You’re out for your morning walk when you pass your neighbor’s yard. You know, the one with the impeccably manicured lawn and astonishing flower garden, complete with the most incredible rose bushes you’ve ever seen. The blooms are so fragrant, you have to stop and breathe them all in.
Before you convince yourself that you could never grow roses as glorious as these, know that you can. There are thousands of rose varieties out there, many of which are low-maintenance and perfect for amateur gardeners. We’ve weeded through the countless varieties and created a helpful guide for choosing the right rose cultivars for the beginner’s rose garden.
Rose Types
Within the Rosa genus, there are more than 150 species, with thousands of rose varieties cultivated over centuries. Some have bountiful blooms – 60 to 70 petals in a single rose – and some are more modest, with just six to seven petals per flower. Generally, roses bloom in six-to-eight-week cycles. Colors vary from cherry-reds to bubble gum pinks, apricot oranges and creamy whites. Roses also come in various shapes, from dense shrubs to line your walkways to low-growing groundcovers to climbing roses perfect for your backyard trellis.
You will find that each rose falls into a category, or multiple categories:
Hybrid tea roses are upright plants that grow only one flower per stem. These are ideal for your cutting garden. They make for beautiful arrangements.
Grandiflora roses are also high-centered, upright plants, but their blooms grow in clusters. They have long cutting stems, suitable for hedging and flower-border backgrounds.
Each branch on a floribunda rose offers a continuously blooming bouquet, unlike hybrid tea and grandiflora, which bloom in six-to-seven-week cycles. The range in sizes makes them a great option for containers, as well as various landscapes.
Shrub roses come in many shapes and sizes, and are great as hedges, foundation plantings, or in mixed borders. They bloom heavily and are generally maintenance free.
Groundcover roses are low-growing and are useful for mass planting in borders or under a tree, lining a path, or covering a slope. They also work well in hanging baskets or window boxes for a wow factor.
Climbing roses are, you guessed it, climbers. They grow beautifully on arbors, fences, trellises, or walls.
Miniature roses require all the same care as any other rose variety and are ideal for those with limited space. Plant these in a container, in the front of borders, or in flower bed edging.
Easy-to-grow varieties of roses
Knock Out roses
The Knock Out rose family are shrub roses that bloom continuously from early spring to first frost.
Why they’re good for beginners
They are self-cleaning, meaning you won’t spend hours deadheading and pruning each bush. Simply cut the shrubs’ stems back every year in early spring, after the last frost, for best performance. They are also disease-resistant, heat-resistant, and able to survive temperatures as low as 10 degrees, making them a great choice for most climates.
Knock Out roses boast an assortment of vibrant clustered flowers. These flowers differ from the ordinary rose as they produce only five to seven petals per flower.
Double Knock Out
• Hardy to USDA zones 5-10, which excludes Alaska, much of the upper Midwest, and Hawaii
• Full to partial sun, six to eight hours per day
• 3- to 4-foot height and spread
• Cherry-red double blooms
Pink double Knock Out
• Hardy to USDA zones 5-11, which excludes Alaska and much of the upper Midwest
• Full to partial sun, six to eight hours per day
• 3- to 4-foot height and spread
• Bubble gum pink double blooms
Sunny Knock Out
• Hardy to USDA zones 5-11, which excludes Alaska and much of the upper Midwest
• Full to partial sun, six to eight hours per day
• 3- to 4-foot height and spread
• Yellow buds open to creamy white blooms
Rainbow Knock Out
• Hardy to USDA zones 4-11, which excludes most of Alaska
• Can survive on as little as three hours of full sun per day
• 2- to 3-foot height and spread
• Rounded, compact shrub
• Coral pink blooms with yellow centers
Flower carpet roses
The family of flower carpet roses are low-growing groundcover roses. Plant this rose in your garden beds, along borders, or in pots and hanging baskets. They bloom from spring to late autumn.
Why they’re good for beginners
With their unique double roots, they tolerate a wide range of weather conditions. Flower carpet roses don’t require routine chemical spraying, as they are very tolerant of common rose diseases like black spot and mildew.
Full sun brings an abundance of bloom clusters; however, it can survive in partial sun, in hot climates with less flowering. A single stem can produce up to 60 flowers and developing buds.
