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Along with hybrid tea varieties, floribunda roses are by far the most popular. They are easy to care for, have high frost resistance and resistance to typical rose diseases, and most of them bloom without interruption almost until frost. Today our article is devoted to describing the varieties of floribunda roses. The photos will help you better navigate the variety of their varieties and perhaps choose a favorite for your garden.
General information about floribunda roses
This group of roses has gained immense popularity due to its abundant, almost continuous flowering. They live up to their name, because floribunda literally translated from Latin means “abundantly flowering.”
Floribunda roses and their characteristics
The floribunda group includes many varieties; its flowers occupy an intermediate position between hybrid tea roses and polyanthaceae.
According to height, bushes are divided into three subgroups:
- low (border) - bushes reach a height of about 40 cm;
- average height - from 0.6 m to 0.8 m;
- tall - from 100 cm and above.
Perhaps no other group has such a variety of colors, and is clearly superior to other groups in brightness. Flowers of floribunda roses are simple, double, semi-double with cupped, flat, goblet-shaped, collected in multi-flowered or few-flowered inflorescences. Their usual size ranges from 4 to 9 cm.
Most varieties bloom continuously or in three waves. Bright flowers open in clusters of several at a time, and most varieties of floribunda roses bloom either continuously or have three waves of flowering.
It is worth adding that these flowers have excellent winter hardiness, resistance to rain and diseases, and most of them can be propagated by cuttings.
In different countries you can find different names for the flowers of this group; they are even called simply “bouquet roses” or “bush roses with inflorescences”. They are widely used to decorate private gardens, parks, and in landscaping areas of large office buildings. They are planted in large pots, and the best floribunda roses are used as cut flowers.
History of floribunda roses
The Poulsen family of Danish breeders crossed polyanthus roses and hybrid tea roses at the beginning of the last century, resulting in the first hybrid polyantha variety “Else Poulsen” appearing in 1924. From the polyanthas this flower took the racemose inflorescences and good health, and from the hybrid teas it got an elegant shape and a large glass size.
Elsie Poulsen
Later, with repeated repeated crossings of hybrid polyantha roses with hybrid tea and other garden varieties, breeders from Denmark, Germany, Great Britain and the USA obtained many varieties that needed to be combined into a separate group. Thus, in 1952, a group of floribunda roses appeared, which included hybrid-polyanthus varieties.
Although the floribunda group has not existed for so long, a group of patio roses has already been separated from it, which includes many, but not all low-growing varieties, having a height of about 50 cm. Varieties with creeping or drooping shoots are allocated to the group ground cover roses. Plants with small flowers and long shoots up to 2.5 m belonged to the group of climbing roses. Recently, we have increasingly heard the name “grandiflora” - this is how floribunda roses, which have especially large flowers, are called today. This group is not yet officially recognized, but the story of roses continues, who knows what changes await us tomorrow.
Which roses are better, hybrid tea or floribunda?
Everyone will answer this question differently. Floribunda roses are undoubtedly inferior to hybrid tea varieties in elegance and bud size, most of them do not have their magical aroma. But they do not bloom in waves, but almost continuously until frost; the beauty of the glass is compensated by the abundance of buds, sometimes completely covering the bush, and although in floribunda they are not so exquisite, they are collected in huge tassels, sometimes consisting of dozens of buds.
Most hybrid tea varieties of roses are capricious and require careful care, which determines the quality of the flower, and sometimes even the intensity of the aroma. Almost all varieties do not go beyond the sixth climatic zone; for the northern regions their choice is very limited. The resistance to typical diseases of roses leaves much to be desired, not to mention the vulnerability of the buds to getting wet.
Floribunda is easier to care for, it rarely gets sick, and its buds can withstand rainy weather. And most importantly, these roses are frost-resistant, which means that with proper shelter they will winter well.
If you live in the southern regions and a qualified gardener does all the work for the owners, then a hybrid tea rose is the best solution for your site. But for people living in an inhospitable cold climate and who want not to work their backs in flower beds, but to enjoy the beauty of flowers in their rare free moments, floribunda roses will become reliable companions.
Believe me, both groups of roses are beautiful, each has its own special charm. The choice of varieties for a site requires approaching the issue not only from an aesthetic, but also from a purely practical point of view.
Description of floribunda rose varieties
We invite you to get acquainted with the popular varieties of floribunda roses. Photos will help you get an impression of their appearance.
White varieties
White color will be appropriate for any garden, and there are not many beautiful roses with this color.
Alabaster
Brushes consisting of 3-5 large, about 10 cm in diameter creamy-white buds abundantly cover the bush all season. They contrast with the shiny dark foliage of the branches reaching 0.9 m. The rose is intended for the sixth zone, characterized by medium resistance to typical rose diseases, low resistance to rain.
Space
The cup-shaped, densely double buds are creamy-white in color, resistant to rain, and have a subtle scent. Flowers constantly appear on a large, healthy bush up to 1.2 m tall, which winters well in the sixth zone.
Yellow varieties
Perhaps no other group of roses has so many beautiful yellow varieties.
Amber Queen
This rose was recognized as the best in 1984. The brushes contain 3-7 or more buds measuring 7-8 cm in rich amber color. The variety blooms almost continuously, the first bud that opens is the largest, with an aroma of medium intensity. The bushes are beautiful, no more than 1.0 m high, with dark shiny, very large leaves. It is highly resistant to diseases and grows in the sixth zone.
