Striped roses are like rose blossoms 2.0. You take a rose blossom that’s already pretty and fragrant the way it is, and then you slap a lot of stripes on it, and now it’s a showstopper. No two blossoms alike!
Here are 17 of the absolute best-striped roses that you could ever hope to lay your eyes on. Some offer disease resistance. Some don’t. But they’ll all give you a lot of eye candy for the garden.
Jump to:
- 1. Neil Diamond
- 2. Alice Flores Purple Hybrid China
- 3. Roller Coaster
- 4. Hurdy Gurdy
- 5. Wonderstripe
- 6. Parade Day
- 7. Scentimental
- 8. George Burns
- 9. Brocéliande®
- 10. Deanna Krause
- 11. Alfred Sisley
- 12. Marc Chagall
- 13. Purple Tiger
- 14. Peach Swirl
- Striped Antique Roses
- 15. Rosa Mundi
- 16. Variegata di Bologna
- 17. Ferdinand Pichard
1. Neil Diamond
Breeder: Tom Carruth, 2011
It’s great that Neil got this fragrant “cracklin’ rose” named after him. This “cherry cherry” red rose with white stripes blooms all season, and it’s not “done too soon” like roses that bloom once a year. Plant it by the “holly holy” for year-round color, and be sure to set “stones” around it so “the grass won’t pay no mind.”
Enjoy it on a “hot August night” or “September morn” while you’re enjoying “the best years of our lives” or even when you’re “headed for the future.” “Be” sure to plant this rose on the “morningside” of your sweetheart’s garden so they can’t say “you don’t bring me flowers anymore.” Otherwise, you’ll end up a “solitary man” because “love doesn’t live here anymore” …“if you know what I mean.”
Okay, I’ll stop now. Zones 4b and warmer.
Available at Heirloom Roses.
2. Alice Flores Purple Hybrid China
Hybrid China Shrub
Found rose from Fairmount Cemetery in Denver, Colorado
Fairmount Cemetery is filled with unique antique roses, and this rose really takes the cake. It’s considered a “found” rose – that is, a rose of antiquity whose name is unknown. Alice Flores Purple Hybrid China features striped red-purple blooms atop lime-green foliage. The densely-growing shrub grows 4 feet tall. Moderate fragrance. Occasional repeat blossoms later in the season. Zone 5 and up.
Rose is available from High Country Roses.
Learn more about how to raise roses in Rose to the Occasion: An Easy-Growing Guide to Rose Gardening.
3. Roller Coaster
Here’s an absolute treasure of a miniature rose. Roller Coaster (in Australia, it’s called Minnie Mouse) bears huge clusters of 2 ½-inch peppermint-striped roses with a bright touch of yellow. It blooms all through the growing season.
This rose rockets to the sky with branches that arch, spread, or climb up to five feet. It can be grown as a climber or a shrub, depending on the local climate. In the fall, “Roller Coaster” bears rose hips full of Vitamin C.
Like all roses, miniature roses are sun-loving and fairly drought-resistant. Zones 6 to 9.
4. Hurdy Gurdy
Even though this rose is a miniature, it has a lot of big colors. This vigorous plant is smothered with startling crimson and white striped flowers of perfect form.
Hurdy Gurdy is a miniature floribunda with bold red stripes and pink and white/cream, and it bursts around a prominent boss of yellow stamens. Repeat blossoming is great. The clusters get especially large in the fall. Hurdy Gurdy can be grown as a climber, growing 5 to 8 (or even 10) feet tall on healthy canes. Zones 6 to 9.
Available from Rogue Valley Roses.
5. Wonderstripe
These blossoms have soft stripes that aren’t in the least bit garish. It has all the romance (and fragrance!) of an old-fashioned rose with all the standout colors of a modern variety.
Wonderstripe™ bears eye-catching blooms that open to four inches across, and the petals reveal an incredible combination of deep pink and white stripes that turn into a rich, creamy yellow in the center of the blossom. No two flowers are alike, and all are deeply cupped with a moderate myrrh fragrance.
This rose stays a compact 4 feet tall with dark green leaves that provide a wonderful backdrop for her striking flowers.
Available from Heirloom Roses.
