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There is not a single garden plot where at least one rose bush does not grow. Changing fashion has not affected this delightful flower, only priorities change - today hybrid tea varieties are fashionable, tomorrow climbing roses, and the day after tomorrow, perhaps, they will come into fashion miniature or standard varieties.Now there are about 25 thousand varieties, and according to some sources, all 50, and their number is growing with each new season. We will help you understand the variety of these wonderful flowers and present to your attention varieties of roses with photos.
A little biology
In fact, a rose is nothing more than a collective name for varieties and species of the Rosehip genus, which, in turn, is represented by more than three hundred species. Man isolated the rose from other flowers, cultivated it, and through selection, long-term selection and through repeated interspecific crossing, obtained a huge number of plants that varied in color, habit and smell. Therefore, there is no such thing as a genus or species of Rose. Talking about types and varieties of roses, from a scientific point of view, we are making a mistake; we should talk about the varieties and varieties of this wonderful flower in all respects.
In fairness, it should be noted that there are uncultivated varieties of rose hips, which nature initially endowed with extraordinary beauty. They are not like spectacular fragrant double roses, but they have their own charm. True, they are not found in our gardens as often as they deserve.
A little history
The flowers that we see today in gardens and parks all over the world are, by and large, the result of crossing two branches of cultivated roses that came to us from the east and the west.
Roses of the West
Probably, man first showed interest in roses at the same time as the invention of writing or the wheel.In Crete in the second millennium BC, the walls of palaces were painted with roses, and their images were also found on the tombs of the pharaohs. Theophastus, who is rightfully considered the “father of botany,” was the first to describe the varieties of roses and their care, and the ancient Greek poetess Sappho was the first to call the rose “the queen of flowers,” singing in verse.
The ancient Greeks were the first to specifically cultivate roses in their gardens and even grew them in pots for decoration. And the Romans had a real cult of this flower - they ate the petals, made wine and cosmetics from them, rich Romans even slept on the fragrant petals.
Roses of the East
In ancient China, roses were grown even when Western civilization had just emerged. The Chinese were the first to obtain rose oil and used it as protection against evil spirits and in perfumes. The rose also grew in ancient Japan. But in these countries it could not compete with either the lotus, which was then considered the king of flowers, or the chrysanthemum.
The oriental roses were small, almost devoid of fragrance, but they completely covered the bush and bloomed throughout the season in several waves. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, traders brought them to Europe. A century later, the first aristocrat came to our continent - the tea rose, which had a wonderful glass and a charming aroma, but was very thermophilic.
A combination of eastern and western roses
It was from the Chinese small-flowered and tea roses, as well as from frost-resistant, but unattractive varieties that grew in Great Britain, that new varieties of roses were obtained. They combined the duration of flowering and the attractiveness of eastern flowers with the resistance to prolonged cold weather of western ones.
But the real rose fever began only with the advent of the Bourbon rose, which combined the best features of its eastern and western relatives. They remained popular until the beginning of the twentieth century and are sometimes found in catalogs of rose varieties to this day.
We can safely say that the flower owes its fantastic popularity precisely to the combination of species characteristics of its Western and Eastern predecessors.
Modern roses
Remontant roses bloomed long and profusely, but they lacked beauty - they were, frankly, rustic. In addition, their large spreading bushes did not always fit into elegant European front gardens. Tea roses were beautiful and smelled great, but they were not frost-resistant.
Thanks to the painstaking work of breeders in the second half of the nineteenth century, the first hybrid tea rose. This can be called a new era in the selection of this flower. Hybrid-polyantha varieties, floribunda and other varieties began to appear. The pink boom continues to this day. Every self-respecting rose nursery annually offers thousands of varieties for sale, claiming that the best varieties of roses can only be bought from them.
