Marc, there are a number of folks here who live in the PNW. Hopefully they'll read your post and help you out with comments!

Marc, we would happily wrlcome you to the Medford area. Jacksonville or the Applegate Valley are wonderful. Our weather is much milder than Bend it further north. Everything grows beautifully here with a nice long season. Low humidity and hot dry summers. Much less rain than further north. Close to several lakes and the beautiful Rogue River and just a couple hours from the coast and redwoods. And no I dont work for the Chamber of commerce lol

*immediately starts googling real estate in Medford*

Marc, I can’t offer you any insight on PNW locations, but I just want to say that I completely sympathize and am interested in this topic as well. I just retired and my dream is to someday leave Blackspot, Virginia and relocate out west. California is my first choice (we lived there when I was a kid). California, the Land of Roses, where Julia Child gets to be the size of a Volkswagen Bug and Iceberg is a gas station plant. But if California doesn’t work out, my second choice is somewhere in the PNW.

Kristine, do you have blackspot in the Medford area?

Not really. I have only had 2 roses that had BS in my no spray garden and I finally gave up and pulled them . Sometimes in the fall Iwill get a bit on the lower leaves but nothing serious.

Kristine is right. Bend is beautiful but short season and elevation and dry make it harder for gardeners. Ashland has a great Cabaret theater and Jacksonville is adorable.

Marc welcome back to the forum and I'm glad we have been a support during your travel years as well as your return to rose growing ! I have no input about Oregon specifically, but I'm glad to see you back posting.

Cynthia

I like the growing conditions here in SW Idaho, Boise, zone 7, in the semi arid hills.

No blackspot and other fungal diseases

No midge

No RRD

No Japanese beetles

No chili thrips

No rose slugs

No snails

Totally organic

Roses totally healthy

We do have hot, dry summers, but my roses love it.

You have to be willing to irrigate regularly, preferably with little sprinklers and a drip system.

We do have deer and quail. I use deer repellent which works well here and is egg based. My kitty takes care of voles.

There are trade offs no matter where you garden. No place is perfect. Diane

Deborah in Santa Barbara has lots of critter problems. I'm not sure about some blackspot or rust, either. Have you ever visited Joshua Tree or Palm Springs, Elena? Heat! I dispute some of your list. I have lived in several parts of California--in fact my daughter is a native. I think San Jose would be a best place for growing roses, but cost of living, urban sprawl..... Diane

Why San Jose is Great for Roses

🏵️ Climate (Zone 9b–10a):

• Mild winters (no dieback or cane cracking)

• Long growing season (blooms from March to December, sometimes year-round)

• Warm, dry summers = ideal for roses

• Winters cold enough to give dormant rest but not hard freezes

🌞 Dry Summer Air = Fewer Fungal Diseases

• Much lower humidity than the East Coast or South = little to no blackspot

• Powdery mildew can occur in spring/fall if air circulation is poor, but manageable

🐛 Fewer Pests Overall

• No Japanese beetles (a huge win!)

• Aphids show up in spring flush but are easy to control

• Thrips can be an issue with florist-type roses, but not worse than anywhere else in California

• Rose midges are rare, though not 100% absent

🌱 Great Soil and Gardening Culture

• Silicon Valley gardeners are active and rose societies are strong (San Jose Heritage Rose Garden is amazing)

• You can grow everything from modern florist roses to antique gallicas, Austins, Kordes, and teas

⚠️ Minor Considerations

• Thrips may be a concern for pale and tightly-packed florist roses

• Watering restrictions during drought years – deep watering is essential for roses but manageable with mulch

• Chili thrips and spider mites can become a problem in hot/dry stretches, especially if roses are stressed or neglected

🌟 Overall Verdict:
San Jose is one of the top-tier places in the U.S. for rose growing, especially if you want:

• Repeat-blooming florist-style or exhibition roses

• Healthy, lush bushes with minimal spraying

• A huge range of roses to choose from

• Long season with few pests or fungal issues

🌹 1. Medford / Ashland, OR (Zone 8a–8b)

🌟 Rating: Excellent for roses

• Dry, hot summers + low humidity = minimal blackspot or mildew

• Cold-enough winters help reset pests (including midges)

• Very similar to Northern California in climate—great for florist-type roses

• Downside: Summer temps can get quite hot (90s+), so afternoon shade helps delicate blooms

• Soil: Generally decent, often sandy or loamy with drainage

✔️ Ideal if you want a rose-friendly area with a Mediterranean climate feel
Florist roses, Austins, Kordes, HTs, and even divas can thrive here with deep watering and mulch.

