Characteristics of Floribunda Roses
There are many reasons to grow these roses but did you know that floribunda literally translates to “flowers in abundance” and these roses really live up to their name, from early summer until the first frost they are constantly in bloom.
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Where Does the Floribunda Rose Come From?
They were developed by grafting a fragile tea rose onto a very strong and sturdy polyantha.
The combination of the two flowers lent floribunda its long buds and full flowers, its ability to survive in harsher climates, and its long, delicate but strong stems.
Characteristic floribundas feature stiff shrubs, slightly smaller as well as bushier compared to the average hybrid tea and yet less dense and sprawling as opposed to the average polyantha.
How to Start a Flower Garden
Parts of my garden are completely dedicated to flowers. Growing these flowers in spring and looking forward to the beautiful color combinations I will get to see later in summer is such a kick! There’s just something special about starting your own flower garden exactly how you like it. I hope you will enjoy this guide on how it’s done!
Pick 5-7 summer flowers that blossom at different times. Grow enough plants so that you can fill up the entire space. Put the plants around 4-8 inches apart. It’s always better to have a few too many than the other way around, so make sure to grow a few extra plants. I decided to grow garden cosmos, dahlia, aster, cornflower, low-growing sunflower, bronze fennel and red orache.
A number of rose fans do not mind a defoliated shrub if it flowers. But a leafless shrub is undoubtedly an ugly shrub, even though often it bears attractive flowers.
Shrub roses carry the quality hardiest species, and blend those traits by way of modern repeat flowering and various bloom forms, colors in addition to fragrances.
Large Blooms, Compact, Lots of Color
The roses, themselves, are usually doubled with sometimes over 60 petals per flower, but they also can have as few as 20 or even five petals.
They grow on compact bushes that usually only reach about two to three feet in height. They can be used as hedges or just planted to give a nice burst of color to any garden.
One of the first floribundas, “Else Poulsen” is excellent for hedges.
It has lovely pink flowers with about 10 petals a piece and was introduced to the market in 1924 and has been flourishing ever since.
Another beautiful specimen, the “Europeana” was introduced in 1968 and received the All-America Rose Selection that very year.
It has doubled blooms that are a lovely, rich red and work well in indoor flower arrangements as they are very long-lasting.
Another All-American selection, the “Gene Boerner” is a modern rose that blooms in a lush pink on a compact bush with very few thorns. The flowers usually reach a total width of 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches when fully mature.
The “Lilac Charm”, introduced in 1962, is a lovely bluish-purple color with a shockingly yellow center.
Pruning Floribunda and Polyantha Roses
Correct pruning is the key to growing successful floribundas.
There are two ways to prune these small bushes – moderate pruning and high pruning.
High pruning is the chosen method for floribundas, simply because the bushes tend to be bigger and more productive.
High pruning is done by cutting only the pieces of the plant that have been killed off during the winter, usually only the tips of each branch.
Pieces to cut are ones that grow up the middle of the bush and will rub on other branches when windy. This can cause damage to otherwise healthy parts of the plant.
With moderate pruning, all the same branches are removed as in high pruning, but the healthy branches are also cut level. This should be at a point halfway between the ground and highest point of the branches.
This results in a smaller bush with fewer flowers, but each bloom will be larger and more perfect.
This is most often used when growing roses to use in flower arrangements and for exhibitions.
Because of their relatively small size and constant bloom, the floribunda is sure to become the new classic.
With high cold tolerance, tons of flowers, and very little maintenance, floribundas are sure to please.
Encourage new growth by dead-heading.
How to Grow a Flower Garden
We all dream of a lush, lovely flower bed full of colorful blooms all season long. What we end up with is usually a different story. Does your color run out when the heat hits? Do the plants clash and give the impression of clown pants? Do the tall plants crowd out the short ones? Is it all looking shabby by late summer?
First assess your sun and soil. Once you know what you are dealing with you can select plants that will do well on your site. Think of your garden as a multi-layered community of plants. A combination of bulbs, perennials, annuals, and shrubs will offer four season interest. Pay attention to heights. Even in a small garden there is room for short, medium, and tall plants.
Dead-Heading Floribunda Roses
Dead-heading is an important part of any rose gardener’s routine.
Once the bush has flowered, and the flowers are beginning to fade. Plants will produce a larger amount of new blooms if the roses are cut off before it tries to make fruit, or hips.
Dead-heading roses can be relatively time consuming, especially if a very large landscape or climbing rose. But the effort is definitely worth it when that new rush of blooms appears.
Along with new growth, dead-heading also helps to reduce insect infestation in the bushes.
Insects, drawn to the dying flowers as they decompose, won’t have such a ready food supply. So then won’t move into the bushes where they aren’t wanted.
There also may be some small benefit with preventing disease as air will swirl through the bushes easier without the sagging blooms in the way.
It is a relatively error-proof process, but dead-heading at precise locations will result in different bloom times and growth rate.
In the past, it was suggested that the roses should be cut off right above a leaf cluster of five leaves.
When doing this the rose bush has to produce a completely new stem to support the new bloom.
Also, this removes a lot of important foliage that will help the plant produce food and, thus, grow faster.
Grow Fantastic Floribunda Roses
If the rose is removed further up the stem, new blooms will appear faster.
Some expert rose gardeners and breeders have advised to cut off above a three-leaf cluster, and others recommend cutting off just the flower and no stem.
Reason for this is foliage, and leaves left give the bush a more full appearance and ability to photosynthesize more.
All along each rose cane, or stem, are nodes where growth begins.
When dead-heading roses, the rose should be cut as close to a node as possible to minimize stumps and insure good growth.
If the rose bush is one that gives off good hips in autumn, the last bloom of the season should be left on the bush allowing these fruits to form.
If hips aren’t wanted, cutting the blooms will keep them from developing as the plant needs the fertilized part of the flower to make fruit.
For years, the secret of dead-heading was kept in close circles and was only truly used by rose breeders and exhibitionists.
The difference in the quality and quantity of blooms with the floribunda rose is astronomical, but only when the dead-heading process is used and used correctly.