14 Floribunda Roses for Your Flower Garden

By
Jamie McIntosh
Jamie McIntosh
Jamie McIntosh
Jamie McIntosh has written about gardening and special occasion flowers for the Spruce since 2011. She has more than 20 years of experience caring for flowers and plants. She was a feature writer for Organic Gardening at Suite101, where she won awards for her writing.
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Updated on 04/01/21
Rhapsody in blue flowers with purple petals and buds on edge of stem

The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

Take the compact, shrubby growth habit and blooming clusters of polyantha roses, and combine that with the vast color palette of hybrid tea roses, and you get floribunda roses. That's exactly what horticulturists did: They crossed profuse-blooming polyantha roses with elegant, shapely, hybrid tea roses to arrive at this modern class of hybrid roses.

In appearance, floribunda roses are relatively stiff shrubs; they're smaller and bushier than most hybrid tea roses but less sprawling than polyantha shrub roses. Although the flowers are smaller than those of tea roses, they appear in large sprays that give a very dramatic visual effect in the garden. Unlike polyantha shrub roses, which have a limited color palette, floribundas are available in the same broad range of colors as hybrid tea roses—and with the same classic blossom shapes.

In short, floribundas offer the best of all worlds: The flowers bloom freely with excellent shape and color, and the shrubs are quite hardy.

These 14 floribunda roses are great picks for beginners and experienced gardeners alike.

Gardening Tip

Floribunda roses do best in a sheltered location where they're protected from strong winds. At the same time, they need enough space to provide for good air circulation, which will help minimize fungal diseases.

  • 01 of 14

    'Julia Child' (Rosa 'Julia Child')

    'Julia Child' floribunda rose with yellow petals

    Zen Rial / Getty Images

    Julia Child believed that a dab of butter improved almost any dish, so the famous chef would've appreciated the buttery hue of her namesake rose. Excellent disease resistance on compact plants with a long bloom time make this a good choice for beginners looking to fill a gap in the front of a summer border.

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 4–10
    • Height: 26–31 inches
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 02 of 14

    'Impatient' (Rosa 'Impatient')

    'Impatient' floribunda rose with red-orange petals

    Georgianna Lane / Getty Images

    Nostalgia for all things 1980s is trending, so that should include this 1984 introduction, the 'Impatient' floribunda rose. It does seem impatient to reveal its floriferous nature to the gardener, blooming nearly from spring until frost (with regular irrigation and fertilization). The reddish-orange blooms blend well with other hot colors in the garden, so underplant with some marigolds or coreopsis. 

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6–11
    • Height: 3–4 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 03 of 14

    'Iceberg' (Rosa 'Iceberg')

    'Iceberg' floribunda rose with white petals

    Alexander Adegbenro / Getty Images

    The 'Iceberg' floribunda rose has been a flowering garden favorite for nearly six decades. Its pure white flowers don't have any cream or pink and are truly snow white. This tall-growing shrub, which can be trained as a climber, is very free-flowering and nearly thornless, which makes harvesting for vase arrangements easy and painless.

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–9
    • Height: 3–12 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 04 of 14

    'Mardi Gras' (Rosa 'Mardi Gras')

    'Mardi Gras' floribunda rose with pink, peach, and yellow petals

    Georgianna Lane / Getty Images

    The 'Mardi Gras' rose is not a fragrant selection, but the nonstop blooms that mirror a sunset on the beach more than make up for it. Its flowers are larger than many floribunda roses, held aloft on 4-foot shrubs that make a fine hedge. 

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–9
    • Height: 3–4 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
    Continue to 5 of 14 below.
  • 05 of 14

    'August Seebauer' (Rosa 'August Seebauer')

    'August Seebauer' floribunda rose with pink petals

    Georgianna Lane / Getty Images

    Also known as 'The Queen Mother,' this floribunda rose consistently produces rich pink blooms on compact plants in spring, summer, and fall. 'August Seebauer' looks best in the front of a border and thrives in mildly acidic soil enriched with compost.

