If you have ever looked at the roses at your local nursery, you have probably noticed that some appear to be small and have delicate blossoms, while others are large and full, with blossoms that look like they must have a thousand petals.
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between wild roses, tea roses, and other types of roses?
If you feel that way, I understand. I was just as confused when someone first started talking to me about floribundas and grandifloras. I thought they might be speaking another language entirely.
Although experts might find rose classifications complicated, the average person does not need to know this much detail.
Best Types of Roses for Your Garden
1. FLORIBUNDA
Floribundas are their own type of plant, created by breeding tea plants and polyanthas.
Some of the hardiness of the polyantha plant is retained in the hybrid tea plant, which produces bouquet-like clusters of flowers. The individual blossoms are generally smaller than those of the hybrid tea plant, but there are more of them per plant.
Floribundas bloom more in cold and wet weather than hybrid teas and they bloom all the time rather than every six to seven weeks like hybrid teas do.
The ‘Cinco de Mayo’ is a great plant to start with if you’re looking to grow climbers. You can find it at Amazon in a gallon-size pot.
‘Cinco de Mayo’
This rose has stunning clusters of blossoms, which feature a smoky orangish-red color with hints of lavender and magenta.
These flowers have a very light apple scent and will bloom continually with very little effort required to keep them healthy.
‘Ebb Tide’
This plant has a shrubby growth habit and produces double blooms in a deep plum color. It repeats blooming throughout the season and has a strong clove scent.
Take one of these dark-colored plants home from Nature Hills Nursery.
The “Mango Veranda” plant is one that will bloom multiple times and has double blossoms. It is not high-maintenance and will grow well as long as the conditions are right.
‘Mango Veranda’
This plant has petals that smell like mango and are a pretty salmon color with some copper mixed in. It doesn’t get too big, so it’s good for planting in containers.
Nature Hills Nursery stocks ‘Mango Veranda’ plants in #1 and #2 containers.
Zones:
4-10
Height/Spread:
This plant has a small, dense growth habit, reaching 2-5 feet tall and 2-4 feet wide.
Bloom time:
Repeat or continuous bloom from early summer to fall
Color:
is deeply lobed and toothed The flowers of this plant are white, yellow, pink, gold, lavender-blue, burgundy, apricot, orange, red, or bicolored. The foliage is deeply lobed and toothed.
2. HYBRID TEA
Hybrid tea roses are the most popular type of rose right now because they have large, picture-perfect blossoms that are fragrant.
Stems with a single flower are ideal for cutting.
The “Mellow Yellow” flower has, as you might have guessed, double blooms that are yellow in color. They also have a fruity scent.
tmp2 I can depend on these growers to produce high-quality, long-stemmed flowers that are great for cutting and arranging.
The Sunny Knock Out is a hybrid that is designed to be resistant to both droughts and diseases. It is also characterized by its beautiful yellow flowers that bloom continuously.
‘Sunny Knock Out’
Burpee provides “Sunny Knock Out” plants in a bare root form.
The ‘Double Delight’ flower is guaranteed to make your neighbors jealous, as well as add beauty to your own garden.
This 1985 rose was inducted into the World Federation of Rose Societies Hall of Fame and continues to be a favorite.
The intense notes of spice in the scent make it a worthy addition to the garden, and then there are the blossoms.
Each bloom has buttery yellow centers that fade to strawberry red at the edges.
The color remains unchanged even when the sun is shining brightly and fading other plants.
‘Double Delight’
The stems of these flowers grow long and straight, making them ideal for indoor floral displays. Their long-lasting blossoms will brighten up any room in your home.
Home Depot stocks these lovely dormant bare roots, if you’re interested – and why wouldn’t you be?
Although it is not as showy as some flowers, it has its own delicate beauty. ‘Peace’ is a flower that is more delicate and gentle, rather than being bright and flashy. Even though it is not as noticeable as some other flowers, it still has its own unique beauty.
‘Peace’
This flower is characterized by its light colors and simple design. The center of the bloom is a creamy yellow, which fades to a delicate blush pink. There is no bold color scheme, but the flower is pretty nonetheless.
This tree is a popular, vigorous grower, and you can buy dormant rootstock for it from Home Depot.
Zones:
5-9
Height/Spread:
Makes a bushy, upright shrub that’s 3-8 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide.
