7 Types of roses you should know about
Roses are a staple in many gardens. With over 150 species and thousands of hybrids (and new ones being added each year!), the array of roses on the market is massive and diverse. Roses are available in just about every shape and color imaginable, fragrant and non-fragrant, in bush form, trailing, and climbing.
To make shopping for roses a little less overwhelming, we thought we’d lay out the different archetypes, to help you decide which ones work for your garden and which ones you best gloss over.
So here they are, the 7 main types of roses for your garden.
Climbing roses
Climbing roses have stiffer stems than other roses and can be trained to climb on walls, arches, arbors, fences, and trellis. They come in large, single, or clustered flowers that are often fragrant and will bloom repeatedly through summer and fall. They are a higher maintenance rose that needs annual pruning and training.
Rosa ‘Cecile Brunner’ - Climbing rose
English roses
English roses are highly popular. They maintain the rosette form and perfume of old roses and combine that with the color range and repeat-flowering habits of modern roses. Most of them are grown and kept as shrubs, ideal for mixed borders and large containers, but some varieties can be trained as climbers or shaped into flowering hedges.
Grandiflora roses
A more recent class of roses, composed of crosses between Hybrid Tea and Floribunda roses. They combine the graceful blooms of Hybrid teas with the repetitive growth cycle of Floribundas. The large showy flowers grow as singles or as clusters of three to five blooms. They form a larger size bush. The flowers grow more sparingly as compared to Hybrid Teas or Floribundas.
Rosa ‘State of Grace’ - Grandiflora
Floribunda roses
Floribunda means a profusion of flowers. These roses produce large clusters of blooms on strong stems and will bloom continuously from late spring to fall. They are generally smaller in size than Hybrid Tea roses but make up for it with the huge quantity of blooms present at any given time. Floribunda roses are most commonly found in shrub form. They are bred to be disease-resistant and hardy.
Groundcover roses
This type of rose is known for its spreading and trailing habits. They are easily recognizable by their glossy leaves. Only a few varieties are fragrant but most bloom for extended periods. You’ll easily find both single and double blooming varieties. These roses require very little attention and are disease-resistant.
Rosa ‘Amber’ - Groundcover
Hybrid tea roses
Hybrid teas are generally considered the cream of the crop when it comes to roses. Often used in cut flower arrangements, their blooms are large and elegant, centered on long stems. Most Hybrid teas are fragrant and repeat-flowering. These free-branching shrubs grow in upright or bushy habits. On the flip side, they are the least disease resistant and require high maintenance.
Rambling roses
Rambling roses are fast-growing shrubs that are easily trained on trellises, archways, and pergolas. They produce an abundance of small flowers in late spring to early summer. While their blooming period is lengthy, these roses are not repeat-flowering. These are likely the toughest roses in this list, as they grow well in full-sun to part-shady areas as well as being disease resistant. They also require less care than climbing roses.
