I think favorites are a heart thing, maybe not the most fragrant or the one with perfect health but the one that you continue to deal with because it makes your heart sing.

So in no particular order

1. Bliss Parfuma.

2. Quietness

3. Hot Cocoa

4. Valencia

5. Double Delight

6. Fiji

7. Bolero

8. Easy Does It

9. Sweet Mademoiselle

10. Lavender veranda

These are but a few that just make me smile.

I have a dozen new roses that could absolutely make the next list.

Kristine they are absolutely a heart thing! I don’t find Duchess de Brabant to have an amazing flower or bush form but every time I smell it I want to do a happy dance!

Oursteelers, that is what it is all about, the happy dance, the big cheesy grin .

And I forgot about Memorial Day. Great color and super healthy. And those big blousy blooms just .

make me happy.

Straw - yes it is! :) :) I wish I could find it again. :)

Kristine - well said. :)

Oursteelers - a Snoopy and Woodstock happy dance!

Bump this up. Lots of people mentioned Quietness, Memorial Day, Julia Child, Chicago Peace, Felicite Parmentier, Fragrant Cloud, Alec's Red, Firefighter, Bolero, Jude the Obscure, Bishop's Castle, Easy Does it, Pretty Jessica, The Prince, Evelyn, Abraham Darby, Molineux, and especially W.S. 2000 (10+ mentioned) as their most favorite.

Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago: How is your Poet's Wife doing as own-root? Thank you.

Well Being needs good drainage like Jude, it's UP my list thanks to blooming so late in cold fall, along with Augusta Luis in below vase:

Augusta Luis is UP my fav. list ... IF it survives a 2nd zone 5a winter, below reds are Munstead Wood, still blooming as of Nov. 10, 2023. Munstead Wood once bloomed during Thanksgiving.

Below was 1st year own-root Augusta Luis, it's twice taller, but still compact at 2nd year.

Firefighter deserves the top 10 list, since I bought it the 4th time after the own-root died 3 times. Firefighter survived last worst winter at -20 F & partial shade and next to the garage. I spent 1 hour digging the hole for fast drainage to cope with spring flood. Fantastic in bouquets, one bloom can perfume the entire room:

Of my small number of roses, here are my top 10

1 Julia Child - my first rose except for knock outs. Most reliable bloom machine with licorice scent

2 Brindabella Purple Prince - super fragrant, blooms great except in hottest summer, very healthy

3 Moonlight in Paris - a dreamy rose of gorgeous color of nice scent

4 Lady of Shallot - healthy and clean, good color

5 Lady in Red - always in bloom even in hot summers, ruffling petals

6 Desdemona - healthy bush nice smell

7 Rise up Lilac Days - vigorous, lilac color and strong fragrance, great spring show then blooms ok later in the season

8 Fun in the Sun - Substantial bloom with strong fragrance. it did ball this spring with heavy rains. It is getting over 6 feet so I am considering replacing it with an own root

9 Pomponella - only in my garden for a few months but already a favorite. Unique lovely bloom shape, with clear, refreshing green apple smell

10 Reminiscent Pink: very romantic bloom shape, soft pink color never fading, similar smell as Pomponella. A star in fall season.

Just took above picture 11/8: left counter clockwise - Brindabella Purple Prince, Moonlight in Paris, Beverly , Julia Child, and Fun in the Sun. Right - Lady in Red

forever_a_newbie_VA8 Thank you for a fantastic write-up of your top 10 roses. Your bouquets are lovely .. how's the scent on Lady in Red?

I love lavender/purple roses. Where did you buy your Brindabella Purple Prince and Rise up Lilac Days? How's the scent on Fun in the Sun? (I need vigorous roses for my zone 5a winter, own-root Teasing Georgia could not handle the heavy rain here and died in its 1st winter). THANK YOU.

@strawchicago z5: unfortunately Lady in Red does not have any fragrance

I bought Brindanella Purple Prince in a local nursery in spring. It also carried other Brindabellas, a few Romanticas, parfume Bliss, etc which I regret today not getting them. Brindanella Purple Prince has strong old rose scent plus a little spice. It blooms in clusters

Rise up Lilac Days was ordered from great plant America site last year. It has strong grapefruit fragrance. It is said to be a small climber but within one and half years it exceeds 12 feet so I had to ask my husband to build a pergoda to host it this fall. Somehow it has not bloomed as much in summer this year than last

Both roses are very healthy.

Straw - luscious roses...your 2nd bouquet took my breath away!! And the blooms on your AL are divine!!! Oh my goodness!!! I have another Firefighter now...couldn't resist. I hope that it survives for me too. :)

Forever - I love your Lady in Red blooms...and that small, cute Purple Prince...so cute!!