Bloom time:
Repeat or continuous bloom from late spring to fall
Color:
Flowers come in many colors including white, yellow, pink, gold, lavender-blue, burgundy, apricot, orange, and red. They can also be bi- or multi-colored. Green foliage is also common.
3. GRANDIFLORA
Grandifloras are a hybrid of hybrid tea and floribunda roses.
The blossoms are approximately the size of tea roses, but they cluster together more closely, like those of a floribunda. They also tend to grow taller than any other modern type of rose- up to nine feet, or even taller in some cases.
Although they lack a strong fragrance, the upside is that they are ___________.
This rose is so resistant to pests and disease that you may forget it’s a rose. It has coppery orange double blossoms and an intense floral fragrance.
The Queen Elizabeth rose produces beautiful blooms that are worthy of a royal crown.
The delicate, ruffled pink blossoms of this grandiflora grow in an elegant, cupped shape.
‘Queen Elizabeth’
The long, straight stems of these flowers make them ideal for cutting and bringing into your home for use in arrangements.
Home Depot sells this popular option as a dormant rootstock.
Zones:
5-9
Height/Spread:
Upright, bushy plants that are 3-8 feet tall and 2-5 feet wide.
Bloom time:
Repeat bloom from late spring to fall
Color:
; and have seed-bearing pods that open at maturity to release their seeds Flowers can be either purple, red, orange, white, pink, or yellow. Their foliage can be either green or blue-green. Once the flowers have matured and their seed-bearing pods have opened, the seeds will be released.
4. POLYANTHA
These roses were developed in the late 19th century. They are very tough and similar in stature to floribundas, but smaller. They have a dense growth habit and clusters of 1- to 2-inch blooms that are rarely fragrant. Most of them are shrubs, but some are climbers. You can use them as edging along a pathway, at the front of a mixed border, as hedging, or in containers. They are virtually carefree and disease-free.
Zones:
4-10
Height/Spread:
This plant can either grow in a compact form, or it can spread out or climb. Shrub forms of this plant grow to be 2 to 4 feet tall and wide. However, climbers, such as the ‘Cecile Brunner’ variety, can reach up to 10 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide.
Bloom time:
Repeat bloom from early summer to fall
Color:
; long spikelike racemes Flowers come in many colors including white, pink, red, apricot, lavender, and crimson. They have green foliage and long spikelike racemes.
5. SHRUB
This type of shrub is generally characterized by multiple stems that arise from or near the ground and remain low to the ground The term “shrub” can refer to a plant’s growth pattern, or to a type of plant that is hardy and does not fit into another category. This type of shrub is usually characterized by multiple stems that arise from the ground and remain low to the ground.
If you have ever heard of “English roses,” they were created by the breeder David Austin and fall into the shrub classification.
The Knock Out® series has become so popular and varied that it deserves its own classification.
Although it is usually considered a shrub, it is also possible to find climbers and miniature versions.
Knock Outs are great for new growers as they don’t contract diseases easily, don’t need excessive pruning, can withstand drought and don’t need deadheading.
The Knock Out® series was first developed in 2000 and became very popular in the US soon after!
The breeder wanted to create a low-maintenance plant that comes in a variety of colors. These colors include bright red, peach, yellow, white, and pink.
You can find Knock Out® plants at most stores that sell plants.
Home Depot has many different colors available.
The Knock Out® Petite is a smaller version of the popular Knock Out® hybrid. It is low maintenance and produces lots of blossoms on a compact plant.
Petite Knock Out
They come in bright, fire-engine red.
Zones:
3-11
Height/Spread:
This plant can grow in a mounding, bushy, spreading, or groundcover habit, 1-20 feet tall and 1-15 feet wide.
Bloom time:
Different varieties of roses bloom at different times. Some varieties only bloom once, from late spring to early summer, while others bloom multiple times from late spring to frost.
Color:
Flowers typically occur in colors other than green, blue, or black; however, there are exceptions where green, blue, or purple-tinged foliage is present.
6. CLIMBERS
The plants mentioned are all types of vining roses. They are often seen growing on pergolas, arbors, and fences. They are different from true vines in that they cannot climb on their own and need to be trained. Some examples of vining roses are the Noisette and climbing forms of the hybrid tea, Bourbon, floribunda, grandiflora, and tea roses. They are typically used for screening or to provide vertical interest in a landscape.
Zones:
2-10
Height/Spread:
This plant has a climbing and spreading habit and can grow to be 6-12 feet tall (or long) and 3-4 feet wide.
