A guide for gardeners · Climate zones

Roses in Ukraine's climate

6 conventional climate zones for 24 regions of Ukraine and Crimea. Climate change has increased the risks: hotter summers, long droughts, hot dry winds, sharp temperature swings and unstable winters without snow. Choose your region on the map and see what suits it.

Heat and sun
No rain in summer
Hot dry winds
Sharp temperature swings
Unstable winter
Diseases after rain

1North and Polissia

wet · frosts · fungal diseases

Regions: Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy.
USDA: 5b (down to −26 °C); long, stable snow cover.
Risks: Damp, frosts, long spells of rain, black spot.
What works well: Kordes (ADR varieties), Dickson, Canadian Explorer and Parkland series, Noack Flower Carpet, Hybrid Musks for partial shade.
Be careful: Fully double varieties (Austin English Roses, Romantica) cope poorly with rain and need careful ventilation.

2West and Precarpathia

rain · fog · temperature swings

Regions: Volyn, Rivne, Lviv, Ternopil, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi.
USDA: 6a–6b (down to −20 °C); milder winters, more humidity.
Risks: Rain, fog, high humidity, temperature swings, fungal diseases (black spot, powdery mildew).
What works well: Kordes / Noack (ADR disease resistance), Hybrid Musks (Pemberton tolerates partial shade), Harkness, Dickson, Floribundas.
Zakarpattia: Winters are milder (USDA 7a) and summers hotter, so you can be bolder with fragrant English roses and nostalgic old-style varieties.

3Centre and Forest-Steppe

hot summers · frosts without snow

Regions: Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, Poltava, Kirovohrad.
USDA: 5b–6a (down to −23 °C); the most versatile zone.
Risks: Summer heat and drought; in winter, frosts without a steady snow cover.
What works well: A versatile choice: Kordes, Meilland (HT, Romantica, Meidiland), Tantau, David Austin (Olivia Rose, Munstead Wood), Pheno Geno Frayla — with repeat flowering and heat tolerance.
Be careful: If winter comes without snow, mulching the base of the bushes is essential.

4South and Steppe

drought · hot dry winds · flower scorch

Regions: Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia.
USDA: 6b–7a (down to −15 °C); the warmest continental zone.
Risks: Drought, hot dry winds, overheated soil, flower scorch, poor or saline soils.
What works well: Heat-tolerant: Noack Flower Carpet, Meilland Meidiland / Drift, Knock Out, Earth-Kind® (Mutabilis!), Rose Barni, landscape shrub roses. Light and medium-saturated colours fade less.
Be careful: Delicate Japanese roses (such as Keisei) and fully double Austin roses quickly lose their ornamental appeal in the heat.
Note: Dnipropetrovsk region is mostly Zone 4; northern forest-steppe plots are closer to Zone 3.

5East and Continental

wind · contrasts · winter desiccation

Regions: Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk.
USDA: 5b–6a (down to −23 °C); the largest temperature swings.
Risks: Strong wind, temperature contrasts, winter desiccation, summer drought.
What works well: Hardy shrub roses, Canadian Explorer / Parkland (USDA 2–3!), Kordes ADR, reliable climbers with winter protection, good-quality plants from proven nurseries.
Be careful: AARS varieties from the mid-twentieth century that have not been tested for frost hardiness, and all uncertified 'new' varieties. In the Kharkiv region, wind protection, winter cover and summer watering are especially important.

6Crimea

subtropics and steppe · the warmest zone

Region: Autonomous Republic of Crimea (temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine since 2014).
USDA: 7a–8b on the South Coast (Yalta, Alushta), down to −12 °C; 6b–7a in the steppe of Crimea, down to −15 °C. The warmest part of Ukraine. The coast has a subtropical climate; the steppe has a dry continental one.
Risks: Drought, sea wind on the coast, saline soils in the steppe, low rainfall (300–500 mm a year).
Coast: Tender varieties: David Austin, Delbard Grands Parfums, Meilland Romantica, Tantau Nostalgie, Japanese types (Keisei).
Steppe Crimea: Heat-tolerant: Earth-Kind® Mutabilis, Meilland Meidiland, Noack Flower Carpet, Rose Barni, Lens Hybrid Musks.
Nikita Botanical Garden: Founded in 1812 in Yalta, it holds over 1700 rose varieties, one of the oldest collections in Eastern Europe and a source of adapted material for southern gardens.