Grandiflora Rose Varieties

Grandiflora roses add height and bulk to the mixed rose garden.

Dr. Walter E. Lammerts successfully combined the elegance of hybrid tea roses with the prolific flowering habit of floribundas to create Queen Elizabeth, the first of a new class of roses. Grandiflora roses produce classically formed blooms with the cluster flowering habit of floribundas. The plants are vigorous and generally disease-resistant; many are All-American Rose Selection winners. Grandiflora roses, like hybrid teas, perform best in regions with warm, dry climates and long growing seasons.

Pinks

The multiple award-winning Queen Elizabeth, introduced in 1954, continually produces clusters of classically formed pink roses all season on an upright, vigorous plant. Sonia is a pink blend grandiflora. Elegant, high-centered blooms and long stems made Sonia a valuable florist rose following its introduction in 1974. Sonia successfully earned a place in home gardens with its vigorous growth and prolific flowering habit. Aquarius is a highly rated light-pink blend. Tournament of Roses is a shorter grandiflora sometimes listed as a hybrid tea. Tournament of Roses continually displays salmon pink, high-centered roses, with a darker reverse, through the season.

Reds

Dick Clark is a 2011 All-American Rose Selection (AARS) winner. The light-sensitive roses begin as deep red buds, the coloration varying among cherry, pink, cream and deep burgundy as they open. The large, colorful flowers emit a subtle, spicy scent. Crimson Bouquet is an AARS from 2000. The disease-resistant plant, somewhat shorter than the typical grandiflora, produces deep crimson roses. Scarlet Queen Elizabeth, sometimes listed as a floribunda, is similar in habit to its pink parent, with scarlet-colored roses. Scarlet Knight, a Meilland creation, produces small clusters of large, deep crimson flowers in seasonal flushes.

Yellow and White

The AARS awarded honors to several yellow grandiflora roses. Dream Come True, a 2008 winner, is a yellow blend, showing various amounts of pink or red. Strike it Rich took AARS honors in 2007 with its vigor, disease-resistance and fragrance, as well as its large, deep buttery-yellow, crimson-splashed blooms. Shining Hour won AARS honors in 1991 for its high-centered, glowing, golden blooms and dense growth habit. Mount Hood has glossy, deep-green foliage setting off its clusters of fragrant white roses in a striking display. Mt. Hood is a 1996 AARS winner.

Orange Blends

Deep yellow decorates the inside petals of About Face, a 2005 AARS winner, while the outside petals are rich, orange-bronze. Glowing Peace won AARS honors in 2000. This vigorous descendant of Peace sports large, fragrant, bi-colored orange-red blossoms and deep-green foliage that turns burgundy in fall. Candelabra, an AARS grandiflora winner from 1999, produces brilliant salmon-orange roses. Caribbean, a 1994 AARS winner, displays orange-yellow blend roses with a tropical flair.

References

• Learn2Grow; Go for the Grandifloras; Robert J. Dolezal
• All-American Rose Selections: Grandiflora
• Colorado State University Extension; Selecting and Planting Roses; A.W. Nelson, et al.; May 2006
• University of Idaho; Hardy Roses for Harsh Climates; Stephen L. Love
• North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension; Roses for North Carolina; M.A. (Kim) Powell; April 1996
• Rhode Island Rose Society; Breeders of Note; Dr. Walter Lammerts; Ed Cunningham
• “The Quest for the Rose”; Roger Phillips; Mark Rix; 1993
• All-American Rose Selections: Past Rose Winners

Resources

• Roses: Grandiflora Roses
• Help Me Find: 'Sonia' Rose