Roses are considered one of the oldest species of plant to be grown as decoration.
Today, they are different types of roses, with over 250 species and several thousand varieties created over the centuries.
Roses are gorgeous and are often cultivated for their ornamental prowess.
Their flowers come in various sizes and shapes and are usually large and showy, in colors ranging from white through yellows and reds.
Roses belong to the genus Rosa and the family Rosaceae. They are woody perennial flowering plants with stems often armed with sharp prickles.
Although roses are best known as ornamental plants grown for their aesthetics in the garden and sometimes indoors, they have also been used for commercial perfumery.
More so, roses have been used historically in culinary arts and medicine. Even today, their edible petals are incorporated into certain dishes.
At the same time, rose water (made by soaking the petals in water) is often added to jellies or jams or used as an added flavor in Indian and Chinese dishes.
Today, they are wide varieties of roses, but most rose specialists would divide them into two major classes- old and modern roses.
Old roses are those that have been in existence since before 1867. These roses bloom once yearly, and they are extra hardy and disease-resistant.
Modern roses, on the other hand, were bred after 1867. They are hybridized varieties of old roses and offer a continuous bloom.
But then, some of these modern roses lack old roses’ hardy and disease-resistant nature.
Read on as we examine the different types of roses.
Different Types of Roses
1. Bourbon Roses
Bourbon rose is a type of old garden rose. As the name suggests, this rose is named after the island in the Indian Ocean where it was first cultivated – Ile de Bourbon- in 1817.
Bourbon roses are crossed from old blush china roses and autumn roses.
These roses have leathery foliage and flower in white, pink, and red hues from spring to autumn.
Bourbon rose typically has few to no thorns, grows up to 5-8 feet, and can be easily grown on pillars, small arbors, and fences.
A definition of beauty and fragrance, bourbon bloom has a lovely, heady scent with recurrent flowering.
2. Climbing Roses
Among the different types of roses is the climbing rose. The climbing rose is a modern rose that produces large flowers and blooms multiple times during its growing seasons.
They are also called rambling roses because they have sturdy and upright canes that can be trained on supports like pergolas, trellises, or arches.
These canes can grow from 8 to 16 feet and reach great heights along a trellis wall, garden fences, arbors, and pergolas.
Contrary to the name, climbing roses can’t quite climb as efficiently as vines since they don’t have aerial roots, tendrils, or suckers.
Hence, they can’t support themselves and won’t “cling” to a wall or a fence like true vines.
Climbing roses only “climb” if you help them. To do this, one might need to attach the canes using tape or twine along a trellis, fence, or downspout.
These flowers offer the elegance of a flowering vine without the danger of damage to one’s property.
3. Groundcover Roses
Groundcover roses are also known as “landscape” roses.
Just as its name infers, this type of rose is a low-growing, sprawling specimen. Groundcover roses reach up to 3 feet tall and spread far beyond.
The roses are beautiful, with vibrant colors in orange, pink, scarlet, purple, and white shades.
It also comes in a variety of floral patterns. They have graceful formations and lovely fragrances.
Groundcover roses are considered low-maintenance since they are both disease- and pest-resistant.
Groundcover roses flower year-round in moderately warm climates.
Generally, groundcover roses bloom from spring to frost and can be found in single and double-bloom forms.
4. English Roses
English rose is also a type of modern rose. The rose is commonly known as David Austin rose after the British rose breeder who cultivated them. These roses come in hundreds of varieties.
They combine the rosette form and perfume of the old rose variety with the color range and year-round blooming habits of modern roses.
The roses are scrubby, making them ideal for various garden situations- containers, hedges, and more formal settings.
They come in various colors and have been carefully cultivated for their vigorous growth, full bushes, performance, disease resistance, and season-long bloom.
5. Hybrid Tea Roses
Hybrid tea rose is a crossbreed of hybrid perpetual and tea rose. It is a popular class of rose because of its dazzling beauty.
The rose can grow up to 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide and are inclined to rebloom.
The rose has bountiful, ornate blooms that sprout from long stems. Only one flower can reach anywhere from 30-50 petals, making them excellent cut flowers.
