Floribunda rose
Rosa (Floribunda Group) · Rosaceae Popular
Bushy roses that carry their flowers in large clusters, so they give a mass of colour through summer and autumn. 'Iceberg' is the best known.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 2½ ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early June to early October
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around floribunda rose
The planner designed this bed around floribunda rose when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why floribunda rose stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Floribunda rose × 1, red
- 2 Creeping phlox 'Emerald Blue' × 8, blue
- 3 Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' × 7, blue-green leaves
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Gray's sedge × 3, green
- 6 Gloriosa daisy × 3, orange
- 7 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
- 8 Spring starflower × 12, white
Why this plant
- The only dense clusters. The others are open bowls, daisies and globes. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only red.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So do blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' and Gray's sedge.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Gray's sedge (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 18 weeks. From early June to early October.
- Closes the season. For its last two weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 5 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowering is at its height from late June, with 4 kinds out together. The longest in flower is floribunda rose: 18 weeks, from early June to early October.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 7 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where floribunda rose goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
Bred for the effect of the whole plant rather than the single bloom. One variety planted in a group is far better than a mixture.
- Bedding and mass colour
- Low hedges
- Cut flowers
What to plant with floribunda rose
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for 15 weeks, from early June.
- Salvia 'May Night': purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for six weeks.
- English lavender 'Hidcote': purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for six weeks; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about floribunda rose
Does floribunda rose need sun or shade?
Floribunda rose grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does floribunda rose grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 9. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does floribunda rose flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early June to early October. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 5 | Early June to early October |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Early June to early October |
| Zone 7 | Late May to early October |
| Zone 8 | Late May to early October |
| Zone 9 | Late May to early October |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should floribunda rose be planted?
24 in (60 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 2½ ft (75 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many floribunda rose plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, planted singly: it is the bed's structure, and everything else is arranged around it.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is floribunda rose poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to the ASPCA.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like floribunda rose?
Floribunda rose is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer': a drift, not an anchor, 8 in narrower.
- False sunflower 'Summer Sun': a drift, not an anchor, 4 in narrower.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after floribunda rose?
Floribunda rose is over by early October. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink': from late September to early November, 2½ ft tall.
- Japanese onion 'Ozawa': from early October to early November, 10 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Tatarian aster 'Jindai': from early October to early November, 4 ft tall.
What does floribunda rose look like in winter?
Floribunda rose drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
More Rosa
- Carolina rose Rosa carolina
- English rose Rosa (English shrub roses)
- English rose 'Gertrude Jekyll' Rosa 'Ausbord' (Gertrude Jekyll)
- English rose 'Graham Thomas' Rosa 'Ausmas' (Graham Thomas)
- Groundcover rose Rosa (Drift Group)
- Hybrid tea rose Rosa (Hybrid Tea Group)
- Hybrid tea rose 'Peace' Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland' (Peace)
- Redleaf rose Rosa glauca
- Rose 'Bonica' Rosa 'Meidomonac' (Bonica)
- Rose 'Carefree Beauty' Rosa 'Bucbi' (Carefree Beauty)
- Rose 'Double Knock Out' Rosa 'Radtko' (Double Knock Out)
- Rose 'Flower Carpet Pink' Rosa 'Noatraum' (Flower Carpet Pink)
- Rose 'Iceberg' Rosa 'Korbin' (Iceberg)
- Rose 'Julia Child' Rosa 'Wekvossutono' (Julia Child)
- Rose 'The Fairy' Rosa 'The Fairy'
- Rugosa rose Rosa rugosa
- Rugosa rose 'Blanc Double de Coubert' Rosa 'Blanc Double de Coubert'
- Rugosa rose 'Hansa' Rosa rugosa 'Hansa'
- Shrub rose 'Knock Out' Rosa 'Knock Out'
- Virginia rose Rosa virginiana
In these guides
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
- Plants for a white garden
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 2½ ft (75 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Early June to early October; dense clusters; red, pink, yellow, white, orange
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Moderate, in spring
- Family
- Rosaceae
Checked against ASPCA poison lists. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.