Nearly every type of rose grows in zone 8 with its mild winters and warm summers. So, if you plan to start growing roses in zone 8 gardens, you’ll find plenty of great candidates. More than 6,000 rose cultivars are available in commerce. Read on for information about selecting zone 8 rose varieties for your garden based on their color, growth habit, and flower form.
Choosing Roses for Zone 8
Roses may look delicate, but some varieties are hardy all the way down to zone 3, while others thrive in balmy zone 10. When you need roses for zone 8, you’re in the sweet spot where most roses can thrive. Hardiness is only one factor in rose bush selection though. Even in a rose-popular region like zone 8, you’ll still need to pick other rose bush qualities. You’ll have to pick specific zone 8 rose varieties based on specifics about the flowers, like color, form, and fragrance. They also include the growth habit of the plant.
Zone 8 Rose Bushes
One of the first questions you want to ask yourself when you set out to select zone 8 rose bushes is how much space you can give the shrub. You’ll find zone 8 rose bushes that are short and compact, others that climb to above 20 feet tall (6 m.), and many in between. For rose bushes with a strong, upright growth habit, look at tea roses. They don’t grow terribly tall, averaging between 3 and 6 feet (1-2 m.), and the long stems grow huge, single flowers. If you want a tea rose producing pink roses, try David Austin’s ‘Falling in Love.’ For gorgeous orange tones, consider ‘Tahitian Sunset.’ Floribunda roses have smaller blossoms arranged in clusters on medium long stems. You have lots of color choices. Try ‘Angel Face’ for mauve blossoms, ‘Charisma’ for red flowerers, ‘Gene Boerner’ for pink, or ‘Saratoga’ for white. Grandifloras mix the features of tea and floribunda varieties. They are zone 8 rose bushes that grow to 6 feet (2 m.) tall with long stems and clustered flowers. Pick ‘Arizona’ for orange roses, ‘Queen Elizabeth’ for pink, and ‘Scarlet Knight' for red. If you want to grow roses along a fence or up a trellis, climbing roses are the zone 8 rose varieties you are looking for. Their arching stems, up to 20 feet (6 m.), climb up walls or other supports or can be grown as groundcovers. Climbing roses bloom all summer and fall. You’ll find lots of lovely colors available. The oldest roses for zone 8 are known as old roses or heritage roses. These zone 8 rose varieties were cultivated before 1876. They are generally fragrant and disease resistant and have diverse growth habit and flower form. ‘Fantin Latour’ is a particularly beautiful rose with dense, pale pink blossoms.