Class: Grandiflora

Queen Elizabeth Photo © Barrie Collins (www.barriecollins.net)

If any class of roses can be considered an enigma, Grandiflora is certainly one. In 1954, a rose was created from a cross between a floribunda and hybrid tea. The tall, strong plant with beautiful blooms of pink, was so new and unusual that the class Grandiflora was created to accommodate the stately pink 'Queen Elizabeth.'. While very few roses have met the standard first set by her majesty, there are some outstanding Grandifloras offered today. A typical grandiflora has the flower quality of the classic hybrid tea (long-stemmed, high-centered bloom), but produced in clusters like a Floribunda. Growth is normally tall and vigorous and therefore Grandifloras are often most valuable as background plants.

The Grandiflora class is not recognized in Great Britain, which is ironic since the first rose to be classified as a Grandiflora was 'Queen Elizabeth'. In England, roses which bear the Grandiflora designation in America are placed into the Floribunda class."

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