The right roses are a great addition to a pollinator garden. While not nectar-producing, plenty of pollinator-friendly roses have pollen-rich golden stamens to welcome beneficial bugs like bees, hoverflies, and predatory wasps to your yard. The pollen is high in protein and is collected by bees to form a sticky substance needed for breeding.
Best of all, an effective pollinator garden with diverse companion plants will encourage beneficial insects to provide natural pest control!
When choosing roses for your pollinator garden, think like an insect. Here are some key factors to keep in mind:
Key Factors For Pollinator Friendly Roses
- Opt for roses with open centers and exposed stamens.
- Pollinators prefer fragrant roses whose perfume is a signal to visit.
- Find disease-resistant varieties that don’t need sprays to stay healthy.
- Pick floriferous varieties. Bloom size doesn’t matter, but the quantity does.
Remember this criteria, and you’re ready to visit the nursery to find the perfect pollinator-friendly roses! If you want some recommendations, I did the research for you. Here are 21 varieties that have what it takes to enrich and beautify your pollinator garden.
‘Easy On The Eyes’
These pollinator-friendly roses produce stunning lavender-pink flowers with purple and yellow centers that bloom all summer.
‘Easy On The Eyes’ has a stunning single bloom that will appeal to pollinators and gardeners alike! The flowers are truly unique, with large waved petals in lavender pink and intense purple and yellow centers. They appear in flushes all summer long.
Part of Weeks Roses’ Easy to Love collection, this variety is floriferous and disease-resistant. It grows into an attractive, rounded shrub that fits beautifully in a mixed border. The scent is a light citrusy spice.
‘Easy on the Eyes’ is compact enough for a container pollinator garden on your patio (I love these durable and non-toxic beds). It prefers full sun (6-8 hours minimum) and will make lovely cut bouquets. An excellent and eye-catching choice, even for beginner rose gardeners!
‘Mermaid’
The climbing ‘Mermaid’ is a robust rose adored by pollinators, with saucer-sized blooms and golden stamens.
There’s nothing like a climbing rose to add oomph and romance to the garden. This climber is beloved by pollinators, too! ‘Mermaid’ is known for its saucer-sized open blooms and dramatic golden stamens.
A robust rose, ‘Mermaid’ needs some space to show off. It climbs 15-25 feet, so prepare a trellis or arbor for it to climb. Good shade tolerance makes it extra flexible. This cultivar is vigorous even in sites with poor soil.
The giant blooms are a soft antique yellow. The foliage is pretty and will remain evergreen in warm zones. Best of all is its continual bloom, with bountiful, mildly fragrant flowers all season.
‘Basye’s Purple’
This Rugosa rose boasts fuchsia blooms with waved petals and a fruity fragrance.
Rugosa roses are pollinator-friendly favorites. ‘Basye’s Purple’ is a rugosa that boasts rich fuschia blooms, waved petals, and a delicious fruity fragrance. The centers are open, revealing floaty stamens and bulls-eye centers. The thick foliage is hardy and resistant to disease.
This heavy bloomer will keep the flowers coming from spring through fall. They are accented by burgundy stems and canes that add beauty to the shrub.
‘Basye’s Purple’ can handle chilly winters (down to zone 3!) and dry, hot summers. In the fall, the foliage turns a gorgeous amber tone. Stop deadheading it in late summer to get a crop of eye-catching red hips. Grow this one as a large, bushy shrub, or train it as a small climber.
‘Jacqueline du Pré’
Semi-double bloom ‘Jacqueline du Pré’ has cranberry-pink stamens on glowing white petals, and is a hardy shrub with a musky lemon scent.
I’m usually drawn to full-petaled, deeply cupped English-style roses, but this semi-double bloom has changed my tune! ‘Jacqueline du Pré’s’ unusual cranberry-pink stamens stand out on a backdrop of 3-4 inch glowing white petals with hints of blush.