Classification of roses
Everyone needs a clear classification of roses - amateur flower growers, breeders, biologists, nursery workers, landscape designers. But now it is very blurred, since it is often impossible to trace the variety to the original species due to repeated crossing, and selection has been going on for many centuries. Moreover, when a new variety is developed, no one makes sure that it clearly fits into the existing boundaries - they simply create a beautiful flower. So it turns out that some roses always stand out in a separate group.
There is also constant confusion with the names of varieties. Many breeders have devoted themselves to working with this fertile and grateful material, often inventing the same flower, independently of each other. Here it is customary to act as in invention - whoever registered the first variety gave it a name and is considered the author.
Even with the international classification of roses, everything is complicated, something is constantly changing, renaming, and even during translation you can make a mistake. We will focus on the classification given by Dr. David Gerald Hession.
Hessayon now holds honorary doctorates from three universities, has been awarded the Order of the British Empire, and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as a best-selling non-fiction author. He has received many awards for the development of the theory and practice of gardening, and each of his books is immediately translated into almost all the major languages of the world. The doctor wrote about 20 books on gardening, understandable even to non-biologists (for which he is criticized by his colleagues), with a circulation of more than 50 million copies. Landscape designers and gardeners around the world jokingly call his works their Bible. I would also like to say that David Gerald Hession was born in 1928 and is still alive.
First, we will give a division of roses according to the characteristics of leaves, flowers, fruits, methods of growing them, and then we will give the actual classification of roses with photos and names.
Method of growing roses
Every rose needs to be shaped. But it is better to do this in accordance with the characteristics of the bush inherent in a particular group. So, a rose can be grown as:
- creeping – shoots grow in width, covering the ground, but they usually do not exceed 30 cm in height;
- miniature bush – does not exceed 40 cm in height;
- Low standard – stem height is about 30 cm;
- dwarf bush – grows up to 60 cm;
- Bush – more than 60 cm;
- Half-standard – the standard does not exceed 75 cm;
- Standard – standard about 1.0 meters;
- Crying standard – the height of the trunk is about 1.5 m. Such a rose is not formed in the form of a ball, but the branches are allowed to freely fall down, constantly limiting the growth of lashes by pruning;
- Columnar - using garters, trimmings and supports, the plant is formed in the form of a column up to 2.5 m high. Such pruning requires a certain skill, but is not difficult;
- Climbing – the stems are let along the support, be sure to tie them up, since they will not curl themselves. The length of the lashes depends solely on the varietal characteristics and pruning.
Division by flower type
Roses are very diverse in shape, color and even the smell of flowers. Let's see what they can be, maybe even discover something new.
Number of petals
A rose flower can be:
- simple - varieties with less than 8 petals;Variety "Ballerina"
- semi-double - a glass with 8-20 petals;Variety "Jacqueline Hamery"
- terry - 21 petals or more.Variety "Jupiter"
In turn, double roses are divided into:
- moderately terry – number of petals from 21 to 29;Variety "Paisley"
- medium terry - 30-39 petals;Variety "Dsarest"
- densely double - more than 40 petals.Variety "Princess Margaret"
Petal shape
Rose petals can have different shapes:
- flat;
- wavy;
- bent;
- toothed
Petal coloring
Roses, in addition to having a variety of colors, can be unevenly colored. Their petals can be:
- monochromatic - they are painted in only one color, although as they wither, some varieties may change shade;Variety "Golden Domes"
- bicolor - the outer and inner parts of the petals have different colors;Variety "Osiria"
- multi-colored - as the petals bloom, the color of the petals changes and one bush can simultaneously have flowers of different colors;Variety "Gloria Day"
- mixed - the inside of the petal is painted in several colors;Variety "Nostalgia"
- striped - each petal is painted in at least two colors, with one forming stripes;Variety "Abracadabra"
- painted - the petals have a main background color, over which spots, a feathery pattern or an eye at the base of a different color are scattered.Variety "Regensberg"
Glass shape
This is where nature and breeders worked in full force! Whatever flower shapes roses have, the glass can be:
- with conical center – timeless classic, the inner petals are gathered into a cone, and the outer ones are bent;
- with a loose center – the middle has an indefinite shape due to loosely closed internal petals;
- falling apart – at first the flower is of the correct shape, but when fully opened the petals open so wide that the stamens can be seen;
- spherical – all petals are concave and form a ball, densest in the center;
- cupped – terry petals form a bowl without covering the center;
- square – a very interesting glass, when the petals do not form a cone, but form separate sectors, most often four (very rarely there are varieties with two or three centers);
- flat – according to the name, this is a flat flower, slightly concave in the middle, often with a few petals of regular size;
- rosette-shaped – a flat glass with a slightly concave center, the petals are short, numerous, and arranged in regular rows;
- pompom - forms an almost round convex flower with numerous short petals arranged in regular rows.
