Choosing a rose for your garden
Roses add color to all gardens, and each year new roses reach the market (after testing them to make sure they are suitable for our CNY climate). To help you choose which roses will work best for you, our nursery manager has put together a list of rose varieties that will thrive in your garden.
Many improvements in hardiness, shrub form, colors, bloom time, petal counts, and disease resistance have been developed resulting in superior rose varieties for most any garden. There are different groups of roses. Within the groups, roses have different characteristics and care requirements that distinguish them from other roses in different groups.
One of the most exciting areas of improvement in recent years has been with shrub roses. There are now hundreds of shrub roses to choose from in every color and size. They will give you beautiful flowers all season long without any of the hassles of winter protection, plus require much less maintenance during the growing season. While no plant is completely free of maintenance, many of the new shrub roses are pretty close. Shrub roses can be planted like any other landscape shrub, and you won’t need to become a rosarian to be successful. Also, there are shrub roses that closely resemble all the classic garden roses, so you get all the beauty with very little of the work!
Our nursery manager has also put together a guide on taking care of your roses.
| Type | Height | Characteristics | Notes | Hardiness |
| Hybrid Tea | 3-6′ tall and 3-5′ wide | Single large flower on long stems. | Classic long stem roses such as seen at florists. | Winter protection required for most. |
| Grandiflora | 3-6′ tall and 3-5′ wide | Several large flowers in bunch on a long stem. | Crosses between Hybrid Tea roses and Floribunda roses. | Winter protection required for most. |
| Floribunda | 2-3′ tall, some up to 5′. Width varies from 3′ to 5′ | Large sprays of smaller flowers on a shrubbier plant. | Crosses between Hybrid Tea roses and Polyantha roses. | Winter protection required for some. Check specific variety. |
| Climbing | 10′ to 20′ tall and up to 8′ wide if supported on a structure. | Single or sprays of flowers on very long canes that drape or can be supported on structures such as arbors. | These roses don’t really climb. They need support and attachment to a structure such as an arbor. | Winter protection required for many varieties. There are shrub climbers that are hardier. Check specific varieties for hardiness. |
| Mini | 15″ to 30″ tall and wide. | Sprays of smaller flowers on a miniature sized plant. | Great in containers if protected over the winter or use as a colorful low border in the garden. | Winter protection required for many varieties. Check specific varieties for hardiness. |
| Polyantha | 12″ to 3′ tall and wide | Large sprays of small flowers on smaller shrubbier plants. | Great in containers and areas needing a smaller shrub. | Many hardy. |
| Shrub | 18″ to 6′ tall and wide | Sprays of flowers on hardy shrubs. Some single stem flowers. Shrubbier plant form. | Hybridized for hardiness and disease resistance so require less maintenance. | Many hardy in zones 3-5 with little to no protection. Check varieties for specific hardiness. |
Not all varieties are available throughout the season so please call ahead to check current availability with our nursery.
For a copy of this guide to download and keep please click here.