How to Choose the Best Roses for Your Garden

When the subject of growing roses in Colorado comes up, many gardeners shy away, convinced roses are a finicky bunch that won’t do well here. Truth is, if you provide the right culture roses are no more difficult to care for than other flowering shrubs. Start with the basics. Roses need a minimum of six hours of full sun in order to grow and bloom properly. Roses need a bed of their own, away from trees, shrubs and perennials that compete for sunlight, space and nutrients. Roses need space. They don’t do well when crowded together.  Roses need well-amended soils in order to establish strong root systems and achieve vigorous growth and bloom potential.  

With these factors in mind, selecting a rose bush becomes a question of purpose. Are you looking to augment your current rose collection; start a rose garden; replace a lost or damaged rose bush; add color and fragrance to your garden; build support for local pollinators? There is a variety of rose bush that will fill some, if not all these goals including hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, climbers, shrubs and even tree roses. 

When we think of roses, it’s the hybrid tea variety that most often comes to mind. Hybrid tea roses represent an amazing pallet of color and fragrance, such as the rose pictured here: Chris Evert.  Depend on hybrid tea roses to bloom consistently throughout the summer season.

Grandiflora roses are very similar to hybrid teas. They tend to be taller and bloom in clusters rather than one rose per stem. Like all roses, grandifloras will attract pollinators. This is Twilight Zone.

Floribunda roses such as Hot Cocoa, are valued for their ability to bloom continuously.

If you want to cover an arbor or trellis, choose a climbing rose. Fourth of July is an excellent choice.

Thanks to The Flower Bin Perennials Manager Billie Jo’s knowledge and expertise, all our roses are well-established and following a brief acclimation period, ready to plant. With their beautiful color and pleasant scent, roses can transform a garden and we’re here to help you make it happen.  

For a list of roses available for this year visit our webpage:  Rose-List-2022.pdf (theflowerbin.net)