‘Jacqueline’ is a hardy shrub rose reaching 6 feet tall. It is rated highly for disease resistance and pumps out blooms all season. The musky lemon scent wafts in the breeze and will perfume your room when you cut flowers to bring inside.
Named for an accomplished British cellist, ‘Jacqueline’ has a delicate, ethereal look. The shrub has an elegant upright habit and easily squeezes into a larger pollinator bed. This one is a must-have.
‘Blue for You’
Elusive blue hues reside in the ‘Blue for You’ rose with semi-double blooms, heavy clusters, and clove and candied apple scent.
Blue is an elusive color in the rose family, but this one gets pretty close. ‘Blue for You’ produces pretty semi-double blooms in lilac, magenta, and smoky plum hues. The cooler blues take over as flowers age on the bush. Each bloom is decorated with a luminous white center. Since blue is particularly attractive to bees, these pollinator-friendly roses can upgrade any bee garden.
This is a prolific variety, with heavy bloom clusters from spring through frost. Robust and healthy, it will be a dependable workhorse in your garden.
‘Blue for You’ smells like cloves and candied apples. It performs even in the hot baking sun, making the perfume even more pronounced. I love this rose paired with peach-toned yarrow for a sunny pollinator garden.
‘Mutabilis’
The multicolored ‘Mutabilis’ rose has butterfly-like blooms, is an admired heirloom variety, and is drought and shade tolerant.
Ready for a no-fail rose? ‘Mutabilis’ is an Old Rose Hall of Fame winner and an Earth-KindⓇ Rose of the Year. Earth-KindⓇ roses receive the designation after extensive trials in hot summers nationwide, with little supplemental irrigation. If you’re looking for a beautiful, reliable rose for pollinators, ‘Mutabilis’ is it!
‘Mutabilis’ means “liable to change.” It got the name for the multicolored effect of blooms in different stages, which appear in watercolor shades of yellow, pink, gold, and red. The flowers look like a flurry of butterflies on the large shrub, earning it the moniker “The Butterfly Rose.”
An excellent heirloom choice for your garden, ‘Mutabilis’ has been admired since the 1890s. This large-bloomed variety can handle drought and shade. Plant it where it has room to spread, as it can sprawl 10 feet wide and just as tall!
‘Ringo All-Star’
The ‘Ringo All-Star’ cultivar offers evolving colors, large single-petaled blooms, and low maintenance.
If you want the evolving color show of ‘Mutabilis’ in a smaller package, check out ‘Ringo All-Star.’ When the flowers first unfurl, the petals are a warm coral, with yellow rings around a vermillion bulls-eye. As the blooms mature, they fade into lavender with pink centers.
Moreover, ‘Ringo All-Star’ was the Royal Horticultural Society’s Rose of the Year in 2015. It packs a huge punch in the garden due to its large and vivid single-petaled blooms that remind me of tropical hibiscus.
‘Ringo All-Star’ is a bloom machine throughout the summer. As a low-growing floribunda, it’s an excellent option for garden borders or mass plantings. It’s also self-cleaning, with no need for deadheading to keep the flowers coming!
‘Perfume Breeze’
Attract pollinators with the fluffy pink ‘Perfume Breeze’ climber, known for its intense fragrance and weeping clusters of flowers.
If you love fluffy pompon-style roses and want to attract pollinators, check out ‘Perfume Breeze.’ This climber is smothered in soft pink rosettes with an open center for pollinators lured in by the luscious scent. It is one of the most fragrant pollinator-friendly roses.
Appropriately named, ‘Perfume Breeze’ has an intense rose fragrance that gently wafts through the garden. The small blooms appear in heavy weeping clusters, making it a stunning variety to try as a standard rose (rose tree).
‘Perfume Breeze’ has slender, flexible canes, making it easy to train up an arbor or fence. It’s a fast grower, so give it a go if you want hundreds of fragrant blooms quickly. This darling rose has all the charm of an antique noisette variety but is easier to find at local garden centers.
