Thanks for the picture Patricia. I have got to
get out to Great Lakes Roses and buy more. Before
they close. I only have four whites left. Lost one
this year. Queen Mary II isn't doing well
and Iceburg never has. However, Home and Family
is doing great. Nancy, you might check that one out too.

John

I'm enough of an optimist to hope there is a great white rose out there. Matt, those pictures taken in moonlight are amazing. I have trouble taking decent pictures in daylight. Wow.
Nancy

Nancy, I've been wondering about Ducher (but its flowers are reputed to be small), Mlle. de Sombruiel and Spice for starters. Those are on my want list. The climbing Sombruiel (Colonial White) is a good one too but I don't need a white climber so its not on my list.

Patricia, that's Frau Karl Druschki? The ones I was tending years ago never showed that much stamens. Maybe it's the cooler climate here. Beautiful as is, though. People in z. 5-6 who are sick of puny, tender white roses should try FKD; the plant is tough as nails with a perfect HT-form flower (except when it rains).

A rose we never hear of, but which I really enjoyed, is Evening Star (Warriner, 1974). Mine froze out in the second or third winter, so I can't recommend it for colder climates. It's a bushy floribunda with remarkably beautiful flower form and some fragrance. The flowers usually opened clean. It may not be good in hot climates, or at least for some reason it never caught on.

Here is a link that might be useful: Evening Star

I will second that motion on Moondance. I love this rose, which is like the previous poster stated, a new one and a AARS winner. I planted a new bed of 12 roses this year and she was one of the new ones. She seems to be vigorous, busy, and her leaves look very similar to Iceberg. Her blooms have a beautiful creamy center. The flowers are small like Iceberg, but more double. And so far she is completely disease free for me. She has a medium scent.
I recommend Moondance.

I also love Iceberg. I'm suprised that people complain about their Iceberg being a blackspot magnet, as I've been lucky and not had any on mine this year.

My Iceberg was certainly very susceptible to blackspot, and cercospora spot as well. It's unusual for a rose to be susceptible to both.

buford, I have fabulous and it is. I spray and have no disease with that one.
Peggy, I've grown Ducher in a pot. I'm not crazy about most old roses. She worked hard but produced very small blooms. It was healthy. It might have been better if I'd given her a spot in the garden but with such limited space only the ones I love get prime real estate. It is a good rose though.
Nancy

Michael, that is indeed the Frau. I did not take this picture. It was made by the local newspaper. It is she, however, and I notice something else -- they emeralized the foliage a bit more than it is. ;-)

Here are some pics of Fabulous! when it was in bloom earlier this year:

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I should have taken a picture a few days later when all those buds were blooming!

I have tried Pascali, Crystaline (sp??), White Success, French Lace, Prosperity and Iceberg.

French Lace is finally coming around after 3 years. Iceberg is by far the best of the ones I mentioned. I have two and both are 5 feet x 5 feet and loaded with blooms all the time. I do not experience the BS with Iceberg that previous posters have. Both plants have been totally clean for years. I do spray every 1 tp 2 weeks.

Prosperity is good if you like that type of rose.

Pascali, Crystaline and White Success were all SP'ed. They were lousy roses in my yard. Small flowers and the blooms never looked good (always brown edges).

Glenn

Buford, it looks like your Fabulous is also fabulous. Look at all of those blooms.
Nancy

Just yesterday, I returned a rosebush whose color I didn't like. I specifically set out to find a white rose, preferrably pure white. I found one called Summer Snow. The flowers are small, but they usually are when you find them at the nursery (especially, in my case, the discount nursery). I was impressed with the purity of the white and how many blooms and branches it had. It is a floribunda and is said to bloom almost constantly during the season. I planted it in the evening before we watered. This morning it is showing no signs of shock!

I have Fabulous! and yes, it is. Prettier flowers than Iceberg and nice foliage.

I love French Lace but it is not pure white, it's a true ivory.

I saw Moondance at the garden center and it looks good, too.

