WHAT IS A HYBRID TEA ROSE?

Perhaps the most popular class of modern roses is the hybrid tea, easily recognized by the large shapely blooms containing 30 to 50 petals. Flowers are borne on long stems either singly or with several sidebuds. This is the so-call 'Cutting Rose'.

In 1945, the 'Peace' rose heralded the modern era of elegantly formed hybrid teas. So dramatic was the overwhelming public acceptance and praise accorded this variety that its place in history was instantaneous. Since 1945, many thousands of new hybrid teas have been bred and introduced. Hybridizers own a patent on newly introduced varieties, which explains why older roses are generally less expensive.

Among our highest rated hybrid tea roses (8.5 or higher) are: Dainty Bess, Double Delight, First Prize, Mr. Lincoln and Olympiad.

WHAT IS A FLORIBUNDA ROSE?

Second only to the hybrid tea and grandiflora in popularity, the floribunda is characterized by its profuse ability to bear flowers on large clusters or trusses with more than one bloom in flower at any one time. This class is unrivaled for providing massive, colorful, long-lasting garden displays.

In 1954, the introduction of a rose bred from crossing the hybrid tea 'Charlotte Armstrong', with the floribunda, 'Floradora', resulted in a carmine-rose and dawn pink variety.

It displayed not only the characteristics of a hybrid tea but also the ability to bear clusters or trusses and grow to a commanding height of 6 to 8 feet or more. To accommodate this variety the class of grandiflora was born. 'Queen Elizabeth' had the distinction of being the very first member of this class.

A couple of our most highly rated grandifloras (8.5 or higherly rated grandifloras (8.5 or higher) are: Gold Metal and Silver Star.

WHAT IS AN OLD GARDEN ROSE?

In 1966, the American Rose Society defined old garden roses as those that existed prior to 1867, the year of the introduction of the very first hybrid tea, 'La France'. Within this generic definition a number of popular subdivisions exist based on natural historical developments and characteristics.

After an initial spring crop of blooms, some varieties may produce no more flowers the rest of the year, but their hip production does add a different kind of beauty to the garden. The beauty of the old garden roses often lies in the heavy fragrance they can impart to the garden.

Among our most highly rated (8.5 or higher) are: Baronne Prevost, Madame Plantier, Souvenir de la Malmaison and Zepherin Drouhin.

The unique group of roses hybridized by David Austin (often called English Roses) belong to this class. They resemble old garden roses in shape and form but are recurrent bloomers and often have fragrance.

WHAT IS A SHRUB ROSE?

Shrubs are easily characterized by their sprawling habit. There are 5 popular subdivisions within the class: hybrid kordesi, hybrid moyesii, hybrid musk, hybrid rugosa and shrub. They can grow from 5 to 15 feet or more in every direction given the correct climate and growing conditions. Noted for their hardiness, they are usually vigorous and produce large quantities of clusters of flowers.

One highly rated shrub rose (8.5 orhigher) is Bonica.

This is our Rose list for 2010. Our Bare-Root roses have arrived.  Call us for availability!