Probably fine.

There is a Cascadia Heritage Roses Group -- Members should be helpful to you -- and our Gean is in your area.

Jeri

There's a recent thread that you might find helpful; it's titled
Zone 8 a Washington State suggestions, please.
I lived in Olympia, WA for a decade, it has a similar climate. The once-blooming old roses I grew there did very well for me: I had Gallicas, Albas, and a few Mosses and Centifolias, but ran out of room before I got around to Damasks. I think the Hybrid Musks would do well there, Polyanthas, and Rugosas. Probably most Ramblers. There will certainly be David Austin roses and hybrid teas that do well there, but it may vary according to variety. The main consideration in the Pacific Northwest is whether roses need summer heat, which isn't overabundant in that area. If you want to grow such roses, put them in the sunniest hottest place in the garden. This list is in part guesswork--also gardens vary--and others may have better founded suggestions.
Melissa

If you want to grow Austin hybrids in PDX, be prepared to spray fungicide regularly.

What is PDX? I've looked it up and all I seem to find is that it refers to the Portland airport ....

We are looking at the Beaverton area ... But will likely land in L.O. Does this make a difference; especially for Austin's.

I am so perplexed... How can the city of roses be devoid of so much sunshine? And there are big rose growers there???? I've already warned my hubbie that if we move to Oregon rose addiction "issues" are very likely to manifest, that is until I run out of space to plant and places to put roses in pots.

How long is the rose growing season?

I have a GREAT aversion to once blooming roses.

This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Sun, Jun 23, 13 at 11:11

I believe PDX is referring to the Portland area, desertgarden, sort of like DFW refers to Dallas/Ft Worth area.

I have purchased roses from Heirloom Roses, they're located in the Willamette Valley, and bet it would be worth a trip to see!

My mother retired to Salem, OR, and I've got to say, that area of the US has to be one of the most beautiful areas I've ever seen. Good luck to you!

Some will be trial and error as to disease resistance, but for the most part I think you can grow whatever you want.

I am in 7B- Corvallis area, and have been succesful growing some teas, noisettes, austins are happy and healthy, but they dont grow huge (I do prune these pretty hard).

Rogue Valley Roses is south of us, so shipping is very cheap when ordering :)

Trospero speaks the truth- if you dont like blackspot you will need to spray (I have given up the fight for the most part, and just take things as they come)

You will be able to call yourself a true oregonian when you stop carrying an umbrella and when it is raining you shrug, throw up your hood, and say at least it isnt coming down sideways :)

Marleah

Mmmgonzo, we you refer to spraying, would it be things like neem oil and insecticidal soap or something stronger, and how often?

When I speak about spraying, I am referring to an antifungal - to prevent blackspot.

Mancozeb I believe is the item I have used in the past and it has done a great job (but left odd colored residue on the leaves- and I didnt like that either)

Propiconazole is another product that can prevent blackspot if used regularly.

I dont spray for insects - not too much of an issue in my garden :)

Marleah

We rarely see black spot here as we average about 4.5" of rain annually. I just hose off mites and aphids now but in a prior garden that had more roses, I used insecticidal soap. The spraying was only required once in late March when the first buds had formed and once in June. Occasionally I would have to deal with mites in early August but that was the extent of it. I have read posts where gardeners spray twice a month for black spot and/or mildew. That would push the boundaries of excessive for me to have Austins... Or would something like that just be normal protocol?

Oh, and I meant to ditto Melissa's OGR suggestions. Yes on albas, gallicas, mosses, centfolias, and damasks. Hybrid perpetuals and Bourbons will probably suffer some disease, depending on variety, and require fungal control.

Carol

WOW portlandmysteryrose and others answering this post, I feel confident that the roses I just purchased and will be placing in pots will survive in Portland, and I know what I can purchase:) Thank you so much! You have been the BEST resource.

I know that berries grow well in the Portland area, are there any other fruits that can be successfully/easily grown?

What would you consider to be the top three companion plants for roses?

This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Sun, Jun 23, 13 at 18:03

Hi again, Desert Garden.

I think your roses will be more than fine here!