I like the look of that 'Evening Star'!

Nancy, Iceberg is a horrible rose down here. I had it a few years ago when I was religious about spraying and it STILL looked horrible from blackspot and whatever other crud was around. Ditto for the floribunda Fabulous. They were in full sun too, from sunup till sundown.

Ducher is a very pretty white. I have mine in too much shade and it needs to be moved so it will bloom more. It blooms a lot in full sun. A tree is starting to shade it too much now. It is no-spray, and has beautiful foliage and pure white flowers. Thrips do not bother it. The flowers are not large, but they are beautifully formed.

Spice is an extremely healthy no spray bush, but my flowers on it always look dirty because of thrips. They are not a pure white, more of a cream to blush, and are small, but are larger and prettier in the fall. The bush can look like it's covered with snowdrops. Where I have it, it is getting some dappled shade, so it may not be the best spot for it. I may try it in a full sun brutal area, but haven't decided if I like it well enough yet. I'm sick of thrips! I'm wondering if it is a thrips magnet, or more of a target because the bush is getting some shade.

Maitland White, also known as Puerto Rico, is a very nice rose. The flowers are a creamy white, fairly good sized, and it repeats well. Thrips do not bother it a whole lot, and the flowers last well when cut for the house. I wouldn't say mine is always plastered with flowers, but it could be because I'm slow about deadheading. It repeats in cycles similar to a hybrid tea. Very healthy. I seldom spray this one.

The David Austin Sharifa Asma is absolutely stunning! What a fabulous white rose. I don't notice any thrips damage, blooms non-stop, and seems tolerant of not getting sprayed very often. I'm thinking of adding another.

I just planted LaBiche, which is really Mlle de Sombruiel. This tiny plant has produced a couple of blooms, and they are gorgeous! This looks to be a very promising rose.

I'd be interested in hearing if there are any other good whites out there I haven't tried.

Sandy

Thanks Maitland White sounds good if it isn't bothered by thrips. I'm sick of them too. Shrifa Asma is white here? It is described as pink. But with our heat and sun lots of light pinks look white. I like the Austins, not nearly as much trouble with them with the thrips.
Nancy

A group of Fabulous! planted in a park here, and grown without spray, defoliated completely during the first flush and repeatedly throughout the season before freezing out the first winter. Location, location, location.

I was told that the problem with Evening Star was that it had RMV. UC Davis has it cleaned, so now a few nurseries might try it and bring back to commerce.

Fabulous is not widely available any more; darn, I wanted it.

Sandy, I never tried iceberg here. Most agree that it is a bs magnet here. I have fabulous. I bought it at a rose society show a few years back. It is great rose for me. I never have disease problems with it. Even the thrips leave it alone. You might want to try another. You may have gotten a bum one. But Ceterum said that it's not readily available anymore, so maybe not. This picture is an old one of mine, but she is in bloom all of the time.
Fabulous
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Nancy

I must have a good one because my two Icebergs have been spotless for 5 years. I do spray every week. Iceberg is on the right in the first picture. The other thing I like aboute Iceberg is that it blooms continuously, the flower sare always white (no brown edges), it always opens and the thrips leave it alone. It also makes a nice rounded shrub which can be shaped as you see fit.

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I used to think like Charles that there really is no "great" white rose. I've gotten rid of more than a few and really was unsatisfied with the ones I had left. Then I let myself be enabled into Paloma Blanca, the Buck rose. I am a convert. Paloma Blanca is heavy blooming, disease resistant, and has *clean* white blooms that last in the vase a long, long time. This is an excellant rose and I can't imagine why I waited so long to try it, but now I can't recommend it enough.