Bloom time:
Late spring to frost
Color:
accents are also popular Designers often use flowers that are pink, white, yellow, red, orange, lavender, purple, burgundy or apricot, with green foliage accents being popular as well.
7. MINIATURE
The name of the plant is deceiving as to its size, as some varieties can grow as large as floribundas, even though they are bred for their compact size and diminutive one-inch blooms. These plants have sturdy stems and produce profuse flower clusters. They are suitable for small spaces, raised beds, rock gardens, as pathway edging, and as a stand-alone accent in a container.
Zones:
4-11
Height/Spread:
The text describes the various habits that a plant can have, including being compact, upright, spreading, or climbing. Shrub forms of the plant grow to 1-3 feet tall and 2 feet wide, while climbers can reach 3-6 feet tall.
Bloom time:
Late spring to fall
Color:
The flowers come in white, pink, red, burgundy, yellow, orange, and lavender; the foliage is green.
8. ENGLISH (DAVID AUSTIN)
The English rose is a hybrid shrub or climber that combines the features of old roses with the wider color range, repeat bloom, and disease resistance of modern roses. These roses are also known as David Austin roses, named after the breeder who introduced them in the 1960s. They grow best in milder regions with cooler summers.
Zones:
4-11
Height/Spread:
This plant has a upright, bushy, or climbing habit and can grow 4-12 feet tall and 3-5 feet wide.
Bloom time:
Repeat or continuous bloom from late spring until fall
Color:
The flowers are available in white, pink, apricot, yellow, red, coral, burgundy, and orange colors, while the foliage is either green or blue-green.
ROSE GROUPS
The first are the old garden roses, which are the European and Asian roses that have been cultivated for centuries. The second group is the modern roses, which were developed starting in the mid-19th century. The last group is the species roses, which are the wild roses that grow around the world. There is no one definitive way to classify rose types because they overlap due to breeding. However, there are three generally recognized groups. The first group is the old garden roses, which are the European and Asian roses that have been cultivated for centuries. The second group is the modern roses, which were developed starting in the mid-19th century. The last group is the species roses, which are the wild roses that grow around the world.
This type of rose has been growing in the wild for thousands of years and is the ancestor of all roses we see today. These single-flowered types come in shrub or climbing forms and include Rosa arkansana, R. virginiana, R. banksiae, R. glauca, and R. woodsii.
Old garden roses are species and cultivars that existed before 1867. This is recognized as the transition year between old and modern roses. Old roses include Bourbon, Damask, Gallica, Tea, China, and Rambler. These are virtually carefree and easy to grow.
The majority of garden roses that are grown today were bred after 1867. This includes hybrid tea, polyantha, floribunda, grandiflora, shrub, climbers, and miniature roses.
TIPS FOR CHOOSING THE BEST ROSES
There are many varieties of roses available from garden centers and online retailers, making it easy to impulse purchase. To avoid buyer’s remorse, start with a plan and know your limitations. Here are some tips for making wise selections.
- Do your research. Local nurseries will generally carry roses that do well in your growing zone. However, if you are ordering bare-root roses online, be sure to research the recommended growing conditions, soil preparation requirements, and planting instructions.
- Make a plan. Decide on the ultimate use for your roses. Will they be used as focal points in the garden, in mass plantings, as border shrubs, or as climbing plants to adorn an arbor or fence? Once you determine the purpose, you can choose the right variety of rose for your space.
- Grow what you like. Make sure any rose you buy meets your list of criteria in terms of color, fragrance, size, care requirements, and other important traits. Adhering to these parameters will also help you narrow down your options.
- Read the plant tag. Roses are graded according to their quality, which should be noted on the tag, with Grade 1 being the best. Also look for the All-American Rose Selection (AARS) designation for plants that have been tested and judged to be superior in disease resistance, flower production, color, and fragrance.
- Order by mail. If your local nursery doesn’t offer the rose varieties that suit your fancy, browse various online nurseries. There are many reputable retailers that specialize in high-quality roses.
Now You Know Your Roses!
Good job on completing the master class on classifications! Now you will be able to understand what people are saying when they reference a damask or species.
You can confidently go to the nursery and tell them you want a russet floribunda. You will probably get the ‘Hot Cocoa’ variety, which is stunning.
I hope you enjoyed reading about roses as much as I enjoyed writing about them.
If you get a chance, let us know which classification of plant you chose for your garden, and feel free to share a picture!
