Shrub Roses
Shrub roses are often perceived simply as a “catch all” category of roses that do not fit well in other classes. However, many roses that were once classed as Shrubs are now popularly regarded as separate groups, such as Groundcover Roses or Rugosa Roses, and we have put them in separate sections. Many of the roses in this section were raised from a wild rose crossed with a modern one, aiming to combine the elegance, hardiness, and freedom of flowering of the species with the larger, showier flowers of a Hybrid Tea or Hybrid Perpetual.

There are roses with unusual species in their ancestry: R. moyesii, R. Persica, R. sempervirens, R. multibracteata, R. rubiginosa, and R. arkansana are here, as well as the more familiar R. rugosa and R. x macrantha. Some of the roses in this section almost form subgroups of their own, and are sometimes listed as Hybrid Moyesii, Hybrid Persica, and so on. For example, Kordes wonderful ‘Frühlings’ roses, such as ‘Frühlingsgold’ and ‘Frühlingsmorgen’, are often called Pimpinellifolia Hybrids (or Hybrid Spinossisimas, from the old name for the species). However, they show little resemblance to the dwarf, small-flowered R. pimpinellifolia and old varieties of the Scotch rose, because they were based on the much larger R. pimpinellifolia var. altaica; the tall shrubs with large single or semidouble flowers raised by Kordes have a character of their own.

Most Shrub roses are robust, quite strong enough to stand on their own in a garden setting; if there is any doubt that one plant will produce a good show, three or five can be planted together.

Pruning should aim to cut out the shoots which have flowered and to encourage the new shoots, which will flower the following year, to form a well-shaped shrub. Hardiness varies according to the hardiness of the main parent and the amount of tender Hybrid Tea in the parentage. Most are hardier than Hybrid Teas, and will be hardy to
-20°F (-29°C), Zone 5; some are much hardier.