AC

I had an excellent Iceberg for a few years until I killed it transplanting it into what I have now found to be a bad location.
Moonstone isn't a true pure white but is pretty close and is a great rose.
I am growing a Cryastalline and it is just okay in my book.
I also planted two Pope John Paul II roses this year and this may fit the bill as the long awaited for great white hybrid tea. Not so much exhibition as the flower form is excellent when there, but it rarely is. It is a great garden rose so far with tons of very fragrant clean white blooms on a healthy vigorous bush that repeats bloom super fast. I just hope it is winter hardy as well as it is disease resistant and seemingly weather resistant so far. I have counted 15-20 blooms open at any one time on them this year. Not bad for a one year old bush. I also hope that the rose is a good hybridyzing rose.
John

Well, your shots of Fabulous certainly are beautiful, but I don't like to spray. I decided this past week or so that I'm not keeping any roses that need spraying all the time, because I find I am not willing to do it and is hated by me so much that it ruins any enjoyment of growing roses. I have always suited up for the spraying chore, and it is too darn hot down here for that. I'd rather get a root canal.

Not all Old garden roses are pretty, (although beauty is in the eye of the beholder), but I am discovering many of them are just gorgeous, and are very disease resistant. Mrs. BR Cant for exmple. Rhodoloque Jules Gravereux (baby in a pot) bloomed today and it is as pretty as can be. A very delicate pink. No thrips either. Devoniensis, a beautiful white and fragrant. It's still in a pot. I hope it does as well in the ground. Blooms shatter within a couple of days, but more are always on the way. No disease, no thrips.

Sharifa Asma is mostly a white down here, although when it gets cooler or cloudy it can be a blush pink, or a mixture of blush pink and white, that still reads as a white from a distance. I wouldn't be without it. Chaucer is also looking promising. It is usually white, but with our cloud cover has a few flowers that are a shell pink. Gets some thrips in them, but shows no damage at all. The flowers stand out, even from a distance.

I like whites, but only the ones that are noticed when standing back a ways as well as close up, and that don't get that dirty look to them.

I'm not fighting my climate anymore. I'm only going to grow what does well without a great deal of intervention or artificial means. I have enough "chores" - like cleaning my house. Gardening (for me) is for recreation and delight. I also don't like finding dead bees inside a flower.

Sandy

Sandy, I hear you. I don't mind spraying in the winter but it's tough this time of year. Devoniensis is pretty on help me find. It looks like a big rose. It says it smells good too?
Nancy

I looked up Paloma Blanca on HMF and love the gorgeous blooms! Does anyone have any experience with this rose in the Atlanta area? All the white roses I've tried have ended up with those ugly brown splotches all over them, whatever that's called.

White is not one of my favorite color rose.
I wish for the blooms to stay nice and white and most of them don't.
So only have one white in my garden and that is

White Cockade.
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Niecey

Mount Shasta (classified as a grandiflora, but often makes single blooms) is my best white HT. RRD took out the first, and I replaced it immediately.
St. John is a very good white FL, but almost unavailable nowadays.
The best white blooms I've had in my garden are on White Masterpiece, but the bushes are not good growers for me and the blooms are so good, and they are on such puny stems.
Canadian White Star is a rose I look forward to seeing in a visit to much colder climates. I've even read of how well it does in Canada, and that it's not as wonderful in warmer climates.

Here is a link that might be useful: Canadian White Star

Well it's a little late to be posting this 6 months after the thread was started, but yes,there is a great white rose: Pax.
It is not only great white but one of the greatest roses ever. Warm white blooming heavily in spring and well in Fall too, Sporadic in between. Beautiful, disease resistant foliage that is elongated and gray green. The bud shape is similar to Pascali, in other words, gorgeous. The blooms stay clean. No browning even in this hot humid climate. In a cooler climate it will do even better. It's just a perfect rose. Beales also rates it among the best. The most sophisticated of all my 80+ roses.

While the parent SDLM does ball the sport Pronprincessin Viktoria does not. Fragrant white in it's 4th year it is a non stop bloomer, First 2 years bloomed in flushes 3rd year continuous.
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I agree with all of you one KPV - no thrip damage and it does not ball. medium sized and that's what you asked for.

I could also recommend Summer Snow medium sized shrub, always covered with white blooms.

And I must mention Bolero; great bloomer, fantastic fragrance and pretty clean foliage. Very fragrant, too.

