Types of Roses

“A rose by any other name would [still be just] as sweet!” Much like love, roses come in many different forms. From climbing roses, hybrid teas, floribundas and landscape shrub roses to grandifloras, rose trees, and cut varieties, there are endless options to feature in your landscape, porch or patio. Follow this rose types guide to find your perfect match!

Climbing Roses

Climbing roses are known for their tall, spreading habits that are well-suited to trellises, arbors, and porch pergolas. They can be trained to grow on almost any structure to create height, texture and visual appeal. Plus, they hold a rich history, dating back over two centuries, and continuing to stand the test of time.

In fact, our Lady Banks Climbing Rose (shown above) is an heirloom variety of climbing rose that thrives for generations. It produces an unparalleled number of blooms, with up to 50,000 petite, yellow blooms each season! The sheer volume of blooms and striking beauty of this bright yellow pick is truly unmatched.

The Zephirine Drouhin Rose is perhaps our most popular climbing rose. Its color and fragrance are one-of-a-kind, flaunting bright pink flowers with hints of fuschia that bloom almost continuously from late spring to the first frost. Perfectly suited for trellises and arbors, this variety will put on a spectacular show. Add in mildew resistance and thornless stems, and you’ve got a truly special species.

What’s even better is that both of these climbing roses are virtually thornless. And once they start growing, they just don’t stop! They can be planted in containers or in the ground and require very little pruning for easy-care and effortless charm.

Hybrid Tea Roses

Hybrid tea roses are the gold standard of the floral industry and are used by gardeners and florists alike. They boast large blooms with tons of petals and make great cut flowers for floral arrangements due to their sturdy and upright stems. They’re also perfect for planting in flower beds and creating eye-catching borders. Hybrid tea roses often rebloom after they’re cut, so you’ll have beautiful, replenishing buds throughout the season.

Although most hybrid tea roses aren’t disease and pest resistant, our Pinkerbelle™ Rose is a rare beauty that stands up to disease, pests, rust, and mildew. Combine its low-maintenance care with fresh verbena fragrance, beautiful multi-colored blooms, and the good looks of a classic rose, and you have the total package!

Another rare find, Mister Lincoln (shown above) is one of the few easy-care, classic red hybrid teas out there. This stunning rose delivers a blanket of rich, scarlet blooms that cover any space in vibrant color and elegance. As an added bonus, Mister Lincoln thrives on neglect and will grow exceptionally even in the country’s harshest climates. From sweltering Florida heat waves to freezing New England winters, this hardy rose stands up to the elements and continues to shine!

Floribunda Roses

Although their blooms are smaller than those of hybrid teas, floribundas make no less of an impact - the sheer volume of flowers they produce is nothing but impressive! With floribundas, you’ll get a beautiful display of color that lasts longer than a typical blooming season, from spring all the way into late fall. Floribundas are easy to care for and are ideal for mixed borders or large beds due to their abundant blooming. A cross between hybrid teas and polyantha roses, floribundas also make excellent cut flowers for bouquets.

Julia Child is a floribunda with gorgeous golden blooms, lovely fragrance, and multi-layered petals. Also known as the Absolutely Fabulous Rose, Julia Child is unique not only because of its uncommon hue, but its high-gloss foliage and sweet licorice scent. Even better, it produces continuous blooms that last for weeks at a time. Like many floribundas, Julia Child Roses are disease-resistant and can thrive in even the harshest climates.

Another fantastic floribunda is the Livin' Easy™ and Easy-Going™ Two-fer® Rose Tree (shown above), which is a combination rose tree that grows two different species at the same time! The unique color pairing and distinct scents of both types will have you looking forward to summer every year! Showcasing a tropical color palette, this unique tree pairs glossy, bright green foliage for showy contrast.

The Livin’ Easy™ Rose is a lush coral-apricot hue, while the Easy-Going™ Rose boasts tones of gold, peach, and yellow. At only 5-8 feet tall, this tree is ideal for patio containers, borders, or garden bed accents, and at the height of summer, its blooms can fan out to 4 inches! Plus, it’s highly adaptable and resilient, and its stems are perfect for cut floral arrangements.

Landscape/Shrub Roses

Shrub roses, also called landscape roses, vary widely in size, shape, growth habit, color, and fragrance, but they’re generally known to be hardy, disease-resistant, and continuous bloomers from late spring into fall. Although they typically have smaller blooms than hybrid teas and floribundas, they bloom in greater quantities and grow in clusters. Because of their abundant blooms and shrub-like shape, they make excellent screens, ornamentals, hedges, and borders.

One of our favorite shrub roses is the Double Knock Out® Rose (shown above) that produces double the petals and double the flowers of the original Knock Out® Rose. With one of the longest blooming periods and unmatched disease, black spot, rust, and mildew resistance, the Double Knock Out® is virtually maintenance-free and requires no pruning. Even better, it thrives both in containers and in-ground for landscaping versatility. Plus, you’ll get blooms ranging from light to dark red, adding an element of variety to your garden.

Another show-stopping shrub rose is the Popcorn Drift® Rose. This creamy yellow and white rose with deep green foliage adds gorgeous contrast and easy interest to any landscape. Due to its large, double blooms and low-growing foliage, the Popcorn Drift® makes an excellent groundcover planting. What’s more is that it exhibits very good disease-resistance and low-maintenance, creating an all-around reliable and attractive option. Drift roses in landscape settings provide a beautiful and practical solution for various gardening needs.

