In California, San Jose. Also South West Oregon, starting in Medford and going north, and up through the Williamette Valley. If we didn't have our mild winters, I'd say SW Idaho where I live--no fungal disease, no RRD, no JBs, no Midge, no rose slugs, no chili thrips, two grasshopper seen in 20 years, few aphids, and just three roses with mild thrips in spring. BUT, you have to have a drip system and irrigate. Diane

PS, I've lived in San Jose, Palo Alto, and Redondo Beach. San Jose had a wonderful rose climate.

I would say the trade off in CA climates is between coastal and inland,. Coastal climates have milder summers that are great for long lasting rose blooms. Inland climates are drier and there’s less disease pressure (and roses grow faster) , but blooms burn in summer. You need to find a place with just the right amount coastal influence: Enough heat to encourage growth and drive away fungus, but not so much to burn those blooms. Sebastopol seems like quite a good choice. There is someone named Zuzu on Garden.org roses forum that grows hundreds of roses there, might PM her for details. Also be mindful of how you will source your water, most of NorCal is quite dry.

Lucky you Jemma, to have the freedom and ability to live in CA and choose the best climate for rose growing! I tried to find the biggest lot when I moved to CA, just under 1/3 acre, I could certainly use more, but I feel very lucky with what I have.

My MIL lives in Stockton and she NEVER has any rose problems. Roses grow so easily there. she literally does nothing but water and prune them (not even drip irrigation)

Hey Ben,

I've never visited Garden.Org before, but now I'm intrigued. Do you think it's a better forum than Houzz? Thanks for bringing it up.

I can imagine Sacramento's weather must be a welcome change from the mugginess of Texas. It's yucky here right now.

Diane,

San Jose's real estate prices are sky-high, even more so than San Diego. Personally, I think San Diego is a superior city to live in. I did take a peek at their rose garden, though, and it was absolutely delightful.

Houzz is the better forum, much more active discussions.

There are a few of us here who are also on the NGA (garden.org) rose forum. But as Ben said, there is no comparison in terms of the activity. They have maybe 5% of the activity of this Houzz forum. Both of the moderators there, Zuzu and Calif Sue, live in the general vicinity of Sebastopol, so you might want to contact both of them :-D

If my job didn't require me to be in a certain location I would go for living in a moderate or small sized town but that's just me...I don't like a lot of traffic and like the feeling of a smaller town over a big city. I don't know what real estate prices are these days but what about Mendocino? I suppose Carmel and Big Sur would be extremely high. I'd opt for an incredibly beautiful area. There must be small towns all along the coast between the Big Sur area and the northern border with Oregon. Or someplace in OR or WA . I liked the Olympic peninsula in WA.

I thought the Wallace, Idaho area was really pretty. For me growing roses would not be the top priority since I am not quite constantly gardening or looking at roses but you do constantly look at where you live. If you're more comfortable in cooler summer areas I'd go for that, etc.

If you look outside the West coast you could probably get 5x the house and acreage in some places, but you might have to deal with some negatives . I have a lot of challenges in rose gardening in NC but I never really wish I lived somewhere else. The mountains in NC are beautiful, climate is about 10 degrees cooler in summer , but you get a bit more cold in winter. You can grow a nice variety of plants in zone 7a.

erasmus_gw

I have lived in so many different places and enjoy the weather in San Diego the most. I don't mind cooler nights, but I'm not fond of continuous rain and gloominess throughout the day. My ideal setting is somewhere I can indulge in spending long hours in my garden and cozy home; I'm quite the homebody.

Like you, I don't require the hustle and bustle of a big city. A quaint town with a decent restaurant, a health-conscious grocery store, and a garden nursery suits me just fine.

Susan,

You must have a wonderful garden. I have only driven by Santa Barbra but I heard it's a great place to grow roses.

I think it heavily depends on the type of roses you're growing. The climate in Western Oregon/Northern California is generally described as Mediterranean - it's NW Washington and BC that are generally seen as most similar to the climate of England. Japan - I think it would depend on what part of Japan you're talking about.

I was all over Japan last November and the weather was mild.

I think I mainly want to grow David Austin roses and some fragrant antique roses.

Yeah, it's a fine line between enough rain and too much rain..I don't like gloom and sogginess either.

Plants tend to bloom earlier along the coasts in the spring, but then struggle to get enough heat and light in the summers. It's great for wasabi but not so much for heat-loving plants like roses.

There is a David Austin test garden in Portland, Oregon - from what I've seen, the Austins don't tend to bloom all that much in this climate compared to other roses in the garden.

The OGRs really depend on type. Chinas and bourbons love these Mediterranean summers, but many of the OGRs need partial shade.

Ben, I believe that zuzu has 2000+ roses in her garden. LOL.