Yes, fruits other than berries will grow well here. Figs will produce one somewhat extended crop unless weather remains cold and wet through June (like last year). Apple and pear trees produce pretty solid crops. Persimmons and plums, too. Grapes produce, and sometimes, in the right microclimate, you might get some kiwis. In my experience, passion fruit doesn't ripen in PDX. Portland Nursery is a local institution and can give you more advice about fruit for the area. Another helpful local nursery is Cornell Farm.

Some of my top perennial companion plants for roses in no particular order: daylilies, Russian sage, Crocosmia, hardy poppies, violets, foxgloves (biennial), MAlva fastigiata, hardy geraniums, catmint, feverfew, culinary sage, irises, native sunflowers, delphiniums (if given amended soil and enough drainage in winter), hostas, Brugmansia, Narcissus, phlox, hellebores, sweet woodruff, ladt's mantle,.... Well, you get the idea. As you can see, quite a range of plants grow well here.

My personal top 5 for ease and multi-season beauty: Brugmansia/Narcissus/violets (spring), dayliles/hardy geraniums (early to late summer), perennial sunflower 'Lemon Queen'/Phlox 'David' (late summer-fall).

Favorite vines: Clematis 'Etoile Violette' and Lonicera 'Serotina.'

Two photos of my front garden attached.

(1) Taken today: HT 'Black Magic in full bloom to the right of the entrance.

(2) Taken in late May or very early June: Austin rose 'Tamora,' floribunda 'Black Gold,' and China/Bourbon 'Hermosa to the left of the entrance. Portland damask 'Rose de Rescht' at lower left. Polyantha 'Perle d'Or' out of range but next to 'Rose de Rescht.' Please PARDON the wimpy variegated dogwood in the foreground. Just transplanted this spring.

Happy gardening!

Carol

Photo 2.

Double post removed. For some unknown reason, I've been technologically struggling with reply submissions lately.

This post was edited by PortlandMysteryRose on Sun, Jun 23, 13 at 22:17

Wow!! Portlandmysteryrose, your front garden is charming, lush and healthy. Great use of shapes, texture, foliage, pops of color. I am comfortable using color, even texture, but I am shape challenged. As a result I end up creating simple gardens by repeating three or four types of plants. My gardens appear somewhat formal, structured, versus natural and free-flowing. How does a person learn to work with height, shape etc within a space. I've spent hours today just trying to figure out how arrange plants in a planter, and I have only managed to integrate a climber, a rose bush and lavender... On paper of course for a new bed.

Deleted duplicate

This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Mon, Jun 24, 13 at 0:57

Desert Garden

Thank you for the compliments! I know your new garden will be wonderful! I predict that you'll have great fun in this climate.

I like formal gardens. You already adopted some choice roses, and as you fill in the bed spaces and explore all the plants that grow here, new ideas will build on ones already executed. My heretofore unconfessed secret: I spend hours arranging three or four things on paper, too. Then I go out in the garden and only follow half the design plan. :-)

If you want to me to tell you anything else about PDX, just enter another response to the thread to shoot it back up to the top of the stack.

It's great conversing with another (future) Portlander on the forum.

Carol

I am totally green with envy looking at your lush garden and comparing it to our hot, humid, dry Texas, with our rock hard clay soil, lol!

desertgarden, I suspect you're going to love it there. Portland is such a beautiful city; my only problem with it would be the rainy season, if we Texans get even a few days of rain or cloudy weather we get rather (actually very) grouchy, but I guess it just takes some getting used to.

Totally OT: I was taking the shuttle bus from PDX to Salem one time; there was a group from the Ukraine that was here on some type of program studying agriculture, and the bus driver was a retired history teacher who gave an ongoing talk about the Willamette Valley. These guys were much more interested in, and kept asking me, how much does that car cost that just passed us, how much for that pickup, what happens here if you get a DUI, how much do these houses we're passing cost, how much are cigarettes, etc. By the time we got to Salem we were buddies, and the bus driver was totally irritated...

"We rarely see black spot here as we average about 4.5" of rain annually."

