Types of Roses: A Visual Compendium

As Valentine’s Day approaches, romance is on our minds. And what flowers are more romantic than roses? Red roses have become the icon of love and romance, but there are so many other varieties that are equally meaningful. For example, purple roses signify enchantment and love at first sight, while orange roses exemplify passion.

With over 150 species of roses and thousands of hybrids, roses can be found in nearly every color and a variety of shapes. To show you just how expansive the rose family is, we created a compendium of popular garden roses containing over 100 different types of blooms.

Though there is no single definitive way to categorize roses, most specialists divide them into three main categories: Wild Roses, Old Garden Roses, and Modern Garden Roses. The latter two groups are subdivided further according to hybrid and lineage. Below we detail each of the main categories, and the classes within them.

Modern Garden Roses

Modern Roses are those varieties bred after 1867. Most people imagine these types when they think of roses. Classification of Modern Roses can be complicated because many have Old Garden Roses in their ancestry, but they are largely classified by growth and flowering characteristics. Unlike Old Garden Roses which bloom once a year, Modern Roses bloom continuously. They also have a larger bloom size and longer vase life, but lack fragrance, and are less hardy and disease resistant.

Climbing Roses

Although climbing roses do not actually climb like vines do, they have stiff, upright canes that can be manually trained along a support. Some canes can reach upwards of fifteen feet. Climbing roses produce more flowers when grown horizontally rather than vertically. They are commonly attached to walls, fences, and trestles. They tend to have large flowers and are almost always repeat bloomers.English / David Austin Roses

Although not officially recognized as a separate class, David Austin—sometimes called English—roses are highly popular among consumers and retailers. David Austin started breeding roses over 50 years ago with the goal of creating a new group of roses that featured the best characteristics of both Old and Modern Roses. The hundreds of varieties of David Austin roses have the rosette form and heady fragrance of Old Roses with the repeat flowering capability and wider color range of Modern Roses. Despite their popularity, they are susceptible to disease and not as hardy as other varieties.Floribunda Roses

Floribunda roses are a cross between a Hybrid Tea and Polyantha roses. Each stem produces a cluster of large blossoms in the classic Hybrid Tea shape. Floribunda’s can be found in a variety of colors including orange, yellow, pink, purple, and white. They are generally disease resistant, and tend to be hardy and easy to care for. These roses are known for their stocky, rigid shrubbery, and often used in landscaping in public parks and spaces.Grandiflora Roses

Grandiflora roses are a class that was created in the last century to classify crosses between Hybrid Tea and Floribunda roses that fit neither category. They are a combination of the graceful blooms of the Hybrid Teas and the repetitive growth cycle of Floribundas. Grandiflora roses have large, showy flowers that are 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.Groundcover Roses

Also known as “landscape” roses, this type of rose was developed to fulfill the desire for a garden rose that offers color, form, and fragrance, but is also easy to care for. They tend to reach max height at three feet, though some only grow as tall as one foot, and are usually wider than they are tall. Typically groundcover roses are disease and pest resistant, repeat flowering, low growing, and low-maintenance.

Hybrid Tea Roses

Hybrid Tea roses have been the favorite of the Modern Roses, and come in a very diverse range of colors. They are known for their long, upright stems, which make them an extremely popular cut flower. Hybrid tea roses have large, well-formed, pointed blooms, which can be up to five inches in diameter. They are the least hardy of modern roses and have a reputation for being high-maintenance.Miniature Roses

Miniature roses are miniature versions of Hybrid Tea roses. They have petite stems, leaves and flowers, and are hardy and versatile plants. Miniatures come in a wide range of colors including pink, orange, white, and yellow. Most miniature roses bloom continuously for two to three weeks at a time. They are often marketed and sold as houseplants, as they grow well in containers and are only six to eighteen inches tall. They also work well in narrow borders and small garden areas.Polyantha Roses

Polyantha roses are known for their prolific bloom—from spring to fall a healthy plant could potentially be covered in flowers. They typically have large clusters of small flowers, and come in shades of white, pink and red. Polyantha roses remain popular due to their reputation as low-maintenance, disease resistant, and hardy plants. They are ideal candidates for containers or small gardens.Rambling Roses

Rambling roses, or ramblers, are vigorous growers with numerous clusters of small to medium-sized blossoms, and long, flexible canes. They are often once blooming, but may be repeat or continuous. If they lack a support system, ramblers will grow along the ground and cover anything in their way, such as buildings, cars, plants, and trees. But if well trained, ramblers may be used to decorate structures such as arches and pergolas.
The vastness of the rose family can be overwhelming. At first glance many roses look the same, but upon further inspection you can really begin to tell the difference between the shape and structure of each bloom. For example, the Species Roses have a loose five-petal structure, while the Gallica roses have layered, tightly clustered petals. To help you understand each category and class better, we created a compendium of popular garden roses that lets you directly compare each type of rose.

Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_roseshttp://www.highcountryroses.com/http://hedgerowrose.com/types-of-roses/http://www.heirloomroses.com/info/care/roses/introduction-to-roses/http://www.rose.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/History-of-Roses-Albas.pdfhttp://www.rose.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/History-of-Roses-Tea-Roses.pdfhttp://www.rose.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/History-of-Roses-China-Roses-Part-One.pdfhttp://www.rose.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/History-of-Roses-The-Final-Chapter.pdfhttp://www.rose.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/History-of-Roses-Hybrid-Perpetuals.pdfhttps://extension.illinois.edu/roses/kinds.cfmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Rosa_specieshttps://www.davidaustinroses.com/american/Advanced.asp?PageId=1906http://www.rose.org/rose-care-articles/the-rugged-rugosa/http://www.rose.org/hybrid-rugosas/
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