Choosing planting

What is a perpetual rose?

Discover its characteristics and all our tips!

Contents

Modified the Wednesday, 13 August 2025 by Alexandra 3 min. Difficulty: Débutant

Although this may be confusing, no, a perpetual rose is not a climbing rose!

Term ‘perpetual’ simply denotes a variety that flowers again several times during the year. Moreover, term ‘perpetual’ is often used for other plants.

In general, flowering begins in spring then continues in successive waves until first frosts. Perpetual roses are therefore appreciated for their long flowering, which can last from May–June through to October!

Modern roses are generally perpetual, whereas old varieties generally flower only once, in spring.

In the 18^th century, roses from China, Rosa chinensis, which had the particularity of being perpetual, were imported into Europe. It was then cross-breeding and hybridization with these roses that made it possible to obtain modern perpetual varieties.

Hybrid tea roses (bush roses with large solitary flowers), Polyantha and Floribunda roses with clustered flowers, English roses, as well as climbing roses (unlike liana roses), are perpetual.

Difficulty

Some varieties of perpetual roses

Perpetual roses are numerous; here is a selection of our favourite varieties:

Rosa Pierre de Ronsard - Climbing Rose

This is a climbing rose that produces large flowers throughout summer in shades of soft pink and carmine pink. It was awarded World Favourite Rose in 2006, an honour bestowed by the World Federation of Rose Societies.

Flowering time July to November
Height at maturity 2 m

Rosa Gertrude Jekyll - English Rose

This variety is a shrub rose, vigorous and reliable, bearing large, intensely pink, pleasantly scented flowers. They form rosettes 10 cm in diameter, made up of many petals. It is a David Austin introduction.

Flowering time June to November
Height at maturity 1,20 m

Rosa x chinensis 'Mutabilis' - China Rose

This is an old shrub rose, derived from the China rose, which gave rise to the first perpetual varieties! Its single, five-petalled flowers are available in lovely shades of pink and orange.

Flowering time June to November
Height at maturity 1,70 m

Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland' - Peace Rose - Hybrid Tea Rose

The variety 'Mme A. Meilland' is one of the most widely cultivated in the world! From June until the frosts, it produces large, very double flowers, yellow–orange at the centre and rather pink on the outer petals. It forms a compact shrub, ideal for planting on the edge of a flowerbed.

Flowering time July to November
Height at maturity 90 cm

How to make a perpetual rosebush rebloom?

To encourage your climbing rose to reflower well, we recommend regularly removing faded flowers. Indeed, this encourages the bush to produce new flowers, rather than wasting energy producing seeds! In the garden, in practice, as soon as you notice faded flowers, cut just above the last pair of leaves before the flower. You can also take the opportunity to remove dead or dried-up branches.

To care for your perpetual rose, we also recommend carrying out pruning at the end of winter, preferably in February–March. This pruning will improve its flowering and help it retain a compact habit. Note that, by contrast, roses that are not perpetual are usually pruned in summer, after flowering.

Discover also our video tips on pruning modern roses: