The United States Department of Agriculture has established plant hardiness zones based on the maximum and minimum temperatures at which individual plants will survive. Other factors, including humidity levels, seasonal vagaries such as likelihood of late frosts, and whether a location is inland, coastal or mountain, should be considered. Tucson, Arizona, and Seattle, Washington, are both in USDA Zone 8. Although local growing conditions differ greatly, both areas are excellent for growing roses.
Tea and Noisette roses thrive in low-frost regions. Tea roses, which originated in China, carry the fragrance of fresh tealeaves. "Fortune’s Double Yellow" grows to 15 feet with a strong, fruity-tea fragrance. "Lady Hillingdon" has rich golden-yellow blossoms with a strong tea fragrance on a 3- to 4-foot shrub-sized rosebush. In the early 1800s, Philippe Noisette developed seedlings from a China and musk rose cross. "Celine Forestier" sports tea-scented light yellow flowers on a plant 8 feet wide and up to 12 feet tall. "Reve d'Or," with buff-yellow blossoms on a large shrub, is a vigorous grower.
"Lady Banks" yellow is a nearly thornless species of rose from China. Scentless, small, fully double roses are abundantly displayed once in the spring on a climbing plant reaching 20 feet. Selected David Austin English shrub roses perform especially well in warm regions, and may be grown as climbers or kept pruned as large shrubs. "Molineux" is an award-winning rose producing an abundance of deep golden, fragrant flowers throughout the season. "Jude the Obscure" flowers in apricot-yellow with a remarkably strong fragrance.
Floribunda roses are continuously blooming, compact plants that are suitable for planting in masses, as specimen plants or as low hedges. "Julia Child" produces fragrant yellow roses. "Brass Band" is mildly fragrant, with bright, apricot-yellow flowers. Miniature roses are easy to care for, blooming abundantly throughout the growing season on plants ranging from 1 foot high to 3 feet high with small, perfectly formed blooms. Miniature rose "Erin Alonso" blooms in bright medium yellow on a plant up to 4 feet high. "Bee’s Knees" is a charming bloomer on a 3-foot-high plant with yellow roses edged in pink. "Fairhope" is very light yellow-cream rose on plant 2 to 3 feet high. "My Sunshine," on a plant 2 feet high, is a single-flowered yellow mini with a moderate fragrance.
Mini-flora roses are a fairly new classification of rose plants developed by J. Benjamin Williams and recognized by the American Rose Society in 1999. The roses are between a floribunda and a miniature in blossom size. Yellow, heat-tolerant mini-flora roses include "Abby’s Angel," a deep yellow rose edged in red on a plant 4 feet high. "Autumn Splendor" will grow to 3 feet high, producing deep yellow roses edged in dark orange. "Butter Cream" is a light yellow bloomer, and "Sunglow" produces semidouble flowers in deep buttery-gold. Both grow to 3 feet tall. "Conundrum" has yellow blossoms with red edges in a striking combination.