Be prepared for a very different experience in the Portland area: you will have to use fungicides 2-3 times a month if you plan on growing Austins, as they all have disease problems here in this wet region. I stopped applying fungicides 3 years ago and every one of my Austin roses suffers from repeating cycles of foliage/no foliage as a result of chronic Blackspot, and they have all dwindled down to sad wee stumps. I regard them as wholly unsuitable for this climate.

Desert Garden

Trospero's words are wise ones! Please do heed them.

There are Austins growing in my garden. A few suffer just a little disease but are mostly clean for me. I can name them by counting on one hand. Currently: Tamora, Tradescant, and The Prince have all been good girls and boys. Others like Abe Darby and Graham Thomas will get blackspot. Abe will also get rust. Graham is not in my current garden. I grow Abe. Gosh, those blooms are magnificent! I believe that Trospero has done some breeding with Abe. Maybe the disease resistance increased in the offspring? Are you still doing any work with Abe, Paul? I'd so volunteer to be a test garden candidate! Love Abe. Hate the disease. When I've used fungicides, I've used ones on the "natural" end of the spectrum.

Thank you for the compliment, OG Rose! My sis in Dallas loves YOUR green space.

Carol

:( I wonder if the newer varieties are bred to be more disease resistance. The varieties I would purchase or plant are:

Hyde Hall
St. Swithun
Fair bianca
Glamis Castle
Princess Alexandria of Kent
Gertrude Jekyll
Wife Of Bath
Radio Times
Charles Rennie Mackintosh

If any of you have tossed one or more these, or have had success, your input would be greatly appreciated.

I Love Austins... it is one of few roses that my husband actually gravitates to due to the beauty and fragrance.

Lynn

Lynn

Here's an example of how I grow "difficult" Austins. See Glamis below.

Glamis--
Blackspots but I grow it anyway. Very pretty fluffy white flowers. Own-root plant raised from a band. I just treat it with something like baking soda or other "natural" product once in awhile. Some years it's completely neglected. I let it blackspot and then it gets over it in cycles. Glamis has lived and bloomed for 10 years in my current garden. It's quite pretty. Visitors compliment it. I've underplanted it with hardy geraniums, and they cover any canes that are bare.

Fair Bianca--
Blackspot but have grown her anyway like Glamis. Slightly better disease resistance than Glamis, I'd say.

Gertrude--
Also better but still some disease. I prefer her parent, Comte de Chambord, so I don't grow her anymore.

St. Swithin--
Some disease but has been worth it for some clients. Plants live and bloom. Gosh, it's pretty! Nice with lavender or purple clematis.

Charles Rennie--
Ditto on the disease and culture.

I've tossed very few Austins. Maybe a couple? I moved away from Othello. He was left behind to torture the new residents of my old garden. Sorry new residents. I gave Gertrude to a friend who gardens. She wanted a FRAGRANT rose, and I prefer Comte.

Underplanting can work wonders. Lavender, geraniums, sage, etc. can disguise fungal defoliation issues. I would try some Austins if you and your husband like them.

Warning: my own-root Austins take about three years to develop better disease resistance. The same has been true of other rose classes as well. Give your roses time. Own-root Austins can take a little more time to develop period, in my experience, but they have been quite satisfactory in time.

I am about to try some of Paul Barden's roses. They're available from Rogue Valley roses and were bred in my/your new climate. Many have the look of Austins, are reliably reported to have good to great fragrance, and should be much more disease resistant than Austins in PDX. If you decide to try some, let me know. We can compare notes.

With all that said, I will NOT give up my Abe Darby! IF you love a rose, I say, "Go for it and experiment!"

Carol

portlandmysteryrose, Thank so much for all of the info. I have used the internet to research information. Roses can be so varied/temperamental and we really need reviews that come from area people who "know".

I agree. It takes a while before I give up on a plant that I really like. Gardeners can have a wealth of patience; I am still working on that one, as I just ordered the batch of own-root roses. I have attempted to grow a handful of varieties and lacked the patience to wait for them to catch up to the grafted roses. I haven't decided yet if I will order own root or grafted this winter. Seems as though you have experience with the own root?

Carol, your garden is pure poetry. It takes genuine landscaping talent to put together such an assemblage, and I suspect it's a gift you either have naturally or you don't. I'm in the don't category and would be in real trouble if the roses couldn't divert the eye from my lack of talent.