Grandiflora Roses

Grandiflora roses combine the beautiful bloom structure of hybrid teas and the repetitive growth cycle of floribundas. Grandiflora literally means “large flowers,” so you can expect big bold blooms with this rose type! Growing on long stems, their flowers are produced in single blooms or clusters of 3-5.They’re also very hardy and tend to be larger in overall size than other rose types, so they make ideal hedges or mixed borders. Their blooms range from soft pastels to deep purples, offering a wide range of choices to meet your preferences.

Queen Elizabeth (shown above) is the perfect choice when it comes to grandifloras, exuding effortless elegance to fit its name. With profuse, pink, multi-layered blooms that are strongly aromatic combined with great disease resistance and cold hardiness, this variety will deliver on both beauty and reliability. And you’ll definitely want to trim some stems for use in flower arrangements to fill your house with the sweetest scent!

The Twilight Rose is another excellent grandiflora option, showing off velvety, purple old-fashioned blooms that are intriguing and filled with a clove, citrus fragrance to enchant the senses. This enticing variety blooms in huge clusters against dark green foliage for the most picturesque color contrast. Plant it as a hedge or mixed border, and watch its vivid color take your breath away!

Rose Trees

Rose trees provide the beautiful blooms and striking foliage of other rose types, but rather than having a freeform or shrub shape, they grow in tree form. A thin trunk is adorned with a crown of rose blossoms and green foliage. Ideal for growing in containers or planting in-ground, rose trees create height and texture where it’s needed.

One of our favorite rose trees? The Burgundy Iceberg and Iceberg Two-fer® Rose Tree. This variety is actually two-in-one for twice the blooms and beauty! A striking combination, this rose tree is decorated with contrasting blooms that will draw attention and add elegant interest anywhere it's planted. The Burgundy Iceberg features deep wine-colored blossoms that maintain their rich hue through the summer, while the Iceberg Rose offers eye-catching, white blooms. A compact rose tree variety, this duo will only grow up to 3-4 feet tall and wide, so it’s ideal for garden beds, patio containers, and walkways.

The Sunny Knock Out® Rose Tree is another standout choice. With gorgeous yellow blooms, easy care, disease resistance, and hardy, reliable growth, this tree can be grown in containers or planted in-ground as a border or focal point. It’s ideal for entryways, porches, or even indoors in colder climates.

And the Celestial Night Rose Tree (shown above) is unlike anything you’ve seen before! Its blooms are a rare, vibrant, raspberry-purple tone, and its ruffled petals take on added dimension in direct sunlight. Top that off with glossy, deep green foliage, and the Celestial Night Rose Tree delivers rich contrast and dramatic flare. Growing only to 4-5 feet high, this tree is well-suited to hedges, borders, or accents, and does especially well in patio containers. Additionally, it’s very resilient and adaptable, producing gorgeous cut flowers for indoor arrangements.

Cut Roses

Last, but not least, we have cut roses. Cut roses are tough and disease-resistant, and often provide the most pleasant fragrances. They exhibit long, upright stems with glossy foliage, and boast prize-winning blooms ideal for showing off in flower arrangements. Plant them anywhere and enjoy endless fresh-cut flowers that will enhance your home decor and quickly brighten your living space.

The Grand Champion Rose is a show-stopping rose made for cutting - it’s as tough as they come and gorgeous to boot. It’s extremely drought and disease resistant and also able to thrive in extreme hot and cold climates. With abundant, 3-inch, double blossoms, it’ll bring vibrant pops of red to your landscape and fill your garden with luscious fragrance!

Another stellar rose for using in cut flower arrangements is the Tropicana Rose (shown above). Also known as the Super Star Rose for all the awards it has won, this variety shows off robust, orange color on blooms that reach 6 inches across for big impact! Its vibrant color mixed with its unparalleled fragrance make it a true landscape treat. And when you cut some stems for your bouquets, they’ll last for more than a week, providing extended enjoyment.

Whether you’re looking for striking flower color, high bloom volume, continuous flowering, planting versatility, or disease-resistance, you’re sure to find a rose type (or several) that’s right for you and your landscape. Roses are incredibly diverse and rewarding, offering solutions to a plethora of planting needs. And with a little love and care, your roses will please and perform for seasons to come!

Keep scrolling to view the helpful breakdown of all rose types mentioned above, so you can pick the right varieties for your preferences. Plus, check out helpful rose resources for planting and care below to keep your garden in tip-top shape!

And don’t forget to shop all of our rose categories for more planting inspiration!

Rose Type	Key Features	Typical Size	Bloom Features	Uses	Fragrance
Climbing	Can be trained to grow on any structure	20 ft tall; 5 ft wide	High volume of blooms; thornless	Trellises; arbors; pergolas	Yes
Hybrid Tea	Standard of floral industry; excellent as cut flowers; rebloom continuously	6 ft tall; 4 ft wide	Full	Flower beds and borders	Slight
Floribunda	High volume of blooms; easy care	3-4 ft; 2-3 ft wide	Smaller but high volume	Large bed plantings; cut flowers; mixed borders	Yes
Landscape/Shrub	Hardy; disease-resistant; continuous bloomers	6 ft tall; 1-15 ft wide	Smaller but greater quantity; clusters	Hedges; borders	Yes
Grandiflora	Bloom structure of Hybrid Tea but repetitive growth cycle of Floribundas	3-5 ft tall	Single blooms or clusters of 3-5	Hedges; mixed borders	Yes
Rose Tree	Compact; upright tree form	4-8 ft tall	Layered	Entryways; porches; patios; walkways	Yes
Cut Rose	Ideal for cut flower arrangements	3-4 ft tall; 3-4 ft wide	Ruffled	Hedges; accents; entryways; indoors	Yes

Helpful Rose Resources:

• How to Plant & Care for Knock Out® Roses
• Rose Trees Perfect for Patios
• Top Rose Care Tips