Floribunda Roses
Rose breeders quickly saw the value in crossing polyanthas with hybrid teas, to create roses that bloomed with the polyantha profusion, but with hybrid tea floral beauty and color range. In 1909, the first polyantha/hybrid tea cross, 'Gruss an Aachen,' was created, with characteristics midway between both parent classes. As the larger, more shapely flowers and hybrid-tea-like growth habit separated these new roses from polyanthas and hybrid teas alike, a new class was created and named Floribunda, Latin for "many-flowering." Typical floribundas feature stiff shrubs, smaller and bushier than the average hybrid tea but less dense and sprawling than the average polyantha. The flowers are often smaller than hybrid teas but are carried in large sprays, giving a better floral effect in the garden. Floribundas are found in all hybrid tea colors and with the classic hybrid tea-shaped blossom, sometimes differing from hybrid teas only in their cluster-flowering habit. Today they are still used in large bedding schemes in public parks and similar spaces. Examples: 'Dainty Maid', 'Iceberg', 'Tuscan Sun'.
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