When you have been dealing with roses for some time, it is easy to forget that many people may not be familiar with the terms we throw out with gay abandon. Today I will look at some of the terms that are applied to modern roses and try to define them.
Hybrid Tea (HT). The original breeding to obtain an Hybrid Tea rose was to cross a Hybrid Perpetual Rose with a Tea Rose. This was to give the new breed the Tea perfume, with the long-flowering of the Hybrid Perpetual. The early HT roses tend to have a single flower on each stem.
Floribunda (Fl) or Cluster-Flower. As the name implies, these roses have many blooms on the one stem. Usually, the flowers are smaller than the HT.
Polyantha. These roses are usually bred from multiflora stock and produce bunches of small flowers on the end of stems. The leaves are usually smaller than Floribundas and the growth pattern is towards long lax canes.
Climbing HT (HT Cl). Most climbing HTs are mutants of bush HTs, which retain a climbing habit. They invariably have strong inflexible canes and hate going downhill, so we keep them going up or at least horizontal. Some varieties will not grow long canes suitable for festoons, but are suitable for pillars – hence are called Pillar Roses.
Ramblers. Many of the ramblers originate from the Wichuriana class. They have very flexible canes with vigorous growth and can be trained to go in any direction. Many are suitable for weeping standards, although most are once-flowering.
Standards. The standard “Standard” is three feet. The nurseryman grafts the required cultivar on to a rootstock stem at the required height. Coming in many sizes, there is a tendency to call anything over 5 feet, a ‘weeping’ standard, although many of the cultivars do not weep.
Shrub Roses. A comparatively recent term which has crept in to describe a rose that has been cross-bred from a HT back to one of the Old Roses, such as a Rugosa.
Ground-cover Roses. As the name suggests, bred to cover the ground. Many are bred by Meidiland and are tough, and excellent for purpose.
Minature, Dwarf & Patio Roses. Again, the name tells the reason for breeding. There is no real difference between the three categories except to the breeder.