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6–11
    • Height: 2–3 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun ​
  • 06 of 14

    'Hot Cocoa' (Rosa 'Hot Cocoa')

    'Hot Cocoa' floribunda rose with rust-colored petals

    Georgianna Lane / Getty Images

    'Hot Cocoa' blooms offer a seldom-seen hue that shifts from orange to rich rust, depending on the stage of flowering and sunlight exposure. The russet tones complement autumn cut-flower arrangements perfectly, and, conveniently, the plants put out a large late flush of flowers in September and October. 

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–11
    • Height: 3–4 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 07 of 14

    'Burgundy Ice' (Rosa 'Burgundy Ice')

    'Burgundy Ice' floribunda rose with purple flowers

    Lamontagne / Getty Images

    The rich plum blooms of 'Burgundy Ice' smell every bit as lovely as they look, blooming from June to October. Although this cultivar has an average growth rate, be sure to prune the shrubs of this floribunda rose in late March to help them keep a tidy shape. 

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–9
    • Height: 4–5 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 08 of 14

    'Summer Fashion' (Rosa 'Summer Fashion')

    'Summer Fashion' floribunda rose with pink-edged white petals

    Georgianna Lane / Getty Images

    Rose growers who like the hybrid tea rose 'Peace' will admire the same cream and pink coloration on 'Summer Fashion' flowers. The blooms of this cultivar are larger than many floribundas, maintaining an upright form on 4-foot plants. 

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6–11
    • Height: 3–4 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
    Continue to 9 of 14 below.
  • 09 of 14

    'Rhapsody in Blue' (Rosa 'Rhapsody in Blue')

    Rhapsody in blue flowers with purple-pink petals in sunlight

    The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

    Gardeners are still waiting for a true blue rose to be developed by horticulturists, but, in the meantime, we can enjoy the violet blossoms of 'Rhapsody in Blue,' which flirt with the blue side of the color wheel. 

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–10
    • Height: 6–7 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 10 of 14

    'Scentimental' (Rosa 'Scentimental')

    'Scentimental' floribunda rose with white-and-red stippled petals

    Michael Davis / Getty Images

    The pert red-and-white stippling of the 'Scentimental' floribunda rose is as fresh as a candy cane. Although the flowers work well as a standalone focal point in a border, wouldn't they look great paired with blue cornflowers or blue balloon flowers? This cultivar also comes in solid yellow, red, and pink versions.

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6–11
    • Height: 3–5 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 11 of 14

    'Sexy Rexy' (Rosa 'Sexy Rexy')

    'Sexy Rexy' floribunda rose with pink flowers

    Georgianna Lane / Getty Images

    If an English rose and a camellia had a baby, the result might be the fabulous form of the 'Sexy Rexy' floribunda rose. Packed with petals yet possessing a pleasing sense of refinement, this cultivar's perfect cotton-candy pink looks good enough to eat. 

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–10
    • Height: 4–5 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 12 of 14

    'Eye Paint' (Rosa 'Eye Paint')

    'Eye Paint' floribunda roses with red petals and yellow centers

    Georgianna Lane / Getty Images

    Sometimes a simple single-petaled rose can look every bit as brilliant as the double varieties. 'Eye Paint' has vibrant yellow stamens that contrast with carmine-hued petals, drawing admiration from gardeners as well as bees and butterflies.

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6–11
    • Height: 3–5 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
    Continue to 13 of 14 below.
  • 13 of 14

    'Monkey Business' (Rosa 'Monkey Business')

    'Monkey Business' floribunda rose with pale yellow flowers

    Georgianna Lane / Getty Images

    After 'Monkey Business' won the 2010 Floribunda of the Year award, many new gardeners fell in love with the dark green foliage and masses of banana yellow blooms that make this a must-have rose for the garden. Moist, rich soil and abundant sunshine will help 'Monkey Business' reach its potential. 

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6–11
    • Height: 3–5 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 14 of 14

    'Betty Boop' (Rosa 'Betty Boop')

    'Betty Boop' floribunda rose with red-edged yellow petals

    Georgianna Lane / Getty Images

    'Betty Boop' floribunda roses are likely to elicit compliments from garden visitors for their showy gold petals edged with red. The bushes are hardy and vigorous, and, while the flowers don't have much fragrance, the cheerful color combo makes up for it. 

    • Native Area: Nursery hybrid
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6–11
    • Height: 3–5 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
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