Karen

Damp feet and full shade at the feet is less than ideal, but I'll confess that I grew a fine Veilchenblau in exactly those conditions here in PDX. In fact, the 1st half of the rambler was in quite a bit of shade. It tended to bloom at the top half, where it reached sun. On the upside of the location, the plant had pretty good air circulation, and at least the soil stayed cool in the middle of the drought summer. Disease was actually pretty minimal. The support was a two-story deck, and Veilchenblau shared the railing with a Clematis montana 'Mayleen' which was rooted on another post opposite Veilchenblau. If you're willing to gamble just a bit, I'd go for it. I find many ramblers to be quite forgiving and eager to please. Maybe someone in your area can add more info about Veilchenblau's performance there. Carol

I had a Veilchenblau for many years at my old house and I wouldn't imagine that it would get quite that tall. It was very much a rambler and had an incredible spread, but it never got canes longer that 7 or 8 feet. Perhaps someone on these forums has selectively pruned one into a climber and can offer a counter-argument. I don't see it being an ideal rose for that situation.

I have grown shorter Veilchenblaus, like Evenie, but the ones I've planted in shade have tended to reach for sun. Just FYI...as far as Portland goes.

This post was edited by PortlandMysteryRose on Sat, Feb 1, 14 at 23:50

It requires fairly acidic soil. The setigera hybrids are probably a better bet.

Thanks everyone, some stuff to think about. I'm trying to amass info on a few different ones... to make a well-informed choice.

Portland, How high did your Veilchenblau get?
Any thoughts on Bleu Magenta instead?

Mad gallica, why the setigera hybrids in particular? Assume I know virtually nothing about OGRs! Also, I'd almost certainly buy from Palatine, which uses multiflora rootstock (as I'm sure you know). I haven't tested that particular bed, but mostly the soil here is neutral to acidic.

Setigeras are hardy, big, and aren't fussy about pH.

My pH is a bit over 7, and anything multiflora noticably struggles.

Mine is new this year. It's grafted (from Palatine). It's planted on the west side of a barn, so no morning sun and it also gets late day shade from some tall pines. The growth was easily 7' this year. You could almost watch it grow, it was so vigorous. My soil is acidic.

Bleu Magenta is nice, too, but my fav is Violette. Very deep red-violet-purple flowers with stunning gold centers. It does have some thorns.

My deck-climbing Veilchenblau achieved a height of around 15 feet (in time) if my measurement recall is accurate. I only lightly pruned it since it was in a large space.

Jackie, wow, wow, wow! What a gorgeous specimen.

This post was edited by PortlandMysteryRose on Sun, Feb 2, 14 at 0:04

Jackie, that rose is incredible! If I were to get half that I'd be happy! Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. You've given me much food for thought. I'm excited for spring!

Will echo Mads suggestion - I grow Tolstoi, a setigera hybrid which is growing in less than optimal conditions, missing out on water and nutrients yet it certainly goes for it and has enough flex to be amenable to tying in and training. Welcome late blooms when most of my once bloomers have gone over.

Hi I've grown Veilchenblau as a regular rose..it spread out well over 7ft and equally tall..(in hi ph soil I might add and hostile environment..hot in summer and well below zero in winter.) In a new place now(Oregon) and my question is how do you grow it as a climber? Do you cut all but a few canes and train them up? Just how do you do it? Need help so I get this right..

deglisto - I think it depends on what you want. I did not prune the one in my pic above, ever. I just waited (2 years) for it to start producing climbing canes, and then I tied them to the fence behind them, in as horizontal a way as I could. Then I left the rose alone to get on with it. It climbed into the tree all by itself.

However, if you want a very formal, controlled, look, you will have to get advice from someone else on here - I don't do that.

Jackie