. Color? Doesn't really matter to me. I already have several in the garden, and no plan as far as that is concerned, so anything would be fine.

Also, tips for who to order from appreciated also. I haven't purchased a climber through the mail ever, so not sure who has the best stock.

Thanks!
Laurie

Don't be put off by a once-bloomer for this spot if you don't find what you want in something that blooms again and again. You'll get more flowers in a once-blooming flush, and for when the rose isn't blooming, you can get more color by planting a companion clematis to use the rose as its own trellis. If you pick a type 3 clematis, you can get flowers for the rest of the summer, and pruning would simply be cutting the clematis back hard in the spring.

That being said, you may want to look through some of the climbing Hybrid Musks if you want a repeat-blooming rose that will tolerate less-than-full-sun. Perhaps 'Ghislaine de Feligonde' will work for you. Another suggestion might be 'Bubble Bath.'

:-)

~Christopher

I don't really mind if it's a once bloomer - I kind of had a feeling I may have to go that route, just hoping I could find something which would go all season.

The clematis is a great idea. I was looking at them last season, but never put any in since I didn't have an exact plan of what I wanted there yet. Plus, I didn't see any in my local nurseries that grabbed me visually either. I probably have to start looking earlier, or buy those online too.

I took a look at both you mentioned. I think I like Bubble Bath slightly better, color-wise it goes better with existing plantings in the area. I'll look around to see if any of the nurseries I've dealt with carry it, just in case :)

Thanks again!
Laurie

The number of clematis varieties out there is almost as overwhelming as the number of roses, and as they're more part of my garden's plan as supporting cast rather than the stars, I actually prefer having fewer choices to agonize over. I've had good luck with clematis from Bluestone Perennials and Brushwood Nursery. Between them both, I can find just about anything I could want to compliment a big rose.

My "plan" (if you can call such a rough idea that) for starting this new garden here was to let the larger roses I have coming gain some size, and then stepping back and thinking about what general kind of clematis would "feel" right climbing up them (this one would like something purple and single, that one would like something white and double, type 2 or type 3, etc.). This means waiting a year or so as the roses gain some size and I get a feel for how they will behave here. Then I'll look through the two nurseries' websites to find a match.

:-)

~Christopher

How tall is the trellis? Is there any chance that the top of the trellis gets more sun than the rest of it? What direction does it face? (No, So, East? West?). The reason I ask is that I have a lot of roses which were planted in shade but managed to grow tall enough to get up to where there is some sunlight.

If it is really that shady, perhaps a shade loving vine which blooms in the shade would be better there.

Jackie

I think that the area mostly faces north, sort of on an angle, not completely north. There is very early sun which hits the foundation of the porch in the morning for a few hours, but I don't know if it's going to be quite enough.

I do know that the sun will hit the lattice on one side late in the day - the front of the house faces pretty much west, however, it's a long climb up to reach that area and I can see it taking a while for the rose to take off well enough to reach that height.

Maybe I am better off planting some kind of vine there instead of being disappointed by a rose which does poorly. I'll have to do some research on those.

Thanks very much for the advice!

Laurie

I am sure you know this, but I made the mistake a couple of times already: the sun/shade we observe right now might be quite different than what we would see in the growing season. The spot I placed one of my potted roses is fully shade now by 1 p.m., but it will get to 3 p.m. or so during the summer.

I do know that the light changes over the course of the year. When I moved into this house (only have been here 2-1/2 years), I paid close attention to it the first spring/summer before I was able to get the new garden going (the old one, could not even have been called a garden, it was an overgrown mess of weeds, overgrown weed trees, ivy and such). By the time I was ready to actually plant my roses the following spring, I had a very good sense of which spots would work well for them, and put the ones which needed the most sun in the prime areas of course.

I didn't, however, pay much attention to that side of the house since I had a professional landscaper take care of foundation plantings, which consisted of hydrangea, schip laurels, barberry, some new trees (a dogwood and a flowering cherry), cleaning up existing yews and ancient rhododendrons. In other words, a lot of shade loving items. So, not so sure about a rose bush, now that I think about it :(

:-)

~Christopher