6. Parade Day
Breeder: Christian Bédard, 2018
Prolific bloomer even during hot, dry spells
One drawback to peppermint-splashed pink roses is that they sometimes fade in the sun. Not Parade Day. This sassy rose holds its intense color exceptionally well in your garden or as a cut flower. Flowers last up to a week in a vase.
Parade Day has a citrus-spice fragrance, and this shapely grandiflora bears its large striped flowers in clusters over dense, glossy foliage.
It grows quickly and will start blooming after you plant it. Lots of vigor and blossoms in this lovely selection.
Introduced in Australia as Cherry Blossom. Zones 4 to 10.
Available at Heirloom Roses.
7. Scentimental
Floribunda
Zones 6 to 9
Breeder: Carruth, 1999
I got this dandy little rose from a local nursery that was clearing out their old stock and planted it in the city rose garden. Scentimental is the first striped rose to win an All-American Rose Award, and it turned out to be a real beaut.
This compact floribunda grows about 4 feet tall (mine stayed about 3 feet) and has glossy, dark green foliage. All year long, this floribunda produces sprays of large flowers streaked with red and white with a sweet damask fragrance. The flowers didn’t last very long, but new ones keep popping out all the time. And the rose is disease-resistant, which was great in my book. Scentimental does very well in the lousy August heat and holds up where others fail. It also does very well in high desert areas.
Available from David Austin Roses.
Read more about 24 Hardy and Resilient Rose Varieties You Can Grow Easily
8. George Burns
Breeder: Tom Carruth, 1998
Distinctive, unusual colors mark this lovely floribunda rose. It bears large clusters of yellow roses striped irregularly with red, cream, and a bit of pink. Cooler temperatures yield more yellow in the blossoms.
George Burns has a strong citrus fragrance – though one would expect a George Burns rose to smell dryly of cigars.
Surprisingly thorny. George Burns does have some issues with vigor and longevity, so perhaps the name’s a misnomer for a long-lived comedian who had the London Palladium booked for his 100th birthday. Goes by the names Glamourpuss and Rodeo Clown in Australia. Hardy in zones 5 to 10.
9. Brocéliande®
The Brocéliande® rose is a gorgeous hybrid tea with large, full blossoms of red with cream stripes and just a touch of yellow. The petals unfold slowly on these massive blooms, and its fragrance is strong and lovely. Brocéliande® is an upright grower that will reach 3′-4′ in height, with clean, glossy foliage. Zones 6 to 9
Available from Palatine Roses.
10. Deanna Krause
Breeder: Ray Ponton. Introduced in 2005.
Deanna Krause bears single flowers with rose-pink stripes and a bold burst of stamens in the center. The blossoms are strongly fragrant, and they rebloom throughout the season, with the best flowering in spring and fall. This rose produces an abundant crop of orange hips in fall if you don’t deadhead it. The rose forms an open, spreading four-foot shrub.
This is a hybrid of Carefree Beauty x Fourth of July, and it definitely got its blackspot resistance from Carefree Beauty. A low-maintenance beauty.
The rose is named for Deanna Krause, a Texas Rose Rustler and a master consulting rosarian for the Houston Rose Society. Zones 5b and warmer.
Available from Antique Rose Emporium and Rose Petals Nursery.
- Related: 10 of the Most Delightfully Fragrant Roses You Can Grow
- Related: 7 Tips for Growing a Low Maintenance Rose Garden + 7 Great Varieties
11. Alfred Sisley
Breeder: G. Delbard, 1998
A real workhorse of a rose, named for the French Impressionist landscape painter. Alfred Sisley bears light yellow/cream petals with flecks of red and lots of orange in the background. Mild apple fragrance that’s also described as minty or herbal. This shrub rose flourishes wherever you plant it and blooms nearly non-stop. In the fall, you get hips!
New growth comes out in deep copper that turns to dark green upon maturity. Compact growth up to 3 feet tall. Zones 6 to 9.
Available from Calloway’s Nursery.
12. Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall is a lovely impressionistic rose named for an Impressionist painter. Its pink roses, which get 3 to 4 inches across, are festooned with white and cream stripes with yellow undertones. Its mild fragrance is reminiscent of peaches or apricots. Blooms in flushes through the growing season.
Marc Chagall is a disease-resistant rose and doesn’t throw up a bunch of long canes – it prefers to stay a tidy 3 by 3-foot shrub, perfect for a great border or container rose.
