Members of the first class, sometimes called old roses, bloom once a year, usually in early summer. They include the yellow briers, damask roses, moss roses, and many climbers. The second kind of roses bloom in early summer and again in fall. Members of the third main class, the everblooming hybrids, flower almost constantly during the growing season. These roses include floribundas, grandifloras, hybrid teas, and polyanthas.
Roses come in many colors, including various shades of pink, red, yellow, and white.
Rose growers have not developed a blue rose, but they do grow lavender varieties. Some roses, such as the teas and hybrid teas, smell like tea or fruit. For example, hybrid teas were developed from the everblooming hybrid teas and the hardier hybrid perpetuals. Floribundas were bred from the hybrid teas and polyanthas. Grandifloras, one of the newer kinds of roses, resulted from crossing hybrid teas with floribundas.