rose leaves
Typically, rose leaves have 5-7 segments and a smooth surface, but there are several varieties whose number of segments exceeds 7, and the leaves of Rosa Wrinkled and its cultivars are covered with deep grooves.
Leaf surface
Here is a classification of rose leaves according to the degree of reflection of sunlight:
- highly shiny;
- shiny;
- matte;
- wrinkled.
Leaf color
Usually all adult leaves are colored in different shades of green and only young ones can have a red tint, but varieties with a bronze color are increasingly appearing:
- light green;
- green;
- dark green;
- bronze.
But there are exceptions to this rule - several varieties of shrub roses retain their red color until autumn, and some white rose hybrids have a bluish tint. By autumn, the leaves of the Wrinkled Rose change color and become very picturesque. Perhaps these differences will be consolidated and transferred to other varieties, then the list will expand.
Rose fruits
In fact, it is recommended to cut rose flowers before the end of flowering so that the plant does not waste energy on producing fruits. But in some varieties, flowering does not occur again, and the fruits are very decorative. If you allow the seeds to set, you will see that different varieties may have:
- round, large, red;
- round small red;
- round small black;
- oblong;
- spiny.
And the large red fruits of the Rose Wrinkled, which you may have grown tired of, may be covered with deep, beautiful wrinkles.
Flowering period
Everything is simple here. Roses can be:
- Once blooming. Usually their flowering occurs in June-July and does not occur again.In autumn, individual flowers may appear, but this cannot be called repeated flowering.
- Reblooming. These varieties have two or more waves of flowering. They bloom several times per season, and modern breeding strives to create just such varieties. Remontant roses also have several waves of flowering, but in the intervals between them they do not stand without buds, their number simply decreases somewhat. They can bloom until frost.
Aroma
One of the important characteristics of roses is their scent. It can be heavy, spicy, fruity, and intensifies in hot, humid weather. There are varieties that smell stronger when the buds open or before the end of flowering. But it is customary to divide flowers by aroma as follows:
- no aroma;
- weakly fragrant;
- fragrant;
- very fragrant.
Classification of roses
We will present the classification of roses given by Dr. Hessayon, give a brief description of several varieties for each group and present to your attention photographs. Perhaps some people prefer other varieties, but there are so many of them that you can only enjoy the full variety by looking through the catalog.
Hybrid tea roses
The most popular group, which is grown in the form of a bush or on a trunk. Under normal conditions, the bushes have erect shoots and grow, depending on the variety, no higher than 150 cm, the usual size is 90 cm.
Very fragrant flowers are located on long flowering stems, singly or with several lateral buds. A medium to large glass with a cone-shaped center. The coloring is varied.
Variety "Baron Edmond de Rothschild"
Bush up to 110 cm high with large leaves. The flowers are crimson, most often solitary, with a diameter of up to 11 cm and 45-42 petals, very fragrant.
Variety "Alexander"
A bush about 150 cm high, with dark green, highly shiny leaves. Red flowers with 22 petals of medium size, very fragrant.
Variety "Blessings"
A bush about a meter high with green, highly shiny leaves. Coral-pink, slightly fragrant flowers with 30 petals bloom until late autumn. The variety is resistant to getting wet.
