Who runs this site

I'm Greg. I've been gardening in Portland for well over fifteen years: raised beds, in ground rows, fruit trees, roses, and more mistakes than I care to admit. Rose City Roots is my way of writing down what actually works here, in plain language, week by week.

Portland is a generous climate on paper (Zone 8b, long season, roses everywhere), but the details are what get you: our heavy clay soil that stays wet and cold into spring, then cracks in August; the rainy winters that invite slugs, root rot, and complacency about drainage; and the bone dry stretch from June through September when the rain gauge might as well be decorative. I write with those realities in mind, not generic “Pacific Northwest” fluff, but what I'm doing in my own mud boots.

What you'll find here

• Weekly themes: a one line read of what the garden is asking for this week, with a touch of humor.
• Action lists for vegetables, flowers, shrubs, and seasonal tasks, with specifics (soil temps, spacing, variety names).
• An archive you can browse week by week on the home page, useful when you want to look back at what was timely last year around this date.

Why Zone 8b?

Portland's climate is unusually friendly to a long list of plants, but the details matter. Last frost lands around mid March, first frost around mid November, and from June through September we get almost no rain. Plants that thrive here don't always thrive in the rest of the country.

Got a question, a correction, or a story to share? Drop us a line. For data and cookies (including ads), see our Privacy Policy.