‘Oso Easy Lemon Zest’
Bright, cheerful ‘Oso Easy Lemon Zest’ roses with their lemony-yellow blooms are low maintenance and perfect for containers and hedges.
Are you on the hunt for lots of bright, cheerful color? ‘Oso Easy Lemon Zest’ provides a burst of lemony-yellow blooms on a small landscape shrub under 3 feet. If you haven’t filled your entry containers, a pair of these placed on either side of your door screams breezy summer style.
Even better, the roses in the ‘Oso Easy’ series are perfect for lazy gardeners. They flower from spring to frost with no deadheading and no pruning. Consider planting several in a row to form a sunny hedge for your pollinator bed.
The zesty color looks stunning paired with purple anise hyssop (another pollinator favorite) or deep blue delphiniums. Plant ‘Oso Easy’ if garden maintenance isn’t high on your list, but you still want sweet-scented flowers all summer long.
‘Rosa Mundi’
Sophisticated ‘Rosa Mundi’ is a Gallica rose with magenta-striped petals, a rich history, and an enchanting fragrance.
This ancient Gallica rose is all showy sophistication. A standout in Jefferson’s gardens at Monticello, ‘Rosa Mundi’ has magenta-striped shell pink petals and a fragrance so wonderful it inspired a Diptyque candle.
‘Rosa Mundi’ has been cultivated since the 1540s in Europe. It’s an ancient variety with plenty to offer modern gardeners, including an intriguing origin legend involving Eleanor of Aquitaine, King Henry II, and his mistress Rosamund (the rose’s namesake).
This stylish heirloom blooms in spring for approximately 6 weeks, beating most popular perennials for the length of flowering. Defying the misconception that old garden roses aren’t as disease and pest resistant as new varieties, this is a tough and easy-to-grow shrub. Vigor, health, beauty, and a distinctly lavish fragrance make ‘Rosa Mundi’ among the most tempting pollinator-friendly roses.
‘Veilchenblau’
Opt for delicate miniature blooms like ‘Veilchenblau’ with violet and cream-streaked flowers for a bee garden.
When you think of roses, you might picture big, blousy blooms. However, when planting pollinator-friendly roses, consider going the opposite way with generous clusters of delicate miniature blooms that provide many opportunities for bugs to access pollen.
‘Veilchenblau’ has unusual violet and cream-streaked cupped flowers with yellow stamens. It’s a rambler that grows up to 20 feet tall, flushing your garden with masses of lily-of-the-valley scented blooms each spring for 5-6 weeks.
Though this rose reaches a formidable size, the nearly thornless canes make it much less intimidating. It’s showstopping even in part shade. ‘Veilchenblau’ is extremely cold-hardy but thrives in warm climates, too. A vigorous choice for purple fans!
‘Ballerina’
Achieve an enchanted woodland look with the fuss-free ‘Ballerina’ rose that is always in bloom.
Perfect for creating an enchanted woodland look, ‘Ballerina’ is a fuss-free hybrid musk rose nearly always in bloom. It’s a bushy shrub that can grow up to 6 feet tall but is easy to maintain at a lower height. You can even prune it with a hedge trimmer, though I haven’t tried it myself. Keep it pruned low for a dense hedge blanketed in adorable pink flowers.
The small blooms are baby pink with cream centers and appear in such big clusters on the shrub that it looks like a hydrangea! They have a light, sweet musk scent that pollinators adore.
‘Ballerina’ is a highly-awarded rose with excellent health. It’s tolerant of both shade and hot, sunny sites. The petals are a chef’s favorite for flavoring honey, syrups, and rose desserts. I love this one when paired with creamy white bunny tail grass for a charming fairy garden effect.
‘Scabrosa’
The tidy ‘Scabrosa’ rugosa rose with velvety magenta blooms, spicy fragrance, and winter tomato-red hips.
‘Scabrosa’ is another Rugosa rose that stands out from the pack. Unlike its sprawling brethren, ‘Scabrosa’ maintains a tidier shrub shape. The velvety magenta blooms look like poppies, with paper-thin petals that glimmer in the sun. The smell is to die for and recalls the depth of spicy carnations with a rosey twist.
