17 Best Shrub Roses to Plant in September

Shrub roses are a class of roses with bushy, vigorous growth and repeat flowering. Many shrub roses are hybrids between species and modern roses, cultivated for durable landscape performance with smaller but more numerous flowers.

Shrub roses vary in size, often with a robust habit but with low-growing, groundcover types included in the mix. From rugosas to English selections, these reliable bloomers have graceful forms and show extended color in fully-petaled rosettes.

Perfect for mass plantings in September, shrub roses suit a variety of garden situations and spaces. Choose them for color, form, fragrance, or all of the above. Shrub roses are perfect for planting in September to establish roots in the moderate conditions of fall before winter weather. Enjoy the lush blooms and carefree constitution of these flowering garden anchors.

‘Mother of PearlⓇ’

	botanical name Rosa ‘MEIludere’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 3-4’
	hardiness zones 5-10

This grandiflora bears delicate peachy-pink flowers and superior disease resistance. Bred by the famed horticulture House of Meilland, ‘Mother of Pearl’ boasts clusters of fully double pearly blooms with a light fragrance. It repeat flowers from spring until frost.

‘Mother of Pearl’ is a beauty on the bush and in the vase with four flowers per cluster. Its ample foliage creates a lush form with loads of floating flowers atop dense, upright growth.

‘Mother of Pearl’ performs across cold and hot climates. Its black spot resistance makes it a good fit for humid environments.

‘Penelope’

	botanical name Rosa ‘Penelope’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4-8’
	hardiness zones 5-11

‘Penelope’ is an award-winner with clusters of shell pink buds that become large, white saucer-shaped flowers in spring. Her long bloom season includes continual flowering through fall. 

‘Penelope’s’ flowers reach six inches across and have a strong hybrid musk fragrance. Orange-pink rosehips give unique winter interest. Foliage is attractive, with young leaves in a coppery tint, becoming dark and glossy green as they mature.

‘Penelope’ makes a gorgeous specimen planting and accent in foundations, walkways, and the cottage garden.

‘Bliss ParfumaⓇ’

	botanical name Rosa ‘KORmarzau’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 3-4’
	hardiness zones 5-9

‘Bliss’ is decadent with romantic cupped blooms loaded with petals and a light, fruity fragrance. Clusters of luscious flowers bloom in spring through frost in shades of creamy pink with apricot centers. 

A Kordes rose, ‘Bliss’ bears its predecessors’ cold-hardy and disease-resistant qualities. A compact grower, its tidy form makes it an excellent choice for containers and small spaces.

‘Bliss’ makes a beautiful cut flower with the picture-perfect ruffled petals of a floribunda rose. ‘Bliss’ won the International Rose Trials at the Biltmore for top performance among garden roses for the home gardener.

‘The Poet’s Wife’ Rose

	botanical name Rosa ‘AUSwhirl’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4’
	hardiness zones 4-9

‘The Poet’s Wife’ is a David Austin introduction, encompassing his signature romantic flower, high fragrance, and attractive shrub form.

Rich, sunshine-yellow flowers fade to paler shades as they age. The delicious fragrance—with a hint of lemon—becomes sweeter and stronger as blooms mature.

‘The Poet’s Wife’ has shiny leaves on gently arching canes and a rounded habit. The disease-resistant shrub brightens the border with all-season blooms.

‘Belinda’s Blush’

	botanical name Rosa ‘BBARE’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 4-6’
	hardiness zones 5-11

‘Belinda’s Blush’ brings delicate, creamy pink blooms with ivory and yellow undertones and a delightful raspberry fragrance.

‘Belinda’s Blush’ is a sport of the favorite ‘Belinda’s Dream.’ ‘Dream’ is a deeper pink, also loaded with petals, and both with nearly thornless canes.

‘Blush’ and ‘Dream’ possess elevated disease resistance and easy, low-maintenance growing. As vigorous, adaptable roses, the sweet flowers won’t disappoint as top performers.

