Where space is tight, plants have to earn their place. So repeat-flowering roses – which bloom for a long period during summer and into fall – are a well-suited contender. Some even keep up the show into winter when the weather is kind.
If you love growing roses in your garden, and want the maximum amount of blooms, note that there are two types that are long-flowering: perpetual (or continuous) and repeat-flowering (also known as recurrent or remontant). The perpetuals flower non-stop, whereas the repeat-flowering roses have two main flushes of blooms, or flower intermittently over the course of several months.
While perpetual varieties aren't so common, those that repeat-flower form the bulk of modern roses. One of the most famous groups are the English shrub roses, which were first created by the late rose breeder David Austin by crossing old varieties with modern ones. 'These two traditions have been brought together with the objective of combining the form, character, and growth of the Old Roses, with the repeat-flowering habit and wider color range of the Modern Roses,' he stated. 'English Roses are, in fact, repeat-flowering Old Roses.' Today, his company is run by his son and grandson, who continue to create repeat-flowering gems.
But recurrent or perpetual roses aren't always modern. For instance, for lengthy flowering, the experts at Peter Beales recommend 'Blush Noisette' (a compact climber with shell-pink blooms) and Rosa x odorata 'Mutabilis' (a wonderful amber and pink shrub rose). Both date back to the 19th century and bloom non-stop.
Whichever period your long-blooming rose hails from, it must be given the right stimulation in order to produce its extraordinary flowering marathon. Rich soil is vital, as is moisture, proper rose pruning, and regular deadheading. The right varieties, treated to such good cultivation, will fill your garden with gorgeous flowers for months.
15 repeat-flowering roses for lots of beautiful blooms
Try these types of roses and maximize the number of flowers in your garden this summer.
1. 'Rosy Cushion'
- Height: 4ft (1.2m)
- Spread: 4ft (1.2m)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Natural-style gardens
Perfect for wildlife gardens, this perpetual-blooming shrub rose has the look of a large-flowered wild dog rose, producing a succession of single white-pink blooms with golden stamens that lure bees, from summer into fall.
Grow this healthy, tough rose in retentive, well-drained soil in sun or semi-shade, alongside salvia and lavender.
2. 'Ingrid Bergman'
- Height: 3ft (90cm)
- Spread: 2ft (60cm)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Cutting garden flowers
Generous bold-vermillion flowers adorn this upright repeat-flowering Hybrid Tea in summer and fall, above glossy dark-green foliage.
Being compact, it can be grown as part of your container garden ideas in a planter with good drainage, on a sunny patio. Or, combine with types of ornamental grasses in the middle or front of the border.
The flowers have a light spicy scent and last well in a vase.
3. 'Kew Gardens'
- Height: 4ft (1.2m)
- Spread: 4ft (1.2m)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Wildlife
'In the Rose Garden at Wynyard, "Kew Gardens" is one of the roses that flowers for most of the summer,' says Mark Birtle, Head Gardener at Wynyard Hall.
This thornless, healthy David Austin shrub rose has an almost continuous show of small, single white flowers with golden stamens that lure bees in summer and early fall, followed by hips that feed birds.
4. 'Macmillan Nurse'
- Height: 3ft (90cm)
- Spread: 3ft (90cm)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Pots
This repeat-flowering shrub rose bred by Peter Beales has the look of an Old Rose, producing charming peach-white rosettes. However, it has the health and flower power of a Modern Rose, blooming throughout summer and fall.
Grow in well-drained, rich, retentive soil in sun or semi-shade with campanula varieties. It can also be grown in a garden planter that has good drainage.
5. 'Flower Carpet White'
- Height: 2ft (60cm)
- Spread: 3ft (90cm)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Ground cover plants
'The "Flower Carpet" roses come in a variety of colors from red and pink to yellow and white,' says garden designer Kirsten Coffen. 'As ground cover, they combine beautifully with pale-blue nepeta. I like to use them near a walkway or entrance space.'
This long-flowering, disease-resistant procumbent rose shown above has semi-double white blooms in summer and fall.
6. 'Just Joey'
- Height: 3ft (90cm)
- Spread: 2ft (60cm)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Hot garden color schemes
This is a fabulous repeat-flowering Hybrid Tea with apricot-copper blooms above dark-green leaves from mid-summer to late fall.
Pair with burgundy foliage or flowers, such as 'Black Cat' scabious, in well-drained, retentive, fertile soil in sun; ideally in a west-facing border, so that the roses glow amber in the light of sunset.
7. 'Climbing Iceberg’
- Height: 15ft (4.5m)
- Spread: 10ft (3m)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Elegant flowers
Crisp-white flowers are produced freely through summer and fall by this glorious repeat-blooming climber. The large blooms are sometimes washed with pale pink and held in clusters above the glossy leaves.
