Available in a wide range of colours, many with beautiful scents, roses make great cut flowers.
Double roses have masses of gorgeous, ruffled petals, while single roses, such as species roses, are ideal for simpler, more naturalistic displays. And you can also use rose hips in displays to add dots of colour in late summer and autumn. Check out the best roses for hips.
For more advice on growing cut flowers, take a look at our guide to the cut flower growing year, including sowing times and tips on growing gorgeous blooms.
Here are some of our favourite roses for cut flowers.
‘Kew Gardens’
‘Kew Gardens’ is a thornless shrub rose bearing clusters of single white flowers, so you won’t get pricked when cutting. This vigorous variety is repeat-flowering, so can be constantly deadheaded to provide more flowers.
‘Munstead Wood’
This sumptuously coloured rose has dark red, almost plum-coloured double flowers. Their strong fragrance adds an extra layer of appeal. Deadhead ‘Munstead Wood’ regularly for further flowers.
Rosa canina
The dog rose, Rosa canina, is a UK native climbing rose with flowers that range in colour, from white to deep pink. The real draw is their rosy hips that among other things, look great in a floral arrangement.
‘Lady Emma Hamilton’
‘Lady Emma Hamilton’ is a repeat-flowering shrub rose with lovely cup-shaped blooms. If you’re after a spot of cheer, a more colourful rose like this fits the brief. The flowers have a rich, fruity scent, too.
‘Boscobel’
The shrub rose ‘Boscobel’ has large pink blooms that alone look rather extravagant, but combined with other flowers like gypsophila and hardy geraniums they’ll appear more pared down. The flowers have a pretty myrrh aroma.
‘Lichfield Angel’
Pale roses like ‘Lichfield Angel’ are easy to combine with other flowers in bouquets and vases because they don’t clash with other colours as much. ‘Lichfield Angel’ has domed flowers that are lightly fragranced.
‘Versicolor’
As the name suggests, ‘Versicolor’ has bi-coloured flowers, which are a fun departure from the single-coloured varieties. Other bi-coloured roses include ‘Hanky Panky’, ‘Durrell’ and ‘Dram Queen’.
‘Hot Chocolate’
Rosa ‘Hot Chocolate’ has rarely seen russet-brown flowers with a delicious fragrance. A repeat flowerer, keep deadheading it to ensure a continuous supply of blooms.
Get great roses for cutting
- Deadhead your roses as soon as they start to go over
- Cut your roses just as the flowers are about to open
- Water your roses frequently, especially if they’re containerised
- For hips, don’t deadhead your last roses of the year to allow hips to develop
- Use a high-potash feed to promote flower development
- Cut flowers first thing in the morning or in the evening, when plants are least stressed