Although hybrid tea roses aren’t known for being disease resistant, they are quite ornamental, and their darling look makes them a standard rose of the floral industry.
Nevertheless, they are easy to care for and come in various colors- pink, yellow, white, orange, red, green, and purple- making them among the best roses. Hybrid tea roses are among the different types of roses.
6. Miniature Roses
Miniature roses, as the name rightly suggests, are small in size. They are a form of hybrid tea or grandi flora rose but are shorter and more compact.
The rose is a hardy bred and comes in a range of colors. They only reach about 10 inches in height, making them a great choice for small gardens, containers, or planted as a border.
Miniature roses are cold-hardy and flower continually for 2-3 weeks.
7. China Roses
Also among the different types of roses is China rose. China roses are native to Asia and have been cultivated for centuries.
They are a perfect type of old rose. China roses were brought to the Western world in the late 18th century, where they’ve been hybridized immensely.
China rose is considered an exotic variety. They have compact blooms in various shades, such as bright reds, soft pinks, and cheery yellows.
The roses often emit a lovely fragrance and are known for their tendency to “suntan” or darken over time rather than fading in color like other rose blooms.
Like most old roses, China rose is a hardy breed because it is resistant to disease. The rose can repeatedly bloom from summer to late fall.
They are best grown in a small container, which you can bring inside at the end of the warm season because their silky petals are quite delicate, needing protection during colder months and climates.
8. Damask Roses
The Damask rose is an old rose considered quite ancient. It is said to have originated in biblical times.
The rose is named Damascus and was brought to Europe from the Middle East between 1254 and 1276.
The roses tend to sprawl out in their growth pattern. The rose comes in different shades of bright silvery whites to deep pinks.
Damask roses are of two varieties-Summer Damask and Autumn Damask- with strongly scented blooms.
Summer damasks bloom once, while autumn damask offers two blooms in summer and fall.
Their fragrant scent is often extracted and used as an essential oil in perfumes and other scented items.
9. Floribunda Roses
Floribunda roses are among the different types of roses too.
They are a cross of hybrid teas and polyanthas roses. Floribunda rose has a large cluster of flowers with a dense floral pattern.
What this rose lacks in scent, it makes up for in colorful clusters that bloom over a long season from spring to fall.
They make a great addition to landscape or garden beds and are easy to care for.
10. Alba Roses
Alba rose is a type of old rose. This rose dates back to as far as 100 AD. They are one of the hardiest rose varieties.
They are also disease resistant and thrive under difficult conditions, which makes them easy-to-maintain roses.
Alba roses have blue-green foliage, tall, graceful bushes, and white-pink flowers.
They grow 6-8 feet, and their pale pink and crisp white blooms perk up once around the late spring/early summer.
11. Shrub Roses
As the name infers, shrub roses tend to sprawl wide and large, between 5-15 feet in every direction, while growing 4-6 ft tall.
The sprawling nature of the rose accounts for why they are also known as landscape roses.
The roses are a crossbreed of modern and old roses, combining the features of the two.
Shrub roses are cold-hardy, do not need much care, and are disease-resistant to some extent as well.
Another characteristic of this rose is how the roses bloom on the bush. The blooms are produced in bountiful clusters rather than one bloom per stem.
12. Centifolia Roses
Another rose among the different types of roses is the centifolia rose.
This rose is also known as cabbage roses because they have blooms resembling cabbage heads.
I.e., their petals here tightly overlap and are closely packed with each other in a spherical shape, giving them a unique texture of a cabbage.
The rose blooms once in early summer and comes in white and pink hues with an exceptionally lovely scent.
Because of their fragrance, centifolia roses are also used as perfume extraction plants in the fragrance industry.
13. Gallica Roses
Gallica rose is also a type of old rose. It is also known as the French Rose or the Rose of Provins.
Like the Damask rose, Gallica roses are quite ancient—some varieties date back to the 12th century.
The roses flower once in early summer and release a heady fragrance.
The blooms can be found in deep pink, red, purple, and maroon colors. Gallica rose is also handy and disease-resistant.
The fragrance of Gallica rose has often been used for perfumes.
Apart from their ornamental and fragrant properties, the petals of this rose have also been used for antibacterial, astringent, and tonic medicinal purposes.