My favorite white these days is Mlle de Sombruil, purchased as Le Biche from Chamblees. It took off running once planted, and is very healthy. Flowers are large and fragrant and plentiful. It has a nice bushy habit. Mine is planted between two Carefree Beauty so the white really pops!

Elaine

I have had some success with Moondance being pretty good. My Iceberg has done well, but it does blackspot quite a bit. Others not mentioned, but worth a try, are Polarstern, Ice White, and Glacier. If you don't mind white with some pink, try Charles Aznavour.

I like Iceberg. It does great in my garden, but then I'm cooler. FKD is another that is pure white and does well in my garden, but it doesn't show stamens well.

Just wondering if you want a HT or a floribunda. I have a beautiful polyantha in my garden that is beyond and above expectations. Marie Pavie. Small flower, white, slight fragrance and is outstanding with no BS or powdery mildew. There are up to 50 flowers per stem. It's been a continious award winner for me.

Don't let the specs on this rose full you. Mine is over 5 feet tall now with a 5 foot spread and covers herself all summer with pure white lovely flowers and china pink buds. This is one breath taking rose.

My favorite short white is FAIR BIANCA. Stiff, upright growth habit (similar to a dwarf Hybrid Tea), perfectly formed flowers (cupped to quartered with a chartreuse button eye) in the Old Garden Rose sytle, excellent repeat even in hot weather, and very fragrant. The myrrh fragrance is unusual (smells like Noxzema face cream) but fits the stark whiteness of the flowers to a T.

Does your Fair Bianca have pink buds that turn into pure white blooms? I love that!

Glamis Castle also does well as a short white. I have two in pots and they are lovely. It does tend to ball a bit in very cool wet weather.

The rotund buds are greenish white tinged with crimson while they are tightly closed. As the bud "cracks" the color is palest pink that progressively lightens. Mature flowers are a gleaming pure white. If the button eye were a deeper shade of green the flower would be a dead ringer for Madame Hardy. FAIR BIANCA is one of those few roses where the actual flowers look like those in photographs. Also makes a good vase rose, something that can't be said for GLAMIS CASTLE.

I should warn you though that FAIR BIANCA is petite. I have two and both have yet to top three feet. The shrub is grows bolt upright, almost like a dwarf Hybrid Tea, and not very attractive. I was able to disguise the runty bushes by planting Heliotrope on each side of the plants. The contrast between the deep purple Heliotrope and the stark white roses is striking and the annuals give the illusion on fullness. The vanilla/cherry heliotrope scent mixed with the myrrh scented roses is delicious.

I put mine in the front and thought it would compliment Double Delight, but it's being dwarfed by it. So I may move it. I'll remember the Heliotrope.

I just received my first Whiraway miniflora from Rosemania.com yesterday. I haven't grown it before but hear great things about it; pure white, 40-some petals, 3-4 foot vigorous bush. Sounds promising, anyway. If it sounds too small, don't think "mini," because in reality mini-floras are like floribunda-sized blooms that are hybrid-tea form and on individual stems often.

The best modern form white I've grown is Paloma Blanca. Buck roses generally do well for me and Paloma Blanca (ownroot) is vigorous, great repeat, good form and good fragrance and good disease resistance.

If you are looking for a landscape plant it is hard to beat Marie Pavie. She stays neat, doesn't reqire spraying and if she gets food and water is pretty much a non-stop bloomer. I also love Souv d'St Anne's, but she is a single and not everyone goes that way. However, the petals on this bloom have the most incredible texture and sheen and color and then their is the fragrance...

Pope John Paul II is my favorite white, followed by Bolero, then Helena Renaissance, Prairie Star (has a little pink in it), Fair Bianca, White Lightening, Marie Pavie, Maria Shriver, Blanc Double De Cobert, and Rosa Rugosa Alba, Queen Mary 2 in that order.
AL

I dunno if there's a great white. Some of the photos in this
thread are fabulous, though.