‘Gertrude Jekyll’

	botanical name Rosa ‘AUSboard’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 10’
	hardiness zones 4-9

‘Gertrude Jekyll’ is a David Austin introduction boasting fully double, bright pink blooms. This English cultivar is one of the earliest to flower and blooms until frost, with large, lush flowers with 50 to 80 petals. 

‘Gertrude Jekyll’ is the namesake of the renowned garden designer and a favorite among Austin selections. Four-inch rosettes bear a quintessential old rose fragrance, classically sweet and musky with notes of myrrh.

‘Gertrude Jekyll’ is a tall specimen trainable as a climber or left as an arching, stand-alone shrub. She’ll brighten the front of a house or garden corner. Suitable for a large container or on a trellis or obelisk, ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ tolerates dappled light conditions.

‘Sally Holmes’

	botanical name Rosa ‘Sally Holmes’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 5-12’
	hardiness zones 5-10

‘Sally Holmes’ is a celebrated rose with creamy white flowers, pink tinges, and yellow centers. Petals fade to pure white. Free-flowering throughout the summer and into fall, ‘Sally Holmes’ blooms in clusters of large, single roses. It grows as a sizeable free-standing specimen or a climber with staking and training. 

‘Sally Holmes’ is an American Rose Society award winner because of its continual flowering, disease resistance, and vigor. Pollinators enjoy the open flowers and light fragrance. Showy hips emerge in the fall for multiseason appeal and forage for birds and other wildlife.

‘Sally’ withstands high heat. With nearly thornless canes, training and clipping fresh stems are easy. Plant it as a focal point, as a screen, or to climb along a pergola.

‘The Lark Ascending’

	botanical name Rosa ‘AUSursula’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 5-6’
	hardiness zones 5-9

Another Austin introduction, ‘The Lark Ascending’ lends graceful elegance in pale apricot shades that appear lit from within with golden centers. Loosely cupped, open flowers have a classic tea rose fragrance.

The tall, bushy plants flower robustly from the ground up with bunches of blooms per stem. ‘The Lark Ascending’ is perfect for hedges or screens, en masse, and mixed borders.

‘The Lark Ascending’ is named for a prized musical piece by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. Inspired by the George Meredith poem, the piece depicts the lark’s joyful song and soaring flight. ‘The Lark Ascending’ rose inspires tales of art, culture, and nature with its beauty.

‘At Last®’

	botanical name Rosa ‘HORCOGJIL’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 2.5-3’
	hardiness zones 5-9

‘At Last®’ boasts romantic, richly-petaled double blooms in striking apricot, orange, and pink tones. Long blooming, they evoke a sunset glow, brightening the landscape in a unique hue.

‘At Last®’ is bred for the performance of a rugged landscape rose with an attractive rounded habit and profuse blooming. It resists powdery mildew and black spot, and doesn’t require sprays or treatments.

The handsome foliage is deep, glossy green. Feature ‘At Last®’ as a specimen for its color, in a container for up-close interest, or a grouping for more significant impact. Enjoy its delicate fragrance along with its unfussy nature.

‘Lichfield Angel’

	botanical name Rosa ‘AUSrelate’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4-5’
	hardiness zones 5-9

Austin’s ‘Lichfield Angel’ English selection has papery peaches-and-cream blossoms that reach five inches across and hold 100 petals. Delicate pink-apricot buds open to ivory peach rosettes.

The nodding cream roses carry a light clove fragrance and bloom nonstop from spring through frost on nearly thornless canes. ‘Lichfield Angel’ is prized for its form and versatility. The generous blooms and dark, glossy foliage delight the border and fresh floral arrangement.

‘Lichfield Angel’ received the Royal Horticultural Society’s prestigious Award of Garden Merit. Choose ‘Lichfield Angel’ for its irresistible blooms, light scent, and overall health. 

‘Scentimental’

	botanical name Rosa ‘WEKpaplet’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 3-4’
	hardiness zones 5-10

‘Scentimental’ features ruffly petals swathed in burgundy, white, red, and cream. Old-fashioned, fully double florals meet contemporary coloration for a standout display.