Golden Wedding
The upright bush, approximately 0.9 m high, is suitable for cultivation in zone six and has good resistance to rain and disease. Flowering is constant and abundant. Large flowers of golden yellow color are collected in groups of 3-5 and have a light aroma.
Orange and apricot varieties
Orange color improves our mood and inspires optimism even on the most dull cloudy days. Take a closer look, perhaps your future favorite is among these flowers.
Anne Harkness
A characteristic feature of the variety is the late blooming of buds. After the other varieties have already completed the first wave of flowering, this rose is just coming into its own. Its bright apricot flowers, which have a faint aroma, are collected in inflorescences of 6-20, are not afraid of rain or disease, and are excellent for cutting. The bushes overwinter in the sixth zone and can reach from 1 to 1.5 m.
Fellowship
Magnificent shining orange-apricot flowers with a faint aroma are quite large for a floribunda, up to 10 cm in diameter, grouped in groups of 5-7 pieces.A constantly flowering bush up to 1 meter high, it has erect shoots and excellent health. It is grown in zone six and would be ideal, but the buds are prone to getting wet from rain.
Pink varieties
This is the color we associate with a real rose. Delicate pink buds, collected with large tassels, look impressive and always attract the eye.
City of London
The shrub from the floribunda group, capable of reaching 0.9-2.0 m in height and spreading 0.7-1.5 m in width, is intended for zone six and has average health. Medium double, repeat-blooming flowers up to 8 cm in size are painted soft pink. This reliable rose is great for hedges and single plantings.
Sexy Rexy
A very popular pink variety with a flat glass and slightly wavy petals has a diameter of about 7 cm. The flowers are collected in 5-15 pieces. The medium-sized bush blooms repeatedly, grows up to 0.7 m, has medium resistance, and is intended for wintering in the sixth zone.
Red varieties
True red color is rare in the world of flowers, but not for floribunda roses.
Evelyn Fison
A reliable, disease- and rain-resistant variety that blooms constantly. A spreading plant up to 0.85 cm high, all covered with bright red flowers with a diameter of no more than 8 cm, collected in clusters containing 5-10 buds.
Lili Marlene
Blood-red fragrant buds, collected in groups of 3-15 from the beginning of summer until frost, cover a small neat bush. It usually grows up to 50 cm, but with good care it rises to 0.8 m. A plant with satisfactory health, suitable for zone five. The variety has a climbing form.
Striped varieties
Today you won’t surprise anyone with exoticism, so striped flowers have become familiar to us.
Orange and Lamon
Fans of striped varieties may like the bright lemon flower with random orange stripes. The raceme consists of 3-7 flowers up to 8 cm with a weak odor and high resistance to rain. In zone six it can reach 1.0-1.5 m, and the hot climate allows the vines to easily reach 2.0 m. The bush blooms repeatedly, almost without interruption, and is moderately resistant to diseases.
Purple Tiger
A compact bush with straight shoots up to 1.0 m long, covered with flowers almost the entire season, grows in the sixth zone. Its large, up to 9 cm flowers have not only an original color, but also a glass shape. The color is a mixture of white, lilac, pink with a predominance of purple. This rose will appeal even to those who are not fans of striped varieties and would be ideal if not for its low resistance to adverse factors.
The most frost-resistant varieties
We think that rose lovers from the northern regions will pay special attention to this subgroup. Floribunda varieties can please them too.
Anisley Dixon
Salmon-pink flowers with a faint odor, 8 cm in size, are collected in large inflorescences. They bloom repeatedly and are moderately resistant to disease and getting wet. The spreading bush does not exceed a height of 0.9 cm and is remarkable in that it grows well in the fourth zone.
Arthur Bell
This re-blooming variety, intended for zone 5, is very popular in Northern Europe and the UK. Large, fragrant flowers with a diameter of up to 10 cm, pale yellow in color, have the only drawback - they quickly fade to lemon or cream. A tall, up to 1.0 m straight bush with rigid stems is moderately resistant to diseases.
English Miss
A neat, straight bush with dark, dense foliage is designed to grow in the fifth zone and is resistant to typical rose diseases.The delicate pink, ever-blooming flowers are highly resistant to rain, are 8 cm in diameter and have a strong tea rose scent.
Glad Tydings
Medium-sized red flowers are collected in clusters of 3-11 pieces; as they age, they do not fade, but darken. Medium-sized bushes up to 0.75 m high are intended for the fifth zone and are highly resistant to rain and disease. Blooms until frost.
Iceberg
This variety is one of the most popular and beautiful, sometimes it is classified as a hybrid tea. It grows and blooms well in cold climates, but in hot countries the buds remain on it all year round. When closed, they can have a pink or greenish tint, but when fully opened, pure white, loose clusters contain from 3 to 15 buds. Their diameter does not exceed 7 cm, the height of the bush is up to 1.5 m, and their resistance to rain and disease is average.
Pink Perfect
This semi-double rose is intended for the fourth zone and its hardiness characteristics are considered outstanding. The color of the glass is defined as a “pink mixture”; the fragrant flower reaches 9 cm in diameter. The straight bush grows up to 0.9 m and blooms in two waves.
Conclusion
As you can see, the floribunda group of roses is numerous and its diversity is simply impressive. In addition, there are many varieties suitable for growing even in harsh climates.
