There are around 150 species of roses. Roses are divided into 3 main groups: Species (wild) roses & their hybrids, Old Garden roses and Modern roses.
Species Roses: Known as Wild Roses have been growing in the wild for hundreds of thousands of years.
Old Garden Roses: These are roses that were cultivated before 1867, the year when the first hybrid tea ‘La France’ was introduced.
Modern Garden Roses: These are the roses that were introduced after year 1867 and afterwards.
Within these three groups of different types of roses and rose classes, roses are further divided by their growth habits, foilage and flower forms.
Wild roses, species roses, are the parents of and the origins of the Old Garden Roses and the Modern Garden Roses.
There are New England wild roses, desert wild roses and wild roses native to the South. In fact wild roses that have naturalized and are growing all over the USA and many other places in the world.
These are the different types of roses that are very old.
The main groups of old garden roses,heirloom old garden roses, heritage bushes of roses, whatever you choose to call these antique old roses from the past, include the following rose types.
Old Garden Roses
ALBA: Mostly white flowered,or pale pink roses that only bloom once. The foilage is the color of sage green or grayish green.
BOURBON: The very first roses that repeat bloomed. They were introduced on the ‘Isle of Bourbon’ in the Indian Ocean. That’s where these roses got the name. Bourbon roses are very fragrant.
CENTIFOLIA: Known as the ‘Cabbage Roses’, the flowers, looking like cabbages, usually have over 100 petals. These roses only bloom once.
DAMASK: The flowers are intensely fragrant and come in white, pink or red colors. Some repeat-flower, some don’t.
HYBRID CHINA: These roses are tender and not for cold climates north of zone 7. Most are repeat flowering.
HYBRID GALLICA: These roses are almost always thornless. The once-flowering blooms are usually pink, red, or purple and have a strong rose fragrance.
HYBRID PERPETUAL: Very fragrant pink or red roses that repeat flowers.
MOSS: Mostly once-blooming fragrant roses that produce a sort of sticky moss-like growth on their flower stems and buds.
NOISETTE: Large, sort of sprawling rose plants that are best used as climbers. They have small clusters of fragrant flowers. These roses are cold-tender and best suited for warmer climates.
PORTLAND: Roses that are very fragrant, usually pink blooms that are repeat- flowering.
TEA: These roses have canes with few thorns. The flowers come in light yellow, pink or white colors and are repeat-blooming. Best in zone 7 and the south.
Types of Modern Garden Roses
The different types of roses known as Modern Garden Roses are also divided into subdivisions.
These are the main types roses and types of roses for landscaping and home gardens. Most of them are repeat-flowering.
HYBRID TEA: Long-stemmed flowers that are high-centered. Usually one flower per stem. They bloom on upright, rather narrow plants, and flowers in flushes of every six weeks or so. This is the classic rose for cut flowers.
FLORIBUNDA: Shrub roses with clusters of flowes with continuous blooms. The growth habit is bushy and full. Floribunda roses are usually hardier than hybrid teas.
GRANDIFLORA: These are tall and vigorous plants that produce flowers singly or in clusters. They are very similar to hybrid teas, except for their size.
POLYANTHA: Small flowered roses in large clusters on small compact free- flowering rose bushes.
SHRUBS: This is a large group of various classes, that vary widely in height and habit. This group include the English Roses by David Austin.
MINIATURES and MINI-ROSES: These are scaled down versions of the larger Modern Garden Roses, ranging in height from 6 inches to 2 feet tall. Their flowers and leaves are proportionally dimitutive.
CLIMBERS: A mixed group of roses with long arching canes that can be trained on a support such as arbors, trellises, fences, and walls.Some are repeat-flowering, some are not.