Roses for partial shade
Want to brighten up a shady corner? Browse our list of roses that can tolerate partial shade.
The right rose can brighten up a shady corner of the garden, providing colour and interest, as well as flowers, hips and shelter for wildlife. Most roses thrive in a sunny position. However, some grow surprisingly well in shady areas, as long as the shade isn't caused by trees, which take a lot of moisture from the soil. Very few roses can take full shade – bear in mind that the minimum you'll need to provide is around four hours of sun per day.
More on gardening in shade:
Where to buy roses
Browse our choice of roses for shade, below.
Rose 'Scarborough Fair'
'Scarborough Fair' is a delicate looking English shrub rose, with musk-scented soft pink, semi-double flowers with a golden centre.
Height x spread: 1m x 90cm
Rose 'Kew Gardens'
'Kew Gardens' is a bushy shrub rose, bearing lightly fragrant, bright white, single flowers with a yellow centre and stamens. A strong grower, it's almost thornless and blooms for most of the year. It's a great rose for growing in an informal shrub border, or as a low-growing hedge, and its flowers are a magnet for pollinators.
H x S: 1.4m x 1.4m
Rose 'Lady of Shalott'
'Lady of Shalott' is a shrub rose, bearing fragrant, fully double apricot-orange blooms, opening from reddish buds. Rich orange-red buds open to chalice-shaped blooms, filled with loosely arranged, orange petals.
H x S: 1.4m x 1.2m
Rosa gallica 'Versicolor'
A sport of Rosa gallica 'Officinalis', Rosa gallica 'Versicolor' is a bushy shrub rose, bearing large, fragrant, semi-double, striped flowers in two tones of pink, with a yellow centre, followed by hips in autumn.
H x S: 1.2m x 1.2m
Rose 'William and Catherine'
'William and Catherine' is an old-style English shrub rose, bearing cup-shaped fully double blooms that open from apricot buds, and gradually fade to pure white. It has a myrrh fragrance.
H x S: 1.2m x 1m
Rose 'Gertrude Jekyll'
'Gertrude Jekyll' is an English shrub rose, bearing soft pink double blooms with a strong, old rose fragrance. Growing to a medium-sized, upright shrub, it's perfect for growing in a mixed border and may also be grown as a hedge.
H x S: 1.2m x 90cm
Rose 'The Poet's Wife'
Bearing fully double, yellow flowers over glossy foliage, 'The Poet's Wife' is perfect for a mixed border. Its blooms have a strong fragrance with a hint of citrus, and it forms a low-growing bushy shrub.
H x S: 1m x 1m