I hesitate to diss Glamis Castle after your positive comments, but I don't know when I've hated a rose more. Viciously armed with huge thorns, gawky in growth habit and a fragrance that's been described as being reminiscent of a diaper pail, I felt so much better after I'd ripped it out. I suspect that in your climate the flowers might be much prettier than in mine, and that might be a saving grace, especially with clever companion plantings to hide its knobby knees.

Ingrid

Ingrid-
Thank you for the compliments! They are meaningful coming from you. Don't let Ingrid fool you, Lynn. Her garden is beautifully arranged. I've taken the forum tour via her posts. It's worth far more than the admission. A "diaper pail," Ingrid! Oh, dear. No wonder Glamis was banished. Either my daughter's pail has dulled my senses or my Glamis is behaving itself. It had better watch out, though. I'm keeping my nose primed now. This rose is thorny, but mine is a small shrub and the thorns pale in comparison to my Stanwell Perpetual. I think Perle d'Or easily rivals Glamis. It's actually reduced me to under-my-breath-cursing.

Lynn-
I've grown own-root and grafted. Own-root Austins are generally a bit slower growing in my opinion, but both are fine. Grafted ones are usually on Dr. Huey stock here in OR. So, if you choose grafted, the suckers to watch out for are his. In clients' gardens, I often planted grafted ones because some of my clients only lived at their residences for 3-5 years max, and they wanted something as close to immediate gratification as possible.

I'm going to post some current photos (last 2-3 weeks) of a few Austins. The Glamis photo is not a good one. I can't photograph white flowers to save my life. You'll notice the foliage is still clean. It will finish its flush of bloom and develop spotting. Abe Darby is almost clean at the moment...but not for long. But his foliage never looks hideous, FYI. I just battle disease, he loses half his leaves, and then he blooms again and I adore him. About 3 flushes of bloom. Tamora is usually pretty darn clean. Almost contant bloom. Ditto the Prince. Tradescant is mostly clean, too. More of a wait between flushes but worth the wait. I attach photos one at a time because I'm technologically impaired. Here goes....

Carol

Abe Darby was the first rose I purchased right after it came out (in the early 80's?), and of course not knowing any better, just planted it in our alkaline rock hard soil. Every year I would get beautiful flowers, then tons of black spot. Got disgusted about 5 or 6 years ago, just whacked it down to nothing, then started using alfalfa mixed with water, and strangely enough it bounced right back; the black spot is pretty much non-existent. Whatever... I plan to do this with my Golden Celebration this year after it gets done blooming; these are the only two roses in the garden that have given me problems with disease.

I got Wife of Bath right around the same time, this has been a good rose.

Glamis Castle

Tamora

The Prince

Abe Darby photo

OGR DFW--
Wacking plus alfalfa, huh? Hmmm. Your climate is really different than mine, but I wonder how your strategy would work with my Abe.

Carol

...and hilarious tour bus story! :-)

I have no idea why Abe decided to grow up and act right; in the years since planting him I've amended the soil in that flowerbed, plus mulch. Golden Celebration was planted in good soil, gets plenty of water, however it gets our wonderful West sun/heat, so may end up moving it where it can get some shade in the afternoon.

I'm so glad I went into this thread, so I could enjoy Carol's beautiful front-porch house, and gorgeous roses. Carol, I'm kicking myself hard for NOT getting the Prince rose, thanks to my kid's dislike of purple.

This got to be our wettest spring with flash flood, and constant rain this summer. Below are the roses which are clean in our wet weather:

White (Romatica Bolero floridunda, child of Sharifa Asma, great scent!)

Red (Firefighter hybrid tea, strongest red perfume)

Pink (Romantica Liv Tyler), Orange (Versigny, yummy fruity scent)

Purple behind (Wise Portia, blooms lots, always clean, smells great in cold weather).

portlandmysteryrose, your photo of Glamis looks good!, and all of your roses are gorgeous. You have no idea how relieved I am due to all of your assistance. If I were your neighbor, I would bring you a basket of goodies or something to show my gratitude. I am new to this forum and I have to say that the gardeners here are the absolute "best".

