Does the color apricot bring to mind warm summer days, soft colors, and fuzzy textures? Abundant fresh fruit from the tree? Descriptive terms like light orange, soft pastel peach or pale sunset doesn’t really capture the warmth of the color. The American Rose Society (ARS) color classification uses apricot & apricot blend to cover a wide range of shades within this category, from the very pale apricot in ‘Apricot Nectar’, to a brilliant, nearly orange color in ‘Cathedral’. Yet the perennial favorite ‘Just Joey’, a rose that I would describe as a classic apricot colored rose (at least in our climate), is actually classified as an orange blend by the ARS.
Most of the rest of the world does not use this color category, and the roses on this list would likely be classified as orange. Old rose varieties include reds, pinks, whites, some purple (mauves) and yellows, but not this color. If you look for the “meaning” of different colored roses, you’ll find pretty consistent terms for most rose colors, but none for apricot roses. Orange roses are said to indicate desire, enthusiasm and fascination, while a peach rose can signify either sympathy or gratitude. Whatever the meaning of the color of apricot, it is a great one, and if you don’t have some apricot colored roses in your garden now, you may want to add one now.
| Name | Type | Color | ARS Rating | Year Introduced |
| Jean Kenneally | Miniature | Apricot blend | 9.2 | 1984 |
| Royal Sunset | Large-Flowered Climber | Apricot blend | 8.9 | 1960 |
| Buff Beauty | Hybrid Musk | Apricot blend | 8.4 | 1939 |
| Leander | Shrub | Apricot blend | 8.4 | 1983 |
| Gruss an Coburg | Hybrid Tea | Apricot blend | 8.3 | 1927 |
| Westerland | Shrub | Apricot blend | 8.3 | 1969 |
| Ambridge Rose | Shrub | Apricot blend | 8.1 | 1992 |
| Apricot Nectar | Floribunda | Apricot blend | 8.1 | 1965 |
| Autumn Sunset | Shrub | Apricot blend | 8.1 | 1986 |
| Loving Touch | Miniature | Apricot blend | 8.1 | 1983 |
| Apricot Drift | Shrub | Apricot blend | 8.0 | 2010 |
| Marilyn Monroe | Hybrid Tea | Apricot blend | 8.0 | 2001 |
By Nanette Londeree, Master Rosarian
Photos from left: ‘Westerland’, ‘Marilyn Monroe’; photos by author
Updated December 2019