Different Types Of Rose Bushes

If you're selecting rose bushes, it's easy to become overwhelmed with the many types and varieties available. Simplify your selection deciding the function rose bushes will play in your landscape. Are you looking for a rose hedge, a flowering ground cover or a focal point to frame a gate? Will your rose bushes stand alone or climb gently up a wall or fence?
An understanding of the different types of rose bushes will help you match the right plant to your landscape needs.
Rose Bushes Gone Wild
Wild roses are roses that have naturalized in many parts of the world. Many wild roses are the grandparents of modern roses familiar to most gardeners. Wild roses tend to have simpler bloom forms than modern roses and are very hardy in their native climates.

Wild rose bushes are perfect for naturalized or low-maintenance gardens. Rosa Carolina, Rosa Septipoda and Rosa Glauca are popular wild rose varieties.
Old World Rose Bushes
Antique roses are varieties that were cultivated prior to 1867. These heirloom varieties tend to bloom only once with blooms closer to the classic rose form. Some antique roses were the base plants for familiar modern hybrids.
Antique roses work well in formal or Victorian-style gardens. Alba, Hybrid China and Cabbage Roses are examples of antique rose bushes.
Thoroughly Modern Rose Bushes
Developed after 1867, modern rose bushes have became more specialized, allowing them to fill a number of landscaping roles.
Hybrid tea roses are the long stemmed, full flowered type of rose considered "classic" in modern landscaping. Hybrid tea rose bushes grow from 3 to 6 feet high and have an upright, vase-like form. These rose bushes are popular as focal point plants in the landscape. The long stemmed blooms of hybrid tea roses are also perfect for bouquets.
Floribunda roses are bushy plants that continue to produce blooms all season long. These 2 to 5 foot, shrubby rose bushes are perfect for hedges and mass plantings. Floribunda rose bushes tend to be hardier than hybrid tea roses in most zones.
Grandiflora roses form large bushes that are generally over 5 feet tall. Grandilfora rose bushes produce single blooms and have similar growth habits to hybrid tea roses. These stately plants can be effective in the background of a large bed.
Shrub roses come in many forms and colors. These rose bushes tend to be smaller, growing 2 to 3 feet and are perfect for landscaping singly or in mass. Smaller varieties can even be used as a flowering ground cover.
Climbing rose bushes have long canes. These long stems can be trained to grow on upright supports like trellises, arbors or walls. Climbing roses tend to have large single blooms that are formed like hybrid tea roses.