Ingrid - I have a Glamis in my yard now, and this rose has a history. At my last home, I had Glamis in the front yard. It received sun from the early morning until about 2 p.m. in Las Vegas. When I was about to wed, prior to listing my home for sale, I dug up that Glamis and planted it in the front yard of our current home. I transplanted it in mid April; the highs were in the 80's. It was not very happy, but there were no diseases, it had consistent growth but not a lot of blooms; maybe because it received morning filtered sun. A year later, I moved it to the backyard planter; this time during the winter. It receives full sun from about 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.,. Yesterday the highs were 94, which is the coolest day for weeks, as it is in the triple digits again and will hit 108 Friday, and just creep up toward 120 as we move toward July and August, which are insanely hot; after 13 years here I have not acclimated to it, we just stay inside. We go from air conditioned houses and buildings to air conditioned cars and scurry into air conditioned buildings at that point. Anyway... I got off track, right now Glamis continues to be healthy rose that is disease free, with beautiful blooms and a great fragrance; there are no buds on it right now, but the knock out has a bunch of buds, and a few opened blooms; and it is in the same planter/ sun. Don Juan and others have a decent degree of new growth, no blooms yet. Like ogrose, I do use alfalfa pellets in my garden as part of the February fertilizing protocol here.... wondering now if there really is something to its use....

ogrose... why Portland ?With the exception of the older more established part of Las Vegas closer to the strip, many of the homes were built in the last couple of decades, with enormous growth in the 90's and onward. When building occurred everything was removed to create lots for homes, there were no trees, they had to be planted throughout communities by builders and/or homeowners. To me, the air here has a bad odor, not a nice fragrance, which I believe is due to a lack of trees, especially really mature trees, and those that make the air smell good. I want to see green and trees and I love the rain ( not regular ongoing major storms with downpours and wind of course). I spent most of my life in So. CA, and while most of the days could be described as sunny, there were overcast days; I did not have a problem with it because I really have an aversion to the sun beaming down on me. I would definitely be more prone to go outside in a condition where it is overcast; and Portland for the most part; barring the worst of winter, does not seem like a place that remains so cold that you do not want to be outside. And.. what you can grow... we purchase berries weekly... blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and we cannot grow them here, we like the outdoors, fishing, farmer's markets.. Portland is not set in stone yet, as of yesterday Seattle called, which I do not think will adjust my gardening of roses by much?? But we are rooting for Portland.

Yikes, desertgarden, if I lived in temps like that, would surely welcome overcast days, even rain. Like I said before, it's so beautiful up there, and it's because of that darned rain!

I'm excited for you, bet you'll love it whether Portland or Seattle. When I visited my mother in Salem, all I wanted to eat was seafood and more seafood. So so good and fresh! AND the Oregon coast is absolutely gorgeous...

Lynn
I'm so glad my replies were helpful. I know what's it's like to move to a very different climate. When I moved from TX to MN, I felt like I'd learned to garden on Venus but had landed on Mars. Although I grew up in Dallas, I, too, dislike the sun beating down on me. Portland has been wonderful. If you decide to put down some roots here, I think you'll be pleased with your decision--gardens, farmer's markets, cloud cover, long growing season, mountains a few miles away, coast a few miles away, etc. Lots of fresh air.

Strawberry
I'm glad you enjoyed my porch. I'd invite you over for an afternoon cup of tea, but the plane fare would be killer! As always, absolutely gorgeous bouquet. Your garden produces the most amazing roses! I have the tools but haven't had the time to soil test. Doing so is at the top of my list. I'll let you know my results.

Carol

Re Glamis Castle: It's interesting, Carol, that Perle d'Or was more thorny than Glamis Castle for you. I grew PdO in the past, and often pruned it and, believe me, I would have remembered if the thorns had been even close to those of the blood-thirsty Glamis Castle. It leads me to wonder whether climate can have an influence on the size of thorns, something I'd never considered before. The longer I grow roses the less I know about them, and by the time I die I'll be a complete rose idiot.....

Ingrid

P.S. Beautiful pictures, everyone.

