There is a Rose for every purpose and function in your garden. From a micro mini to a rambling beauty and everything else in between with almost every size, shape, colour and fragrance imaginable the choice is endless.
With so much choice the selection process can become overwhelming, these few questions can help.
Firstly what is the purpose of the rose? Do I want it for cutting? is it to cover an ugly fence or hide a neighbour? is it a feature plant? I think I want a hedge etc
After establishing the purpose of the rose you can turn your thoughts to size of plant you will need in the position you have chosen, this is where product placement is key as choosing the wrong size may lead you to hate the thing you thought you would love endlessly, if it is too big or arching and in the wrong position disaster has struck! If it is too small it becomes insignificant and is lost even though you loved it at the Nursery.
This leads you to which classification of rose will provide you with the look and impact you want in your garden. Please refer to the growth habits of different classifications below.
Lastly the fun part, choosing the ‘Right Rose For You’. From asking these questions there has been a process of elimination now you’r ready to see a mature version, maybe get a bit of advice, settle on the perfume you like and decide on your new Rose Addition.
Growth Habits of Different Classifications of Roses
- Miniature Roses. As the name suggests these are the smallest of roses in both growth and bloom size. Ideal for pots and small gardens and can be cute as a hedge
- Ground Cover Roses. Low growing but also spreading usually carrying masses of flowers. Ideal for covering large areas where height isn’t required or an informal hedge, great in pots too.
- Floribunda Roses. Medium to low bushes that repeat flower with bunches of blooms. Ideal for planting on mass, hedging, borders and pots generally reaching a maximum of 1.2m
- Hybrid Tea Roses. Medium to large generally upright bushes producing roses with long stems and large flowers, depending on your choice a stem may have a single bloom or several fragrant beauties. Averaging 1.5 meters but some can get to 3 meters. Ideal for exhibition, cutting and bouquets.
- Climbing Roses. Very large growing roses some reaching 6 meters their growth habit is long arching canes that can be trained to a structure such as a fence, arch, arbor wall etc. Averaging 3 meters but there a smaller varieties to look out for.
- Standard Roses. These are just any of the above bushes that have been grafted onto longer rootstock, growth habit is that of the variety grafted and standards are ideal for creating formality in the space.
- Weeping Roses. Generally these are climbers or very large arching shrubs/pillar roses grafted onto 4 meter long pieces of root stock as such a cascading effect is achieved ideal for creating a centre piece in the garden or court yard.
