The Types of Roses, Explained

One date splits the whole system

Rose classification looks arbitrary until you know the dividing line. Iowa State Extension puts it at 1867, the year the first hybrid tea — ‘La France’ — was introduced.

• Species roses are the wild ones.
• Old garden roses are varieties created before 1867.
• Modern roses are everything after.

Everything below sits inside those three groups.

The modern classes

Hybrid tea

The rose most people picture. Iowa State: “Flowers are produced singly on long stems from early summer until frost” — which is exactly what makes them the classic cut flower.

Height 2.5 to 6 feet. The catch: not winter hardy in colder regions and require winter protection, and susceptible to black spot and powdery mildew without a fungicide programme.

Examples: ‘Mr. Lincoln’, ‘Peace’, ‘First Prize’.

Floribunda

A cross between hybrid tea and polyantha, producing “continuous clusters of flowers on medium-length stems.”

Shorter and bushier than hybrid teas at 2 to 3 feet, with smaller flowers but far more of them. Also need winter protection in cold zones.

Examples: Iceberg®, Julia Child™, Scentimental™.

Grandiflora

A hybrid tea × floribunda cross taking qualities from both — flowers “produced singly or in small clusters,” on plants of 3 to 6 feet.

Examples: ‘Queen Elizabeth’, Strike It Rich™.

Polyantha

Rosa multiflora crossed with hybrid teas. Low, around 2 feet, and Iowa State notes they excel “in massed plantings because of their low growth.” Some are hardy to zones 4–5.

Examples: ‘The Fairy’, Lovely Fairy®.

Shrub and landscape roses

The class most home gardeners should start with, and the one that has taken over garden centres over the last thirty years.

Iowa State describes them as easy-to-grow plants noted for “repeat bloom, winter hardiness, and resistance to common rose diseases,” and specifically “naturally more disease resistant to common rose diseases like black spot and powdery mildew.”

Height 1.5 to 4 feet, winter hardy, with tip die-back in extreme cold.

Series: Knock Out®, Easy Elegance®, Oso Easy™, and the Canadian Explorer series.

Miniature

6 inches to 3 feet, typically around 18 inches. Useful for edging and containers, usually winter hardy but still benefit from protection.

Climbing

Long canes needing support, from 5 to 20+ feet. Covered separately — see the climbing roses article.

Tree roses

Not a genetic class but a form: a rose grafted onto a tall stem. Iowa State warns they “can be difficult to grow” in cold regions because they are usually made from types that are not winter hardy, and overwintering them takes real work.

Species and old garden roses

Species roses grow on their own roots, flower mainly in early summer, and usually have “single flowers in shades of pink with a prominent cluster of yellow stamens.” Many sucker into large colonies — Rosa rugosa and Rosa blanda among them.

Old garden roses are prized for scent. Iowa State: “very fragrant,” with habits ranging from 3 or 4 feet to more than 10. Gallica, damask, alba and moss roses belong here. Most flower once.

How to choose

Work backwards from what you will tolerate.

If you do not want to spray, buy a shrub rose. If you want long-stemmed flowers for cutting and accept a fungicide routine, buy a hybrid tea. If you want scent above all, look at old garden roses and accept a single flush.

The class tells you the workload before the label tells you the colour.