A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Explain rose varieties?

Can someone explain what the various names of roses mean? Like floribunda, tea, shrub, etc?
And why "tea" rose?
And are these names or terms called species or hybrids or what? This is something that has confused me for a long time.
Also, when I literally stop and smell the roses at the nurseries, the different roses have different fragrances. I thought a rose is a rose, and yes, puns intended !
Thanks !

Ok here goes...

Tea roses came about in the early 1800's . they were the first to have the perfect rose flower shpae but the plants themselves were very weak. but they started the move for the classic rose flower. Hybrid teas (late 1800's) are a hybrid of tea rose but not sure what the hybridized with... A hybrid tea generally has large flowers on a bush that can be upright or bushy and are generally what most gardeners plant nowadays(at least from my observations) Hybrid teas usually bloom 1-3 blooms pre stem. Floribundas are typically shorter in stature and tend to have slightly smaller blooms but they come in sprays or clusters... they dont have to be smaller plants- queen Elizabeth being an excellent example.. sometimes the larger floribundas are called grandifloras in some catouloges. As to the scent... every rose has a different (or no) scent. I have 7 different types of red roses and they all smell differently. The best smelling rose in my opinion is tiffany... i just cant get enough of that one! the second best in my book is karl herbst. But some of my prettiest roses dont have any scent.. hope this answers some questions... will post some pictures of my garden as soon as my hubby helps me...

Happy Gardening the dates i gave are approx. dont have a rose book on me

I wonder where the term "tea" originated, and why "tea".
Maybe as a teatime bouquet? Or maybe it was actually a capital "T" ?
Does anyone know?

Supposedly, Teas are so called because many discern in their blossoms the scent of "a newly-opened sample of the choicest tea".

The easiest rose to take care of is the shrub rose. It may not be as exquisite as many Teas, but they are the most disease resistant. My favorite one is called 'Knockout.' This year the 'Double Knockout' was released. Here's a photo of my Knockout rose.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e47/alankhart/DSCF1186.jpg

Excellent rose Alan. Really like that one.

Oh ! Thanks, Alan ! That makes sense, especially if the tea originated in England.
Has anyone a rose called Carefree Wonder? It's called a landscape rose, but I'm wondering why it would have that term? Why landscape as opposed to the usual teas, florabundas, shrub, etc?
I gave a yellow Carefree Wonder to a neighbor, and have been kicking myself ever since, as I can't find a rose of any type with that same fragrance.

I have another question: The reason I gave away the Carefree is that it dropped its petals every day. The bud would open, I could enjoy the rose for a day, but at the end of the day there went the petals.
Why is that? Why does my other rose not do that?
The other rose I have, the petals stay on for days !
Is the Carefree some kind of prairie rose in its origins?

Carefree Wonder is a hardy shrub rose. the reason for it being a 'landscape rose' is because of it's smaller hedge stature and profuse blooming. The parentage is from a 'Prairie Princess' rose. They do drop their petals but grow the new roses just as fast.

Deborah, ask the neighbour for a slip of the rose bush you gave her, I'm sure she won't mind. Don't take it from the suckers growing out of the ground though. Just slice a piece of the rose bush with a sharp spade. Good luck.

Tamara, thank you !!! I never thought of asking for a cutting !!!! I'll see what happens !
And thanks too for the info on the Carefree. So I was right in thinking that it must have wild rose parentage-dropping petals each afternoon just as the wild ones do.
(I have never seen a wild rose, or prairie rose, this is what I have read, is all).
Thnaks again !

Tamara, GUESS WHAT !!! GUESS WHAT !!
I asked the neighbor about the rose, and to my surprise she gave it back, in the blue pot I gave her ! (I like the look of the yellow rose in the blue) Talk about a happy surprise- she said she had never really cared as she has so many yellow roses ! I had never seen her back yard before as it's fenced, when we went in, to my amazement, she has several yellow roses, and doesn't care about giving back the Carefree !
What a great day ! It's back, the special fragrance I couldn't find anywhere else is mine again, and even the blue pot is back !
I couldn't wait to share my joy with you !Yippee !!

alankhart, I'm curious. Whre did you get that quote about the fresh tea bag?

Tamara, where did you get the info about the Carefree Wonder having Prairie Princess for a parent? I would love to see the whole article.