The only white I grow is Pascali and it does have very small
flowers and is slow to rebloom. I wouldn't buy this rose
again given a chance, but I am too soft-hearted to get rid
of it.

I have never seen Snowbird, but I have seen Climbing
Snowbird at the Huntington Library and it's a beautiful
rose with very large white flowers for a climber. No idea
what the bush form is like.

Another white I have seen at The Huntington that I like
a lot is Karen Blixen. I would probably grow this rose if
Pascali's excellent (undeserved?) reputation hadn't swayed
me.

Iceberg does wonderful here, with flowers almost
continually, but it is so ubiquitous that I don't grow it.
I just enjoy it at the mall, the gas station, the 7-11,
etc. :)

I have never seen it, but Polar Star gets high praise (in
fact it was ROTY in the 1980s). Honor and Full Sail get
mentioned a lot also.

Here's a site with some photos of white roses:

http://www.justourpictures.com/roses/whiteroses.html

Has anyone tried Marie Bugnet? I've read that she blooms continually, has few health problems and a great scent.

Did I miss reading the name of Tineke or was it not mentioned at all? This is a florist rose HT, remind me of KPV - old rose form when opens with lots of petals. Same positive features as with KPV - no botrytis and thrips leave this rose also alone.
Being a florist rose, it lasts well if cut for the vase.

Karen Blixen is very nice and has some scent. Mine gets too much shade from midsummer on so it blooms less in the hot months.

I agree that Snowbird is a very good white and blooms a lot (mine is still a baby but already bloomed pretty well this year.

I am a bit disappointed with Polarstern. Ugly shaped bush, it has very tall canes growing in every possible direction no matter how I prune it; in addition the flowers aren't big.

I heard a lot of good things about Virginia but it is not easy to find it; in addition some of this rose in commerce have RMV, at least that is what I was told.

I just got Ice girl from Palatine, I hope it will do just as well as it does for Aprille. Of course, her climate is much better for white roses than mine, but I thought it was worth to give it a try.

anyone know anything about Full Sail?

My favorite white is Pope John Paul II. It's beautiful and very prolific. The bush has stayed small for me and covered with blooms.

I also like Tineke, Fragrant Wave and Fabulous they all do well for me.

My climate is much different from yours though.

What about Margaret Merril? I have heard good things about her in the past. I want a couple of good whites.....Paloma Blanca, Pope John Paul II, Kronprincissin Viktoria and Margaret Merril sound interesting to me. I have and like Katherine Zeimet, but want some larger blooms.
Judith

Margaret Merril is reported to be a very good rose on the west coast. It was a disaster in my eastern and coastal climate.

Noisettes should do very well for you, but most are not small. I like White Meidiland, a shrub which does bloom constantly. I don't know about disease resistance on the East Coast.

Glamis Castle, in my desert climate, had the worst mildew I have ever seen. I am partial to Saratoga for its beautifully shaped, fragrant blossoms, but, while repeat bloom is reliable, I can't say it blooms constantly.

OK, time for my squalk on white roses in FL. I love whites and pastels. I have tried everything that has come along. Most OGR bushs get way to big, most shrubs get to leggy or just don't make a decent looking bush, florabundas do great for the most part but are a real pain to dead head because they have so many blooms (I grew Summer Snow for years until hurricane Wilma ripped it out of the ground), I love the flower form of HT's but for one reason or another most of the white HT's end up taking a hike after a few years. I still grow Crystalline and will probably have it in the garden for a LONG time. I just got Pope John Paul 11 this year and I'm extremelly impressed with everything about it. This one looks like a keeper in my SE FL. garden.These are just the pure whites. Creams and white blends are another story that I have a few of.

Full Sail is a sport of New Zealand. It has a wonderful smell, but I didn't find that it blooms too much and it sometimes had a kind of muddy white color. My best white is cl. Iceburg which is always in bloom and covers my trellis. I also have White Lightnin' which also smells wonderful and blooms in flushes. All will blackspot without spray.
Kathy