Miniature and Miniflora Roses
Miniatures come as short as 6 inches or as tall as 3 feet, with small, hybrid tealike blooms that grow solo or in clusters. Miniflora roses feature compact plants—up to 3 feet tall—but grow full-size flowers as wide as 3 inches. Miniatures tuck well into the edges of flower borders and do well in pots. The term “patio rose” refers to any type of rose compact enough to grow in pots on a deck, not to a specific type of rose.
Shrub Rose
Shrub types can grow upright, mounding or as ground covers. They’re so easy to live with and care for that you may not even think of them as roses. Their genes protect against diseases and pests that typically plague other roses. Shrub roses are generally cold hardy and rebloom throughout the growing season. However, many shrub types carry little to no fragrance. If a sweet scent is important to you, check to see if fragrance is mentioned in the plant tag information, or buy one with a name that implies scent.
Grow shrub roses in masses or as companions to other plants, and choose from an array of colors, shapes and sizes. Brand names to look for include the Knock Out family of roses, Easy Elegance, Oso Easy and Oso Happy, David Austin, Griffith Buck, Kordes, Meidiland and Flower Carpet.
Climber and Rambler Roses
Climbers are repeat bloomers; ramblers are not. They come from a wide range of rose types, but most are shrubs. Their canes—the thorny, woody stalks—stretch from 10 to more than 20 feet long. However, they must be lashed to supports with soft ties, since they can’t hold on by themselves. It may take two to three years for climbers to mature and fill in. To promote better blooming, allow the canes coming from the base of the plant to grow to their full length. Keep the major ones as horizontal as possible to encourage better flowering and more shoots growing lower on the cane.
Tree Roses
Tree roses, or standards, are formal and traditional. They may be from almost any rose category. Several buds are grafted to a sturdy hybrid or hardy rose cane to give it the shape of a small tree. Some even come with two different kinds of roses grafted onto the same cane. Use standards as focal points, to line a path or as partners flanking doorways. They require staking and careful pruning, and work well in containers. If you’re growing a tree rose in a cold climate, tuck it into a pot and overwinter it in an unheated space so it goes dormant but does not freeze.
Floribunda and Grandiflora Roses
Floribundas, also called spray roses, grow with several blooms in a rounded clump. Grandifloras resemble a blend of hybrid tea and floribunda roses, with large blooms produced both individually and in sprays. “You get the whole color scheme and look of a hybrid tea rose with shrub rose performance,” says Natalia Hamill, a manager at Bailey Nurseries, which produces the Easy Elegance rose brands. Floribundas and grandifloras both produce blooms that are more likely to have better fragrance than shrub roses.
Hybrid Tea Rose
With gorgeous, classic flowers and a perfumelike scent to swoon over, hybrid teas probably come to mind when you think of traditional roses. The plants grow 4 to 6 feet tall with strong canes (main branches) and individual blooms. The foliage, which often falls prey to diseases, doesn’t cover the lower part of the canes, giving the plants a naked or barelegged look. If that’s not your style, plant companion growers to help with screening the stalks. Hybrid teas require specific pruning regimens for best flowering. They prefer mild climates and need special protection in regions where winters are severe.