Grow around a seating area used on summer evenings to enjoy the sight of it glowing white at twilight.
8. 'Gertrude Jekyll'
- Height: 3.5ft (1.1m)
- Spread: 3ft (90cm)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Fragrance
'One of my favorite repeat-flowering roses here at Alnwick is "Gertrude Jekyll", which has a strong, unique scent,' says Rob Ternent, Head Gardener at the Alnwick Garden.
This David Austin shrub rose has rich-pink rosettes from early summer into fall and combines well with grasses and salvias in well-drained, fertile, retentive soil in sun.
9. 'Madame Alfred Carrière'
- Height: 20ft (6m)
- Spread: 10ft (3m)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: A north-facing wall
'Madame Alfred Carrière' is a wonderful repeat-flowering Noisette climber from the 19th century that grows with vigor and reliably blooms over an impressively long period, sometimes into winter.
The charming blush-white flowers have a heavenly scent, the stems are almost thornless, and the foliage is reliably healthy. It works well alongside cottage garden ideas.
10. 'Golden Beauty'
- Height: 3ft (90cm)
- Spread: 3ft (90cm)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Disease-resistance
This award-winning Floribunda rose, also known as 'South Africa', produces a continuous show of rich-yellow double flowers throughout summer and into fall.
The blooms have a light, sweet scent and can be cut for the vase, and the glossy green foliage is resistant to rose diseases. Grow in fertile, well-drained, retentive soil in full sun with orange and white foxgloves.
11. 'Zéphirine Drouhin'
- Height: 13ft (4m)
- Spread: 6ft (1.8m)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Thornless stems
This adorable old Bourbon climber produces hot-pink double blooms with a delicious citrus scent almost continuously throughout summer and fall. Being thornless and shade tolerant, it is ideal for an archway or a north-facing wall.
Its only downfall is its tendency to succumb to blackspot and rust, which can discolor the leaves. Reduce this by fertilizing plants with rose food.
12. 'Lady of Shalott'
- Height: 4ft (1.2m)
- Spread: 4ft (1.2m)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Reliability
'This shrub rose starts flowering a week or two before most other roses and is still having a go at Christmas,' says rose expert and designer Michael Marriott.
'The color is rich apricot and while the fragrance isn't strong, it is delicious. It mixes beautifully with perennials, biennials, and annuals or makes an excellent short climber.'
Grow in rich, well-drained soil in sun.
13. 'Golden Showers'
- Height: 13ft (4m)
- Spread: 7ft (2m)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Cheerful flowers
A relentless display of sun-yellow and lemon semi-double flowers with red stamens adorn this repeat-flowering climbing plant in summer and fall. The unscented blooms are large and cheerful, and the foliage is glossy and healthy.
Grows on south, west, east, and north-facing garden walls, but the color will be boldest out of intense south-facing sun.
14. 'Open Arms'
- Height: 10ft (3m)
- Spread: 4ft (1.2m)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Growing over a garden arch
'This is my choice for a long-flowering climber,' says Michael Marriott. 'The small flowers start a soft salmon pink turning to pale pink with a white eye and are produced prolifically and continuously until late in the year. A very tough rose that will put up with less than ideal conditions.'
Grow this repeat-flowering, bee-friendly scrambler over an archway in sun or semi-shade.
15. 'Climbing Étoile de Hollande'
- Height: 15ft (4.5m)
- Spread: 10ft (3m)
- Hardiness: USDA 5-9 (UK H6)
- Best for: Romantic blooms
This superb red climbing Hybrid Tea rose has it all. It repeat-flowers well from early summer into fall, producing sumptuous crimson-red double blooms that withstand sun and rain and have a delicious, strong scent. The foliage is dark green, glossy, and healthy.
A great rose for the front of the house.
How do you get roses to bloom again?
Deadheading flowers will encourage a decent succession of new blooms on your recurrent roses. But once-flowering (or 'summer-flowering') roses will not flower again if deadheaded.
Deadheading shrub roses is a pleasant job, but becomes more involved where climbers are concerned, as a ladder is needed. It can be done with secateurs or by simply snapping the spent flower off. Of course, some recurrent roses (such as Altissimo and ‘Hansa’) produce hips in the fall, in which case they should only be deadheaded once.
Re-flowering is also stimulated by providing repeat-blooming roses with good growing conditions. ‘If we wish to be sure of flowers later in the season, it is necessary to give them fertile soil and to feed them well, if possible giving them some form of natural manure,’ emphasized David Austin. 'It is also essential that there should be moisture if flowering is to continue throughout the summer.
Mulching is helpful and, during dry spells, watering. This is true of all recurrent-flowering roses, and particularly those of a shrubby nature.’ He was also keen to encourage the early pruning of repeat-flowering shrub roses, in mid-winter rather than early spring, to give them more time to regenerate.