Floribunda roses
Moderately tall bushes up to 150 cm high (usual size is 60 cm) with spreading, erect, numerous shoots. Weakly fragrant flowers of large or medium size are collected in racemes or corymbose inflorescences, and usually several buds open simultaneously. Flowering floribunda roses longer than that of hybrid teas.
The color and shape of the glass in this group is the most varied, but the beauty of the glass is usually inferior to the previous group.
Variety "Rumba"
A low bush up to half a meter high. Orange-red flowers with a diameter of 6 cm are collected in racemes, which can contain up to 15 buds.
Variety "Deutsche Welle"
Bushes 1.2-1.5 m high. Flowers are lilac, 8-10 cm in diameter, fragrant. Flowering continues throughout the season.
Variety "Leonardo da Vinci"
Branched bushes 0.7-1.0 m high. All summer it blooms with unusually beautiful pink flowers up to 10 cm in diameter, collected in inflorescences of 2-5 pieces.
Roses patio
In the 80s of the last century, they were separated into a separate group from the floribunda group. These roses are compact bushes up to 75 cm tall, with a typical height of about 50 cm. The slightly fragrant flowers have a variety of colors and glass shapes.
Variety "Anna Ford"
This hybrid is classified either as a miniature rose or as a patio rose. A bush of about 45 cm is covered with dark green leaves. The flower with 20 petals is orange-red at the beginning of flowering, fading to orange before fading.
Variety "Sweet Magic"
Bush up to 40 cm high. Very beautiful apricot-colored flowers.
Variety "Perestroika"
Rose is very good. Bush up to 45 cm, with dark green shiny leaves. Flowers with 42 petals and yellow flowers.
Miniature roses
Quite a new category, the popularity of which is constantly increasing, but the price does not fall. They grow in the range of 25-45 cm, the flowers can be either small, only 2.5 cm in diameter, or “large” - up to 5 cm.
Variety "Bush Baby"
The bush reaches a height of 25 cm and has matte green leaves. Small salmon-pink flowers have a very attractive shape.
Variety "Mr. Bluebird"
The miniature bush is covered with purple flowers. The only drawback is very weak branches.
Variety "Pur toi"
The bush, only 17-22 cm high, with white flowers and a yellow center, is very beautiful and has gained enormous popularity in Europe.
Ground cover roses
Ground cover roses allocated to a separate group in the 80s of the last century. They, in turn, are divided into:
- flowers with horizontal shoots, 20-25 cm high, can cover an area of about 3 meters;
- flowers with creeping shoots 40-45 cm long;
- arched-dropping flowers with shoots up to 1 meter.
Usually their flowers are small and odorless, most often white, pink or red.
Variety "Kent"
A drooping bush with shoots barely reaching 90 cm. It differs in that it forms a neat, almost round bush. Repeated flowering, white flowers, semi-double, moisture resistant.
Variety "Magik Carpet"
The first ground cover rose to be voted the best rose of the year. A drooping bush with shoots about 1.5 m long and fragrant lavender flowers that bloom until autumn.
Variety "Suffolk"
This repeat flowering variety is suitable for growing in hanging baskets.Its shoots reach a meter, the flowers are red, semi-double.
climbing roses
Flexible or rigid, depending on the variety, shoots can reach 3 m or more. They come in single or repeated blooms, with a variety of colors, shapes and glass sizes. Their flowers can be semi-double, single or double.
Variety "Baltimore Belle"
The length of the shoots reaches 2 m, the double white-pink flowers with a diameter of 5 cm are very beautiful. The only drawback is that it blooms once, albeit for a month.
Variety "Dortmund"
The shoots of this repeat-blooming rose reach 2 m. The flowers, although simple, are very impressive, reaching 12 cm in diameter.
Variety "Erinnerung en Brod"
A very spectacular repeat flowering variety, the shoots of which can reach 3 meters in length. The flowers are strongly fragrant, double, purple-lilac in color.