Zones 6 to 9. Available from Heirloom Roses.
13. Purple Tiger
Breeder: Jack Christensen, 1991
Also called Dark Dragon or Impressionist, this flamboyant rose bears flowers with vivid streaks of lavender, purple, and white. Blossoms are 3 to 4 inches across and packed with petals along with a delicious citrus fragrance. Purple Tiger grows compact, only 2 to 3 feet tall, and it is thornless.
Note: Blackspot seems to plague this rose, so it will likely need to be on a disease-control regimen. Some rosarians only love it when it’s in bloom! Caveat emptor. A hybrid of Intrigue x Pinstripe. Zones 6 to 11.
Available at Heirloom Roses.
14. Peach Swirl
Breeder: Texas Rose Ventures
The blossoms of Peach Swirl are striped with apricot, pink, and yellow. Flowers are colorfast, and they don’t fade in the hot summer sun. Peach Swirl is a veritable bloom factory, popping out fragrant flowers left and right.
Peach Swirl is a strong grower even in hot weather, reaching up to 6 feet tall.
Try to buy this rose on its own roots instead of grafted to the rootstock. There’s been some past concern from rosarians that a number of these grafted roses seem to have rose mosaic virus (RMV). This virus doesn’t kill the rose (don’t confuse it with the deadly rose rosette disease), but the mottled yellow leaves of rose mosaic are annoying.
Available from Calloway’s Nursery.
Striped Antique Roses
For those of you who adore old heirloom roses, here are a few old favorites that have really stood the test of time.
Learn more about how to raise roses, including amazing historical ones like these, in Rose to the Occasion: An Easy-Growing Guide to Rose Gardening.
15. Rosa Mundi
Rosa Mundi is the result of a spontaneous mutation of the Apothecary Rose (Rosa gallica officinalis). The Apothecary Rose dates back to before the 1300s. Rosa Mundi, who is named for Henry II’s mistress, Rosamond, appeared in about 1581. In Scandinavia, this rose is called Polkagrisrose, after the peppermint-striped candy.
I used to grow this rose in the city rose garden, and I want to grow her again. Rosa Mundi never grew taller than 18 inches for me, and she had all these little skinny canes, but boy, those striped blossoms always looked and smelled great. She and the Apothecary rose both have dark, green-gray leaves that also have a great rose fragrance, and they’ll sucker out. Occasionally, the plant will slowly revert back to solid purple-pink like the original rose! Grows clear up in Quebec. Zone 4 to 8.
Available at High Country Roses.
Learn more about Rosa Mundi.
16. Variegata di Bologna
Breeder: Massimiliano Lodi, 1909
5 to 7 feet
Here’s an antique with swoonworthy flowers. Variegata di Bologna is a delectible Bourbon, a white rose with cherry-red stripes. Like many Bourbon roses, Variegata di Bologna blooms only once a year and a mature rosebush can bear a hundred fragrant blossoms. It’s rare when it gives you a blossom or two in the fall. Like most Bourbons, its petals are filled with a strong fragrance. For more blossoms, grow a fall-blooming clematis or two up through its branches.
There were questions about this rose’s breeding, but a rosarian found the rose’s original listing in a 1909 catalogue that shows that it’s a cross between an unknown musk rose (varietà di moscata) and a hybrid perpetual rose named Pride of Reigate.
Available from Antique Rose Emporium.
17. Ferdinand Pichard
Here’s a hybrid perpetual rose bred byRémi Tannebefore 1921.
Ferdinand Pichard is one of the best old striped roses. It’s a big, strapping rose that covers itself with blooms in its first flush, then provides smaller flushes in summer and fall. Rebloom improves with age, as does the flower size.
The flowers are wonderful, smelling of damask and raspberries. Upon opening, the blossoms are clear pink splashed with vivid crimson. Soon, the pink turns to blush, and the crimson fades to purple. It has a lanky habit and should be pegged down to the ground for best effect.
Ferdinand Pichard might be better suited for Europe because some rosarians in the United States state that it loses all vitality when summer gets super-hot and threatens to drop all its leaves unless it’s watered daily. (On the other hand, maybe summer dormancy suits this rose best so it can gear up for the fall reblooming? That’s a question for other rosarians to answer.)
Available from High Country Roses.
Read more gardening advice from Rosefiend Cordell.
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