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Main Rose Types for your Garden

English Roses, Hybrid Tea Roses, Floribunda Roses, Grandiflora Roses, Miniature Roses, Climbing Roses, Rambling Roses, Shrub Roses, Groundcover Roses

Rose Types, English Roses, Hybrid Tea Roses, Floribunda Roses, Grandiflora Roses, Miniature Roses, Climbing Roses, Rambling Roses, Shrub Roses, Grouncover Roses

There are many different types of roses. With over 150 species and thousands of hybrids, the rose world is incredibly diverse in form, color, vigor, and fragrance. Some varieties are compact enough to grow in containers on the patio. Others are perfect candidates for the mixed border or for climbing up a wall or a pergola. To help you sort through the differences and pick the right one for your needs, you will find below the most popular types of roses grown today.

Climbing Roses and Rambling Roses

Nothing sets off a house like a Climbing Rose in full bloom trained against the walls or draping the porch. Climbing Roses are vigorous shrubs with long, arching, stiff, and thorny stems that are well adapted to training on arches, arbors, obelisks, pillars, fences, trellis, and walls. They produce an abundance of large, single, or clustered, often fragrant flowers. Unlike Rambling Roses, most Climbing Roses usually repeat flower throughout summer and fall. Most bloom two or more times every season: first on old canes and then on the current season’s growth. However, several cultivars bloom continuously throughout the growing season. Climbing Roses require more care and attention than Rambling Roses. They need annual pruning and training.

Rambling Roses are vigorous shrubs with long, arching stems which emerge from the base of the plants and are easy to train on trellises, over archways, and pergolas. They are useful for scrambling through bushes and into trees, covering unsightly objects or large expanses of walls. Rambler Roses are a spectacular sight when in full bloom. They typically produce an abundance of small, often fragrant flowers held in large sprays, sometimes up to 20 blooms per stem. Unlike Climbing Roses, most Rambler Roses bloom once in late spring or early summer for several weeks. They may not repeat flower, but they make up for it with the massive quantities of blooms they produce in their main flush. Their long canes are smothered in roses, forming impressive cascades of colorful blooms. Tough and reliable, Rambling Roses are generally healthy and disease resistant, tolerant of partial shade and poor soils. They require less care and attention than Climbing Roses.

Guide Information

Hardiness 4 - 10
Plant Type Roses
Genus Rosa - Hybrid Tea Rose, Rosa - Groundcover Rose, Rosa - Grandiflora Rose, Rosa - English Rose, Rosa - Floribunda Rose, Rosa - Rambling Rose, Rosa, Rosa - Shrub Rose
Exposure Full Sun, Partial Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Late)
Summer (Early, Mid, Late)
Fall
Soil Type Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
Soil pH Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage Moist but Well-Drained, Well-Drained
Characteristics Plant of Merit
Rosa ‘Crimson Glory’ (Climbing Rose)
Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’ (Lady Banks’ Rose)
Rosa Eden Climber® (Climbing Rose)

English Roses

Highly popular, English Roses combine the rosette form and perfume of old roses with the color range and repeat-flowering habits of modern roses. As a Rose breeder, David Austin’s achievement is marrying the romantic “English Rose” look with reliable garden performance, vigorous growth, full bushes, disease resistance, and prolific season-long bloom. Over English Roses have been released over the past 50 years, and many of them have received the highest rewards. Their graceful, shrubby habits make them ideal for mixed borders or large containers. Many varieties can also be trained as climbers or used to create flowering hedges.

Rosa A Shropshire Lad (English Rose)
Rosa Boscobel (English Rose)
Rosa Golden Celebration (English Rose)

Floribunda Roses

Floribunda means a profusion of flowers. Single to fully double, the flowers are borne in large clusters on strong stems and are produced continuously from late spring to fall. Although the blossoms are smaller than the Hybrid Tea roses, they are produced in such quantities that they make a big impact. Floribunda roses are free-branching shrubs with an upright or bushy habit. Generally disease resistant, they tend to be hardy and easy to care for. Perfect for beds and borders or flowering hedges.

