Feast your eyes on some of the finest cluster-flowered roses!

Arthur Hellyer, MBE, VMH, concludes his choice of the finest cluster-flowered (floribunda) rose varieties and we’ve included those that are still available today

THE cluster-flowered roses are also called floribundas. Their main characteristics are that they produce their flowers in clusters and flower again very quickly. From June to October they are rarely without blooms and at the height of each successive flush they are capable of producing a mass of colour.

The shape and size of the flowers varies greatly, including singles, semidoubles and full doubles, quartered blooms, rosette shapes and highcentred flowers like those of the old hybrid tea roses, but usually smaller in size. They are the finest roses for making a continuous display in the garden and some make excellent cut flowers.

‘Woburn Abbey’ This is one of the best true-orange cluster-flowered roses. The cup-shaped, medium sized flowers are produced in good trusses. The glossy dark-green leaves have a bronze tint when young. Introduced in 1962, the height of is about 3ft (91cm).

Honeymoon [‘Korhemtra’] This rose has light-green leaves and large, canary-yellow flowers, which are of a full-petalled, flat-topped, rosette shape. This vigorous rose can reach 3ft (91cm), is usually healthy and branches well. It was raised by Wilhelm Kordes in 1959.

Lilli/Lili Marlene [‘Korlima’] The colour of this fine rose is officially described as ‘scarletred’, but to me it seems more crimson than this would suggest. It is certainly one of the best deep-red bedding roses and it has stood the test of time well since it was introduced in 1959. Raised by Reimer Kordes from a cross between a seedling and ‘Ama’ (a rose much like ‘Frensham’ and by some considered superior to it), Lilli Marlene grows 2½-3ft (75-91cm) high, branches well, has good bronze-tinted foliage and flowers very freely.

Korona [‘Kornita’] At its best, this is one of the brightest orange-scarlet roses ever raised and a wonderful sight, but this does not happen in all gardens. It has been suggested that virus infection may account for the comparatively poor performance of Korona in some places, so it is important to buy plants from a really reliable source, where they are known to be doing well. Flowers are of medium size, semi-double, loosely formed and very freely produced. Introduced in 1955, its height can be up to 31∕2ft (1m).

Rosa Iceberg [‘Korbin’] was voted RHS Plant of the Decade 1953-1962

‘Orange Sensation’ This orange-vermillion bedding rose is pleasantly scented and free flowering. The medium-sized flowers are semi-double, of loose rosette formation, borne in good clusters. Foliage is green, height is about 21/2ft (75cm) and branching satisfactory. It was raised by G. de Ruiter and introduced in 1961.

‘Pink Parfait’ This rose that was a success as soon as it was introduced in 1962. Raised by Herbert C. Swim in the USA, it produces innumerable small but perfectly formed flowers in shades of pink champagne to pale yellow at the base of the petals. It grows to around 21/2ft (75cm) high, branches freely and is normally healthy.

‘Queen Elizabeth’ This is one of the great roses of all time. It is tall at 5ft (1½m), so can be used as a background to shorter roses or as a hedge. The medium-pink flowers are large and well formed when young, carried in fine clusters on sturdy stems. It was raised by Dr Walter Lammerts of the USA and introduced in 1955.

Iceberg [‘Korbin’] Many rose growers regard Iceberg as the best white rose ever raised. Its main fault is its rather thin, tall stems that can grow to a height of up to 4ft (1.2m), which can be weighed down by the large trusses of pure-white flowers. Not large individually, these trusses soon open flat, but are quite shapely in bud. They are so freely produced that at peak seasons there is little of the light-green foliage visible. This rose was raised by Reimer Kordes of Germany from ‘Robin Hood’ and the white hybrid tea rose ‘Virgo’. It was introduced in 1958.

‘Masquerade’ This rose did very little at first and then so improved its performance that it became one of the most popular cluster-flowered roses of all time. It is so vigorous and branches so freely that it can be grown as a shrub or hedge rose to a height of 31/2ft (1m). The flowers change colour as they age, starting yellow in the bud, becoming cerise when open and fading to crimson. The effect is startling when flowers of different ages are open at the same time. ‘Masquerade’ was raised in the USA by E.S. Boerner and introduced in 1949.