‘Scabrosa’ has the classic leathery, wrinkled foliage in fresh green that rugosas are known for. Once established, it’s drought tolerant. It can handle pretty much anything, including winters down to -40℉.
Bees love and flock to this rose throughout the summer, perhaps drawn in by its heavenly fragrance. In winter, it’s decorated with plump round tomato-red hips, an eye-catching addition to arrangements and decor. ‘Scabrosa’ does spread via suckers, so be prepared to transplant new babies (free roses!) or give it lots of space.
‘Peter Beales’
The fragrant ‘Peter Beales’ rose has glossy green foliage, big deep red blooms, and striking golden stamens.
While bees aren’t usually drawn to red flowers (though plenty of other pollinators are), the perfume of the ‘Peter Beales’ rose reels them in. Named for a world-renowned rose expert, this deep red rose will catch your attention, too.
‘Peter’ has glossy green foliage and big crimson blooms. Though it generally stays on the smaller side with a neat, upright habit, it can grow 7 feet when happy. I think it looks best at the back of the border, complemented with a chartreuse ground cover like lemon coral sedum.
Prominent golden stamens are striking against ‘Peter Beale’s’ dark red petals. The blooms are great for cutting and equally beautiful in the vase. Plant this shrub rose in full sun anywhere you need an intense pop of color!
‘Tottering By Gently’
The ‘Tottering-by-Gently’ rose is a robust grower with buttercup-like single blooms and attractive hips.
This variety is bursting with simple cottage garden appeal. Created for the 25th anniversary of a popular British cartoon, ‘Tottering-by-Gently’ is full of buttercup-like single blooms in whimsical sprays.
I love ‘Tottering’ planted en masse along a pathway. It’s a robust grower that shoots out many basal canes to form a dense, tidy shrub. The large blooms keep coming all season and are self-cleaning. No need for deadheading here!
‘Tottering-by-Gently’ has a light musky scent and is often covered in pollinators. Plant it for multiseason allure. The pale yellow blooms are soon followed by nice orange hips that feed the birds in winter. Though this rose can flourish in many climates, I don’t recommend it for humid areas as it’s susceptible to black spot.
‘Dainty Bess’
Beloved ‘Dainty Bess’ rose with unique burgundy stamens, compact and hardy, free-flowering with a refreshing fragrance.
Of all the pollinator-friendly roses, ‘Dainty Bess’ is the highest on my wishlist! This unique-looking rose has been beloved for a while, receiving the Royal National Rose Society’s Gold Medal in 1925. Once widely grown, it’s been overlooked in recent years but has all the ingredients to make a big comeback.
‘Bess’ has noteworthy burgundy wine-colored stamens and fragile-looking petals in the most delectable shade of muted pink. This compact rose is free-flowering, with large blooms that come in repeat flushes from spring until fall.
I usually shy away from hybrid teas (too fussy in my climate), but I’ll make an exception for ‘Dainty Bess.’ Though dainty in appearance, she’s tough and hardy. She doesn’t falter in soaring summer heat or winters down to zone 4. Add that to a refreshing wildflower fragrance, and I’m all in.
‘Green Snake’
The low-growing ‘Green Snake’ rose is a perfect ground cover with trailing canes, disease-free foliage, and ivory blooms.
Have you ever thought about using roses as ground cover? Ground-hugging ‘Green Snake’ is a cultivar perfect for the purpose, staying at only 6 to 10 inches tall!
‘Green Snake’ is named for its long, trailing canes that spread up to 7 feet wide. It has a heavy flush of blush-tinted ivory blooms in early spring, followed by scattered repeat flushes throughout the season. It has a wild, informal look.
This variety has disease-free bright green foliage that looks lovely even when not in bloom. Put ‘Green Snake’ in front of taller plants in a large landscape bed, or use it to trail over rock walls for a graceful effect in tiered gardens.