Rosa ‘Angel Face’ (Floribunda Rose)
Rosa ‘Iceberg’ (Floribunda Rose)
Rosa Golden Beauty (Floribunda Rose)

Grandiflora Roses

Grandiflora roses are a class created in the last century to classify crosses between Hybrid Tea and Floribunda roses that fit neither category. They combine the graceful blooms of the Hybrid Teas and the repetitive growth cycle of Floribundas. Grandiflora roses have large, showy flowers produced on long stems, either singly or in clusters of three to five blooms. Their shrubs are generally larger and more upright than Hybrid Teas. Although hardy and vigorous, they tend to be less popular than Hybrid Teas or Floribunda roses.

Rosa Cherry Parfait™ (Grandiflora Rose)
Rosa Mother Of Pearl® (Grandiflora Rose)
Rosa Strike It Rich (Grandiflora Rose)

Groundcover Roses

Groundcover roses are spreading and trailing shrub roses, mostly with prickly stems and glossy leaves. They bear clusters of numerous single to fully double, sometimes fragrant flowers, and usually bloom nonstop. They are wonderful for covering banks, slopes, or rocky areas, where they display a colorful flower carpet all summer long. They tend to be extremely disease resistant and require little attention.

Rosa Coral Drift® (Groundcover Rose)
Rosa Flower Carpet Amber (Groundcover Rose)
Rosa Pink Drift® (Groundcover Rose)

Hybrid Tea Roses

Hybrid Tea Roses are some of the most prized cut flowers. Undeniably beautiful, they boast large, perfectly formed, high-centered blooms on long, elegant stems. Available in an extensive range of colors, many emit a delightful fragrance. They are repeat-flowering, free-branching shrub roses of an upright or bushy habit. Perfect for beds and borders, they are excellent for cutting. They are the least hardy of the modern roses and have a reputation for being high-maintenance.

Rosa Apricot Candy™ (Hybrid Tea Rose)
Rosa Double Delight (Hybrid Tea Rose)
Rosa Papa Meilland® (Hybrid Tea Rose)

Shrub Roses

Most shrub roses result from crossing Old Garden Roses and Modern Roses. They include a rich variety of shrubs in size, color, growth habit, and fragrance. Most shrub roses are reliable, tough, disease resistant, and repeat blooming from late spring to fall. Usually heavy blooming with smaller flowers but in greater quantities than the hybrid tea and floribunda roses. They are perfect for screens, hedges, beds, and borders and as specimen plants. Generally, they are hardy, easy-care plants.

Rosa Double Knock Out® (Shrub Rose)
Rosa Rhapsody in Blue (Shrub Rose)
Rosa Scarlet Meidiland® (Shrub Rose)

Garden Examples

A Fabulous Duo to Try: Rose ‘Sharifa Asma’ with Campanula
A Fabulous Duo: Rose ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ & Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’
A Fabulous Duo: Rose ‘Harlow Carr’ & Lavender ‘Hidcote’
A Fragrant Garden Haven Idea
A Fragrant Garden Retreat Idea
A Welcoming Hedge
While every effort has been made to describe these plants accurately, please keep in mind that height, bloom time, and color may differ in various climates. The description of these plants has been written based on numerous outside resources.

Guide Information

Hardiness 4 - 10
Plant Type Roses
Genus Rosa - Hybrid Tea Rose, Rosa - Groundcover Rose, Rosa - Grandiflora Rose, Rosa - English Rose, Rosa - Floribunda Rose, Rosa - Rambling Rose, Rosa, Rosa - Shrub Rose
Exposure Full Sun, Partial Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Late)
Summer (Early, Mid, Late)
Fall
Soil Type Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
Soil pH Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage Moist but Well-Drained, Well-Drained
Characteristics Plant of Merit

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