Rose BushesA Grower's Guide to Roses
Rose Types

Groundcover & Drift Roses

Groundcover and Drift roses stay low and spread wide, carpeting slopes, borders, and containers with color on tough, disease-resistant plants.

Low, wide, and trouble-free

Groundcover roses trade height for spread. Most stay under two feet tall while spreading two to three feet wide, making them ideal for edging paths, softening slopes, filling large beds, or spilling over the rim of a container. The popular Drift series is a compact cross between full-size groundcover roses and miniatures, bred specifically for small spaces.

Like other modern landscape roses, they repeat-bloom from spring to frost, resist disease well, and ask very little in return.

Quick tip: Plant groundcover roses in drifts of three or five of the same variety for a natural, flowing carpet rather than dotting single plants around.

Growing groundcover roses

Give them full sun and well-drained soil. A light shearing in early spring keeps them dense; because they are self-cleaning, deadheading is optional. Most are hardy through zones 4 to 11.

Popular groundcover & drift roses

The 26 roses below are among the most widely grown and dependable in this group. Each profile covers color, fragrance, size, hardiness, and how to grow it well.