Shrub roses – bush roses for borders, hedges & tubs

What are shrub roses?

Shrub roses are garden roses with a strong, broad, bushy, upright habit and a height of about 1 to 2 metres. Unlike bedding or hybrid tea roses, they form sturdy, branching shrubs that can stand freely in the garden even without support. The term bush rose is usually used with the same meaning. Almost all rose classes were involved in the development of this class – hence the wide range: from single, unfilled flowers for bees and bumblebees to densely double, strongly scented varieties in the style of the Old Roses.

How tall and wide do shrub roses grow?

Most varieties reach 100 to 200 cm in height with a width of 80 to 150 cm. Very large, spreading varieties from about 2 metres are called park roses – they need space, but reward you with an impressive effect as a specimen or in extensive plantings. Among the park roses there are, besides repeat-flowering ones, also a few that flower only once but extremely abundantly.

If you have little space, choose compact shrub roses of around 100–120 cm: they are suitable for the front of borders, as low edging along paths or for growing in tubs.

Recommended shrub rose varieties

• Westerland ® – the classic among shrub roses: bright orange blooms with a strong fragrance and good long-distance effect, robust and proven.
• Angela ® – an uncomplicated, extremely free-flowering variety with pink cup-shaped blooms; 120 to 300 cm tall depending on training.
• Aicha – a long-lived, yellow shrub rose with a special play of colour and natural elegance, 150 cm and more.
• Cybelle ® – globular, purple blooms with a many-faceted fragrance, approx. 150 cm.
• Dannahue ® – a compact-growing David Austin breeding with apricot-coloured, fruity-scented blooms, approx. 110 cm.
• Délia ® – free-flowering with large, quartered blooms in the style of the Old Roses, pink, approx. 120 cm.

You will find many more strongly scented varieties in our list of fragrant roses, and two-tone rarities among the two-tone roses.

Shrub roses as a hedge and privacy screen

With their strong, densely branching shoots, shrub roses are ideal for free-growing flowering hedges: as a property boundary, a flowering privacy screen on the terrace or to separate the kitchen garden from the ornamental garden.

Unlike a clipped formal hedge, a rose hedge looks loose and natural – and offers insects food and birds shelter and, with hip-bearing varieties, winter food. You will find suitable varieties with planting distances in our overview of hedge roses.