🌹 2. Eugene / Salem, OR (Zone 8a)

🌟 Rating: Good to Very Good (with caveats)

• Beautiful growing season and long bloom period

• Higher humidity and more rain = higher chance of blackspot and mildew

• Rose midge does exist in the Willamette Valley (mild winters + mulch = potential risk)

• You’ll need good air circulation and resistant varieties

• Lots of gardeners spray here, but you can go no-spray with smart selection

✔️ Ideal for garden roses and Austins, but florist types may need more care
Blackspot is the biggest hurdle, not pests.

🌹 3. Vancouver, WA (Zone 8a)

🌟 Rating: Good to Very Good

• Similar to Portland in climate: wet winters, cool springs, dry summers

• Blackspot and powdery mildew are common in spring/fall if not spaced well

• Midge has been reported in some Portland-area gardens, but it’s still fairly rare

• Japanese beetles are not a huge issue (unlike Midwest)

• Disease pressure is seasonal—you can grow beautiful roses if you manage spring moisture

✔️ Works well for many types of roses if you're vigilant with spacing and variety
Avoid super-tight florist blooms unless you're up for grooming and occasional treatment.

🌹 4. South of Tacoma, WA (Zone 8a)

🌟 Rating: Fair to Good

• Wetter, cooler, and cloudier than the rest—great for moss, not ideal for delicate blooms

• High fungal pressure: blackspot, rust, mildew thrive in this climate

• Less sun = slower drying leaves

• That said, the soil is excellent, and roses will grow like mad if you choose disease-resistant ones and space well

• Midge and thrips can show up, but blackspot is the main concern

✔️ Best suited for robust garden roses, not so much florist divas
Ideal if you want a lush cottage-style garden with Austins or Kordes.

🌹 5. Bend, OR (Zone 6b–7a)

🌟 Rating: Very Good with Conditions

• Dry high desert = very little fungal disease (blackspot, mildew are rare)

• Cold winters = great pest reset

• Very sunny and arid = roses love it, but they need deep watering

• Bloom season is shorter due to altitude—May to early October

• Rose midge is unlikely due to low organic mulch use and freezing winters

✔️ One of the best places for clean roses if you don’t mind a shorter season
Florist roses will thrive with care, especially own-root and hardy types.

🌟 OVERALL RANKING (for least pests/disease, good bloom, and climate support):

1. Medford / Ashland – 🔥 best combo of dry heat + winter chill

2. Bend – dry, clean, just shorter season

3. Vancouver, WA – manageable, but wetter

4. Eugene / Salem – wetter = more disease potential

5. South Tacoma – beautiful but fungal pressure is high

I’m very interested in the suburbs just above Sacramento: North Highlands, Antelope, Roseville. That’s where we lived when I was a kid. The summers are long and hot, but it’s a dry heat. I remember running the 100 yard dash when it was 114 degrees. Our roses seemed to love it.

But I think someone in that area — is it Carla in Sacramento? — has recently reported getting blackspot. That shocked me. I’m hoping it’s just a microclimate issue in her yard.

Diane, I have considered the Boise area purely on the strength of your photos. You have the most incredible roses I’ve ever seen.

@marcindy How wonderful that you and your wife have been able to travel the country and now inspiration is beckoning to start a new garden! I can’t comment on gardening in the PNW, but I really thought Victoria Island was a lovely place with famed Butchart Gardens. The Japanese maples were lovely, so Im sure that zone would offer conditions for your new palette of plants.

As for Blackspot and California. I do get some here in sunny SoCal, but only on a couple of susceptible plants. Powdery mildew is what I mostly deal with in the garden.

@elenazone6 WOW! What an extnsive list of conditions. I’ll have to save to my gardening notebook!