Ingid

That's a really interesting idea. On another thread, I've been reading how Cramoisi Superieur and Louis Philippe flip flop in terms of size depending on climate. Jeri and I have had opposite experiences with these two roses. Petal counts on roses can vary greatly across regions. Why not thorns? If I get a chance, I'll photograph the claws on my Perle. The plant is quite large and almost ate me alive as I shoved and staked it away from the sidewalk.

Carol

When it comes to deciding which Austin's to add to a no/very little spray garden I highly suggest most any Austin rose introduced from Jude the Obscure to the present. While not EVERY Austin from JtO on is perfectly healthy the odds are very high that you can get by without major disease prevention work. Older Austins will be a flip of the coin, some are fairly healthy and some are dead roses growing unless sprayed twice monthly. I do NOT spray any of my roses at all. If a rose needs life support from anti fungal sprays just to live it won't be in my garden. Hybrid perpetuals and bourbons are both a toss up as far as being healthy in the damp NW climate. As much as possible it is best to plant them in such a way that the wind does not blow BS spores from one bush to the next or you end up with sickly sticks. Our house is directly across Puget Sound from Seattle and from the upper garden area I can be working in the plants and listen to the waves hitting the beach below and sniffing the scents wafting up from the fragrant roses and other flowers closer to the house.

And one thing about once blooming roses which you noted that you do not like. Up here we do not get that blast furnace heat during the late spring/early summer that fries the roses farther south. Up here we get five to seven weeks of continuous bloom for our ONCE bloom.

Great info, Paparoseman!

Carol

I should add that if you lean towards having any HT's that Kordes roses do very well here. Our climate is very close to what they have in Germany other than being warmer during the winter.

paparoseman, thank your for the Austin information. Seven weeks of flush is great. I was not aware of the long bloom time for once blooming OGR's. At this point, I do believe that if I found an OGR that is " really special", in bloom quality, boom time, beauty, color, disease resistance, I would definitely consider integrating it with others; do you have any recommendations for the PNW?

When WE moved to Portland, I saw it as an opportunity to grow all the heat-intolerant OGRs (Old Garden Roses) from Europe. Our best friends preceded us to Oregon by a year. Their garden was full of "Trashy Teas and Floribundas that become leafless sticks in Mississippi". We both ripped out the tennis courts and popped-in rose gardens, since those were the only sunny spots on the grounds of our homes.

Most of America is just too hot in summer for Hybrid Teas and Floribundas. They live, but they're hideous. In Oregon, they seem to have actual leaves (although you may need to spray).

But growing the antique Mosses, Portlands, Albas, Damasks... That's much more satisfying, and also something not especially doable in places where it stays so hot for so long.

I will add that our Hybrid Musks were much more graceful plants in Oregon, than they are in Mississippi. Cornelia is strictly a messy-looking 'kitchen garden for cut flowers' rose in Mississippi. In Oregon, it fits into the landscape with considerable elan.

For continual bloom, I'd grow Austins in big pots, near the house. They'll be up where you can give them the continual care they seem to enjoy.

Oh, and there are a lot of cool weather species roses, such as Rosa Soulieana, which you should try while you're up there.

Lynn

OLD ROSES

GALLICAS
Gallicas are charming but will spread on their own roots, so be prepared. Tuscany Superb and Rosa Mundi are my 1st choices for this class. You might prefer others. I mention these from personal taste. Tuscany is disease-free for me. Rosa M gets some post-bloom mildew, but I just cut it off during my late June gallica pruning. In my garden, these roses get a little spidery without their post-bloom shearing.

PORTLAND DAMASKS
Portland damasks will produce "volunteers" as well. I just sliced off a few for another forum member. PDs rebloom and are some of my very favorite roses. There's a special place in my heart for Rose de Rescht, Indigo, and Comte de Chambord. All are very fragrant and (virtually) disease-free in my garden.

ALBAS
My favorite alba is Queen of Denmark. Her once-a-year fragrant flush of bloom is worth the wait. She has been disease-free for me. Stolons slowly pop up around her, too, but are easily sliced off...for extra plants if you or friends want more of this gorgeous girl.

Carol