Flower carpet coral
• Hardy to USDA zones 5-11, which excludes Alaska and much of the upper Midwest
• Full sun, at least six hours per day
• 2- to 3-foot height and 3- to 4- foot spread
• Coral pink blooms
Flower carpet white
• Hardy to USDA zones 5-9, which excludes Alaska, much of the upper Midwest, and Hawaii, as well as some of the southernmost parts of Florida
• Full sun, at least six hours per day
• 2- to 3- foot height and 3- to 4- foot spread
• Pure white blooms
Flower carpet scarlet
• Hardy to USDA zones 5-11, which excludes Alaska and much of the upper Midwest
• Full sun, at least six hours per day
• 2- to 3-foot height and 3- to 4-foot spread
• Scarlet red blooms
Hybrid tea roses
First produced in the 1800s, the hybrid tea rose is that quintessential rose – the full, single-stem rose that has inspired poetry and music for thousands of years. These tall stunners are the main players in the floral industry today — perfect for the cutting garden, but they also work well in the back of a border due to their incredible height. Bloom season begins early summer and lasts until late autumn.
Why they’re good for beginners
These plants are resistant to both black spot and mildew. They may require some pruning but are so worth the light labor.
Mister Lincoln
• Hardy to USDA zones 5-10, which excludes Alaska, much of the upper Midwest, and Hawaii
• Full sun, at least six hours per day
• 3- to 6-foot height and 3-foot spread
• Wine-red, large, double blooms
• Strong damask fragrance
Peace
• Hardy to USDA zones 4-9, which excludes most of Alaska, the northernmost states, Hawaii, and some of the southernmost parts of Florida
• Full sun, at least six hours per day
• 4- to 7-foot height and 2- to 3-foot spread
• Golden yellow blooms with pink edges
Silver Jubilee
• Hardy to USDA zones 5-9, which excludes Alaska, much of the upper Midwest, Hawaii, and some of the southernmost parts of Florida
• Full sun, at least six hours per day
• 3- to 4-foot height and 2- to 3-foot spread
• Blooms show hints of apricot below metallic pink petals
Easy Elegance Roses
These are a brilliant addition for any border, hedge, or even a decorative container. They bloom from early spring until the first frost.
Why they’re good for beginners.
These cold-hardy, durable plants were designed to resist pests and diseases making the easy elegance family of roses low-maintenance.
Make sure to water frequently, and let the soil dry in between. As all roses do, these require good drainage to prevent waterlogging and a minimum of six hours of sunlight. Use a slow-release fertilizer once a year in the early spring.
Little mischief
• Hardy to USDA zones 4-9, which excludes most of Alaska, the northernmost areas of the U.S. along the Canadian border, Hawaii, and some of the southernmost parts of Florida
• Full sun, minimum of six hours per day
• 2- to 3-foot height and spread
• Rich, dark pink blooms
Snowdrift
• Hardy to USDA zones 4-9, which excludes most of Alaska, the Canadian border, Hawaii, and some of the southernmost parts of Florida
• Full sun, minimum of six hours per day
• 3- to 4-foot height and spread
• Creamy white blooms with apricot centers
Tips for beginners
When planning your rose garden, look for varieties that are low maintenance. Consider disease-resistant species to avoid fungal diseases like black spot and powdery mildew. Ideally, cutting off spent blooms should be the only “major” work required, unless you’ve chosen a self-cleaning plant. In that case, there shouldn’t be much upkeep once you have an established plant.
Roses grow in various climates but they all have this in common: They require rich, fertile soil, at least six hours of full sun, and frequent watering with good drainage.
You’ll keep your roses alive by doing the following:
- Water at the base of the plant, not from overhead.
- Lay mulch to retain moisture, keep the plant cool, and prevent weeds from invading.
- Consider planting in raised flower beds or amending your soil with organic compost.
- Use a slow-release fertilizer once a month throughout the growing season.
Frequently asked questions
Self-cleaning means this specific rose doesn’t require any deadheading or pruning; the spent leaves and flowers simply drop on their own.
Deadheading is removing the dead flowers from your plants.
Waterlogging happens when excess water accumulates in a plant’s root zone where low oxygen is present.
Now that we’ve narrowed down the playing field to 12 solid contenders, you can start to plan your desired rose garden. If you’re still not confident in your attempt, hire a Lawn Love lawn care professional to help get things started for you. Main Photo Credit: XX | Site with text overlay