A shout out for Southern Oregon. Pretty much perfect growing conditions and very temperate weather. For small towns, Ashland, Rogue River, Shady Cove , Gold Hill and Applegate Valley, oh and best of all, Jacksonville Oregon

Kristine, I shouted out for you way above on this thread. I've spent significant time in your part of Oregon. It's not surprising that Jackson & Perkins began in Medford, nor Harry & David. And Heirloom is north of you a ways, but still is within SW Oregon. I love Jacksonville. Is it still a fun place to visit? I hope it hasn't turned into a tourist mecca. The Rogue River Valley is one of the most beautiful areas in the US. I'm an Oregonian born and bred, and Portland was my first home on this earth. Go Oregon and SW Idaho. Diane

ElfRosaPNW8b

You're correct. Whenever I've visited the Portland Rose Garden, I've never come across blooming David Austin roses, despite multiple visits.

Kristine LeGault 8a pnw

Been wanting to see Ashland but never had the chance, then the fires happened.

ElfRosa,

I am very surprised Austins don’t do well in Portland I would think the mild coastal weather would be similar to England. There is an Austin test garden near Dallas, too, where the roses grow huge and weedy with few blooms. I bet our Austin Test Garden looked worse than yours, lol!

Most roses do VERY well in NW Oregon, except indica types, some Austins (mudball roses), and roses that get downy fairly badly. We get enough heat during the summer. Summer is not the issue. It's spring that can cause issues. Where most people live, its like 300 ft above sea level, and always raining, so there is not a lot of UV in the spring time for some lineages. For example, Just Joey/St. Patrick types just like to chill there till June hits. We get some of the largest blooms in the world though. Neptune is a dinner plate. Elina is beyond massive. Most rose blooms have more saturation and larger blooms here.

Jemma, I am glad to hear that someone else has noticed this! A couple of summers ago I was up there regularly, trying to find any Austins in bloom, and failed entirely. It might be that the flowers shatter or are very quickly deadheaded by volunteers, or that it's just too hot for them - I don't know. But the hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas put the Austins to shame in that garden. The OGRs there never bloom either, but that's because they are hard pruned every spring like the moderns :-(

BenT the plants seem to do well, they are large and lush, maybe almost weedy like you say! but seemingly never in bloom. It is interesting that you have seen the same in Texas, maybe it is the heat? Portland does not have a mild coastal climate in the summers - especially not in the past few years - hit a record 117F a couple of years ago. Summers anymore tend to be very hot and dry - I grow almost all of my roses in the partial shade. We used to have what I called a "non-summer," lots of clouds/marine layer, no hot days at all, but we haven't had one of those for at least 10-15 years.

That's not the case right now, though - it's a black spot paradise, lots of cold rain. Somehow the weeds love it though!

Jacksonville is still a lovely, friendly little town. Beautiful old homes and streets perfect for walking and Our Sheila lives there. Talk about a perfect neighbor

Kristine, I didn't realize that Sheila lived there. But she doesn't seem to live in town. Thanks for your reply. Now I want to go back so much. Just one more time, starting farther north and traveling south to the Rogue River valley, hitting all the beauty along the way. I used to antique in Aurora an environs going south. I suppose the internet has ruined all that. Diane

There will alwsys be a bed and cake for you here Diane , any time

Kristine,

I'll be in Washington in June so I can finally go checkout Ashland and Jacksonville.

What do you guys think of San Luis Obispo?

Ideally I would like to keep growing bougainvillea and start growing peonies.

I don't think I can get both in Oregon but there has to be somewhere in California I can have my cake and eat it too 😅😍.

Zuzu told me she can't grow bougainvillea and passion fruit in Sebastopol.

Bouganvillia is sold here but it has to be wintered over so it never gets big

Kristine, you are so kind. Maybe you should start a B&B, since you aren't busy enough. Years ago, I stayed in B&Bs and Inns all the way down Oregon, even in Grant's Pass. It was a real variety, and some I couldn't recommend, but are probably long gone. Bougainvillea is a weed practically in Carmel, CA, I remember. We're too cold in winter to consider it.

Jemma, Ashland is a long way from Washington. It was the only town in western Oregon that didn't click with me. We did the usual and saw a play. The big problem was hordes of tourists. So as much as I love Oregon, I'd pick many other places to live before Ashland. Kristine, what do you think? Diane

Oregon does really well with all sorts of camelias, so there is that to consider. Massive displays of other broadleaf evergreens too.

Jemma, San Luis Obispo is really nice. It's a bit inland from the coast, but not that much. It's less pricey than Santa Barbara, and a bit warmer. Bougainvillea grows like crazy here in SB and SLO. As you know from living in San Diego, the climate changes quite a bit as you move even a few miles from the coast. Our joke here is when we watch the local weather, that in the summer Morro Bay is a high of 58, and Paso Robles is 98 :-D