The "queen of flowers" deserves its status as the most popular garden plant. Roses are as at home in a formal garden bed as they are in an informal cottage garden.

Though usually grown as shrubs, they can also be shaped to form small trees (known as standards), trained to grow up trellises or over arbors, grown low to blanket the ground, or spotlighted in containers.

The blossoms are standouts in a garden bed, and many varieties are ideal for cut flowers indoors. They're often fragrant, and the rose hips and changing foliage add color in the fall.

While roses have a reputation for being fussy, if you choose rose varieties that do well in your climate and give them good, basic care, they will prove to be surprisingly hardy and easy to tend. And with literally thousands of rose varieties on the market, it's easy to find just the right ones for your garden.