‘Scentimental’ lives up to its name with a strong, spicy perfume. An All-America Selections winner, ‘Scentimental’ brings color and fragrance all season.

‘Scentimental’ is disease-resistant and cold-hardy. New growth emerges red and transitions to dark green with a quilted leaf texture. Showy hips emerge post-flowering for lasting interest.

Swamp Rose

	botanical name Rosa palustris
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 7’
	hardiness zones 4-9

This native species rose features all-season appeal. Fragrant, single blooms in early summer are sweet pink with yellow centers. Dark green foliage turns vibrant red in fall, and clusters of round, crimson hips persist into winter.

Swamp roses tolerate canopy cover and dappled light. They’re well suited to hot and humid environments. They’ll grow in moist soils and tolerate sites that experience occasional water, like margins around ponds, lakes, marshes, and rain gardens. 

Swamp roses grow vigorously and bloom profusely. They’re excellent for naturalized areas and wild borders. The flowers, hips, and canes provide pollen, forage, and shelter for pollinators, birds, and small mammals.

‘Carefree Beauty™’

	botanical name Rosa ‘BUCbi’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3-5’
	hardiness zones 4-9

‘Carefree Beauty’s™’ name says it all. The plants have large, semi-double blossoms in rich pink that appear in small clusters on arching canes. It’s a Buck rose, joining more than 85 varieties developed by horticulturist Griffith Buck during his tenure at Iowa State University. 

Dr. Buck believed roses should be easy to grow. His shrub introductions are low-maintenance, disease-resistant, and cold-hardy.

‘Carefree Beauty’s™’ loose, open flowers with yellow stamens attract pollinators and produce orange hips in the fall. It’s an Earth-KindⓇ selection (and Earth-KindⓇ Rose of the Year winner) with excellent vigor and disease resistance. It tolerates long, cold winters and hot, dry summers. 

Dog Rose

	botanical name Rosa canina
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3-15’
	hardiness zones 5-9

In June and July, dog roses yield fragrant, large, white-to-pink single flowers with yellow stamens. The dog rose is a rambling beauty in meadows and fields, as hedges, and along banks. 

Rosa canina gets its species name (“sharp teeth”)  from curved, pointed thorns. The hardy species is exceptionally long-lived and adaptable. When flowers fade in the fall, striking red, oval-shaped hips emerge.

‘Red Meidiland’

	botanical name Rosa ‘Meineble’ Red MeidilandⓇ
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1.5-2’
	hardiness zones 4-9

‘Red Meidiland’ is a low-growing, showy groundcover. It blooms nonstop from spring until frost. Arching stems hold clusters of single red blooms with white centers and yellow stamens.

Ornamental hips turn red in fall, and bronze-red foliage adds further seasonal interest. Use it for a carpet of color along low walls, slopes, or the front of the border.

‘Red Meidiland’ is disease-resistant and tough. These hardy performers are popular in parks and urban spaces because of their vigor, bloom coverage, and resistance to pollution.

Rosa glauca

	botanical name Rosa glauca
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 6-12’
	hardiness zones 2-8

Rosa glauca is a highly ornamental with soft pink, single-petaled blooms. Ideally planted in September or October, this shrub rose features unique foliage and small pink flowers. Its striking leaves are silvery-blue with tinges of plum-purple.

Slightly fragrant, starry, and flat flowers open in late spring. Abundant orange-red hips, along with burgundy canes, extend the interest.

Rosa glauca is a sturdy, disease-resistant plant with very few thorns. Feature it as a specimen or in small groupings at the back of the perennial border and woodland edge.

‘Geranium’

	botanical name Rosa moyesii ‘Geranium’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 13’
	hardiness zones 4-9

‘Geranium’ is the perfect shrub rose for September shows. It has all the characteristics of a wild rose with vigorous growth and arching canes. Single, brilliant red blooms have overlapping petals and creamy stamens that attract bees.

‘Geranium’ blooms in late spring, with large, elongated, bottle-shaped rose hips emerging in autumn. Hips are red-orange, glowing in the landscape.