‘Arctic Rose’
Native ‘Arctic Rose’ thrives in cold climates, with pleasing pink blooms, fragrant scent, and decorative orange hips.
Scientific Name:
If you’ve been researching plants for pollinators, you know native species are the best way to attract and support them. Fortunately, there are many native roses worthy of a spot in the cultivated garden.
‘Arctic Rose’ is native to a broad swath of North America and can be found in Canada, Alaska, and the Northern Great Plains. As you would expect, ‘Arctic’ thrives in cold climates (but doesn’t mind some summer heat, either!).
Once used by Native Americans as a foraged edible, the pleasing pink open blooms also have value in the garden. In the spring, you’ll treasure the plentiful flowers that smell of honey and cinnamon. In fall, decorative orange hips provide nutritious food for wildlife. ‘Arctic Rose’ is best for large properties, where it will fill in to create a dense thicket.
‘Lyda Rose’
Continually blooming ‘Lyda Rose’ offers exquisite pink-edged white flowers, nostalgic charm, and shade tolerance.
Do you love springtime dogwood blossoms? Get that look all summer with continually blooming ‘Lyda Rose.’ This midsize shrub offers sprays of exquisite pink-edged white flowers with a strong sugar and spice scent.
The name ‘Lyda Rose’ is a nod to the song from The Music Man. The small, delicate blooms give it a nostalgic, old-fashioned charm.
‘Lyda’ is rated highly for health and was awarded Best Modern Shrub Bloom. An excellent rose for shady conditions, ‘Lyda’ produces abundant flowers with just a few hours of sunlight.
‘Sally Holmes’
Snowy-white ‘Sally Holmes’ rose, everblooming with ruffled white flowers, resilient and perfect for moon gardens.
Love snowy-white flowers? Growing a moon garden for pollinators? You must try ‘Sally Holmes,’ a World Federation of Rose Societies Hall of Fame winner.
‘Sally’ is everblooming throughout the season. It’s loaded with trusses of up to 60 apricot-colored buds that open into ruffled white open flowers. It flourishes despite poor conditions and total neglect; that’s my kind of rose!
As temperatures cool, Sally’s blooms take on a slight hint of ballet pink. Tie its thornless canes up a trellis or let it sprawl into a large shrub. Either way, the bounty of flowers is breathtaking! Cut just one cluster for a swoon-worthy lightly-scented bouquet with a long vase life.
‘Clair Matin’
The deep pink ‘Clair Matin’ rose with giant blooms is a quick grower, pollinator popular, and has sweetbriar perfume.
Blanketed in deep pink, giant blooms (5+ inches in diameter), ‘Clair Matin’ is dazzlingly gorgeous. Each flower has a bit of lighter shading, which gives them a depth that stands out, even from a distance. The buds start strawberry-pink, adding showy contrast.
This floriferous quick grower takes up a lot of space. It’s a massive shrub reaching up to 12 feet, so plant it as a centerpiece of a large area, a natural hedge, or to fill in an empty corner. You won’t be disappointed with its pollinator popularity or its fresh sweetbriar perfume.
‘Clair Matin,’ meaning clear morning in French, provides a major impact while sticking to a soft palette. It’s a gold medal winner in France. Plant it near a window to observe all of its fluttering visitors. Soon you’ll feel like the proprietor of a countryside château.
Final Thoughts
We generally plant rose gardens for their ornamental appeal, but they can also be a boon for pollinators! Plant fragrant varieties with an easily-accessible open form and your roses will smell even sweeter for having done your part to give nature a hand.
Remember that pollinators rely on you to maintain a habitat for them. To avoid harming beneficial insects, choose roses rated highly for disease-and-pest-resistance and tolerate a bit of imperfection. The roses in this list will even aid in attracting the beneficial bugs that serve as natural pest control! Here’s wishing you a summer filled with incredible blooms and buzzing bees. Enjoy your roses!
