By Any Other Name

Roses have captured feelings of love for centuries. If you are a novice rosarian, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the vast amount of roses available. Heirloom, hybrid tea, floribunda, grandiflora, shrub, native — yeah I can see how that can be a lot to handle when you’re first starting out. Today I’ll go over a few of these terms to help guide you to a better understanding of these beautiful bloomers.

Roses can be divided into a few different types. Some of the oldest varieties are only referred to by their species names. We actually carry two species that are native to our region: Rosa virginia, commonly called Virginia Rose, and Rosa palustris, called Swamp Rose. Next, we have Old Garden or Heirloom Roses, some of our oldest cultivated species that include Gallica, Alba, Centifolia, and Damask. Shakespeare actually mentioned five different kinds of Roses in his writings, the Centifolia and Damask being among them.

The next development in rose hybridization sought to marry the cold hardiness of older varieties with luscious, fragrant blooms. Zephirine Drouhin is renowned for its beauty, size, and height. Another well loved old style variety is Cecile Brunner, a lower growing, open habit rose known for its prolific blush pink blooms, lovely fragrance, and ease of growing.

Modern roses are those hybridized within the last 200 years, typified by the classifications hybrid tea, grandiflora, floribunda, English, and landscape type shrub roses. Some of the new classes of roses can sacrifice disease and temperature resistance, and in some cases even fragrance, for showier blooms. Stay tuned for next week, where we will discuss David Austin roses, shrub types like the Drift and Knockout, and even pick the brain of our resident rosarian Austin Lohin.

That’s it for this week, friends. Catch the Gardening Inside Out crew every Saturday morning at 8 am. For behind the scenes laughs and education, follow our Instagram for the Know Down. Queue up the podcast to stay up to date with your gardening year. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Happy Gardening,

Sara Bates