Thank you, Suzanne. We also have a fabulous nursery here in Boise that was founded in 1930 and is not only still in business, it's expanded to offer a huge selection of plants. Their clematis are the best and most economical and grown locally. Big rose selection with roses sold in 5 gallon pots and kept in a special greenhouse until you pick them up at the proper planting time. I plant them any time up until early September. Huge selection of perennials, too. Lots of classes and community support projects. Gardens surround the greenhouses to show off all kinds of plants and veggies, plus a legacy garden. Beautiful pavilion with seating for a lunch if you happen to bring one or just to sit. Plus performances and seasonal celebrations. No, Edwards doesn't pay me. I'll be going to get perennials soon, and a little later all kinds of hot pepper starting plants, which I grow in pots on the patio. They have hundreds of peppers, plus all the usual herbs and veggies. Diane

That sounds heavenly, Diane. A good nursery like that is such a boon. I’m no longer within easy driving distance of a big nursery, but my small local nursery makes up for it in service. Family-owned of course. The youngish owner dude (second generation) has sold me thousands of dollars of shrubs, and we talk about them year after year. ”How are are those distyliums doing? Are your Olive Martinis holding their color or did they revert?”

I can call him or text him with varieties I want to try. ”Kenny, do you think you could get any Swing Low distylium? And I need three Rose Creek abelias.“ It’s great.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts, ideas and researched contributions. What a great group of people!!

We are familiar with the growing conditions of Utah (we have family in both the greater Salt Lake City area, as well as St. George). Last fall we traveled through parts of Idaho and it is a gorgeous state with great growing conditions.

The information about Bend is really valuable. Lots of folks tell us how beautiful it is, but they view it in terms of non-gardeners. That's why your suggestions around the better rose growing areas are so valuable to us. We will definitely check out Applegate Valley and Jacksonville, together with the larger Ashland area. Unfortunately Victoria Island is out for us, it belongs to Canada and we are not citizens there. Does anyone on here know about the Grants Pass area?

We ruled out California for now, as retirees (or soon to be) the taxes of a state are an important factor in our decision making.

Grants Pass, slightly rainier and sometimes much smokier. It is on the Rogue River and is set like Medford, in a beautiful valley. Ashland, beautifulautofill, super expensive and the deer have free range and they are everywhere lol. No place will be perfect for sure. Rogue River is a cool little town between Medford and Grants Pass. Jacksonville is charming!

Some council people in Grants Pass are trying to cancel their library. They have some MAGA tendencies.

I started reading about Medford on Reddit and people talk a lot about the smoke. Apparently there are about two months during wildfire season when the smoke just hangs over Medford, trapped by an inversion layer. Is that right? I guess that would also apply to Jacksonville, which looks like it’s right next door. Is Grant’s Pass different because of its topography?

Welcome back Marcindy, I remember you from years ago, and am glad to see you will soon retire , settle in a rose-friendly climate and have more time to garden. Best wishes on finding a great area to settle.

I refrain from recommending a place, since , understandably , you ruled out California. I did move to the Golden State three years ago and it’s an amazing place for so many plants. But as you said, all sorts of taxes and fees that don’t exist elsewhere.

If I had no personal connections and was basing my home’s location purely on weather I would choose Oregon. I’m about 20 minutes north of Tacoma and blackspot is very present (especially in an organic garden) here

Grants pass has lots of problems with their city council. They cant quite figure out what to do with their homeless population. They get the smoke too. We are both in valleys. The smoke is a bummer for sure.

Kristine, the smoke isn’t something I would have even thought of before stumbling on that Reddit thread. East coast brain.

Marc,

My paternal grandfather grew roses in Eastern Iowa. Grandma took it over after he died, and that inspired me.

Late in life, my dad was inspired to grow roses, probably because of his parents and his experience with seeing my garden in Iowa. He didn't start growing roses until 2000 when he was 68 and had moved to Tucson. I so enjoyed seeing his roses in Tucson. He set up a drip system.

The only disease I have seen in his rose garden in Tucson is rose mosaic virus which isn't due to his care or growing conditions but is imported from the rose nursery when his QE rose was purchased. He knew I had a rather elaborate system for preventing rose diseases in NE Iowa, but he didn't need that system in Tucson.

Dad died 2-years ago at age 90, but mom keeps the roses going. They are really beautiful in the early spring and late fall. So Tucson is good. Colorado Springs is good, too. My sister grew roses there, and she has very little knowledge about how to prevent fungal diseases and fight Japanese Beetles. It is semi-arid and a good environment for growing roses. There are no Japanese Beetles, there, yet.

Obviously Portland, and Medford, are prime growing areas, too.