Shrub roses
The largest and most diverse group. Usually it is about shrub roses that discrepancies in classification arise. I really want to break it up into small groups. Perhaps they don’t do this because not so long ago their share of total sales was only 5%. Shrub roses are usually divided into three groups:
- old varieties that were bred before the emergence of hybrid tea roses;
- wild rose hips, as well as their varieties;
- shrub varieties of modern selection.
But it would be unfair to think that these flowers are the most uninteresting. Species rose hips and their varieties are not as lush as varietal roses, and they usually bloom once per season, but they are very interesting. New ones spray roses fell into this group only because they cannot be classified into any of the varieties listed above. Perhaps very little time will pass and a new section will appear in the classification.
We will provide a list of the most popular types, without providing a description, since this is a very broad topic. So, shrub roses:
- English;
- White;
- Bourbon;
- Damascus;
- Chinese;
- Musk;
- Mokhovaya;
- Wrinkled;
- Polyanthus;
- Portland;
- Noisette;
- French;
- Tea room;
- Centifolia;
- Scottish;
- Eglantheria.
In addition, this includes all unclassified modern varieties, including roses that belong to the as yet unidentified group Grandiflora and David Austin roses.
Variety "Abraham Derby"
Incredibly popular English rose, forming a bush, reaching one and a half meters in height and width. Repeatedly blooming large, double flowers have a pleasant fruity aroma.
Variety "Cardinal de Richelieu"
An old, reliable variety that received the Garden Merit Award. The bush, a little more than a meter long, blooms once a year with fragrant, velvety violet-lilac flowers of medium size.
Variety "Chinatown"
An incredibly beautiful modern re-blooming variety up to 1.5 m high is sometimes classified as a floribunda variety.
New varieties of roses
2017 has just begun, but it has already pleased us with new varieties of roses.
Variety "Desdemona"
A variety of extraordinary beauty. A bush up to 1.2 m high with white cupped flowers that have a pink tint at the beginning of flowering. It blooms for a very long time and does not lose its shape even with heavy rains.
Variety "The Ancient Mariner"
A large bush up to 1.5 m tall is covered with very large pink flowers with a strong aroma. It blooms almost without interruption.
Variety "Dame Judi Dench"
Sprawling bush up to 1.2 m high, double peach-colored flowers, very fragrant. A characteristic feature is that the buds are colored red.
Variety "Vanessa Bell"
The narrow bush grows 1.2 m in height.Lemon-colored flowers collected in brushes smell of honey, tea and lemon.
Choice of roses when purchasing
We will not bore you with a description of what condition the root system of plants should be in or what time of year is best to buy them. We just want to explain some of the nuances to save you from disappointment.
Even if we buy roses in large garden centers and carefully study the photographs, we may not get what we wanted. This is due to the fact that the photo shows the most attractive flower that the photographer could find. It may also happen that the image is much larger than the actual size of the bud.
This most often happens when purchasing ground cover varieties. One rose is removed at the budding stage, when it is especially attractive. But the flowers of this group usually open quickly and look completely different.
And with other varieties, we often end up with a flower that is not very similar in color and size to the one we liked in the photo. The visual perception of roses, more than other flowers, depends on the shade and size. It turns out that we were not deceived, but it’s still unpleasant.
Of course, all roses are beautiful, but if you want something specific, don't rely on photographs - take the time to visit a rose nursery when they're in bloom, or buy them blooming in containers. And we advise residents of the northern regions to buy only plants grown in local nurseries, since otherwise you risk enjoying their flowering for only one season. Most roses sold in garden centers come to us from Poland and Holland, where the climate is much milder.Even if a variety is suitable for growing in low temperatures, it is simply not acclimatized to them.
Conclusion
It is not for nothing that the rose is called the queen of flowers. It delights the eye, and its aroma heals the body and soul. Choose the variety you like; with good care, it will stay with you for more than two decades.