Straw you’re the reason I got my Tchaikovsky and I’m hoping to get a WS2000 based on your enthusiasm about it. Great thread to revive! My top 10:

1—Evelyn
2—Sweet Mademoiselle
3–Tchaikovsky
4–Munstead Wood
5–PCdM
6–Quietness
7–Jude
8–The Lady Gardener
9–Francis Meilland
10–Earth Angel

Aaron Rosarian Zone 5b Nice list which has many of my favorites too !! Is your Jude own-root? Own-root Jude died 3 times on me ... back then I didn't have the long 4.5 feet long trench-shovel to dig for drainage.

A friend nearby got rid of his 3 Judes (grafted on Dr.Huey) this year since it's stingy (mainly spring flush, and a few blooms later). My own-root Jude was tiny, but it repeated better than rose park's Jude at 7 feet tall and one bloom in the fall (grafted-on-Dr.Huey).

How's your own-root Jude in repeating? Thank you, I might try Jude again.

Own-root Poseidon is #1 in bush-beauty in my zone 5 garden. It's a 9th-year-own-root and a constant bloomer. So many blooms that the flushes overlap in continuity.

A year had passed and I have mostly all different favorites

Munstead Wood( how did I forget you last year ? )

Our Anniversary , how I love you

Bolero

Prairie Sunrise, you make my heart sing

The Fawn, your color is wedding cake perfection

Memorial Day with your pinky/ orchid color and big blousy blooms

Charles De Gaule your color and form make me swoon

Valencia, just a yummy rose

Celestine, thank you

for your beautiful pop of color and your sheer amount of blooms

Ingrid Bergman, you are a steady and healthy bloomer. I fell on top of you and broke a huge cane and you werent even mad and continued to bloom like crazy. Thanks for forgiving me.

Honorable mention

Bliss, Crimson Bouquet

Next year will probably be differnt as new babies grow up a bit, Desiree and Elle, I have high hopes for you.

Aaron - it's good to hear that you really love your PCdM because I'm getting one next year. :):)

Straw - oooh!! Your Poseidon blooms are rich with petals!!! I love the color too!!

Kristine - :) :) Wonderful love letters to your faves. :) :)

These lists puzzle me because: are we ranking our top ten favorite roses or our top ten best roses? There's a difference to me, and though some roses would be on both lists, some would not. Evelyn is a good example. She's a favorite of mine, but not one of my best roses. Same with Eglantyne and Jude the Obscure. Diane

I picked ones that perform well for me and that make me smile to look at them. An example for me is Moonlight In Paris. When she is blooming dhe id lovely but for me just doesnt have that certain something that makes me happy.

Kristine LeGault 8a pnw I'm with you on Munstead Wood (own-root) as both top 10 favorites and top 10 best roses. It's warm today Dec. 8, 2023 at 57 F and Munstead Wood is the best looking bush .. leaves are green & lush & zero blackspots. Below was own-root Munstead Wood in late Oct, it looks the same in Dec., a 9th-year-own-root:

In the fall, blooms are darker red, intense blackberry and old rose scent:

In the spring, below blooms are brighter red:

Below bouquet was picked in Oct, when Munstead Wood gets largest at 4 inch. across. Light yellow is Tchaikovsky (top 10 favorites since it smells like cotton-candy). Right pink is Evelyn. Those 3 are my best bloomers in the fall:

Straw Poseidon is gorgeous—I will have to consider it if I find any room. I have two Le Petit Princes and if one of them doesn’t make it I’ll replace with Poseidon. I really like making bouquets with roses that have similar color but different shape, so Quietness and Earth Angel are often paired together because they’re my most reliable light pinks. I think you and I are maybe the only people who like moonlight romantica, but every time I visit my mom there’s at least one bloom and it smells heavenly. Thanks for reviving this thread!

Straw - WOWZA!!! I'm in love with your Tchaikovsky!! I have to get one if I can find one. :) :) :) I especially love the color of your Munstead W on the 2nd picture....mmmm!! I was outside shoveling snow today (Don's sick) and it's so strange that you still have roses growing while we just got 4 inches of snow. lol

Aaron Rosarian Zone 5b Moonlight Romantica blooms best when it's hot above 80 F .. I'm going to move it from partial shade to full-sun for more blooms. Its yellow color does not fade and the scent is way better than Julia Child:

Carol: This winter is super-warm at 57 F yesterday 12/8/23 compared to last winter at -20 F windchill factor days before Christmas. Our Chicago weather can drop 10 degrees within one day.

Kelly in zone 4, MN had the same problem with changing weather, like 80 F in April, then temp. dropped drastically and snowed. We got snow in mid-May ... that's how my Young Lycidas (grafted on Dr.Huey from Regan nursery) got cracked & stunt by waterlogged freezing rain and snow.

I lost so many bare-root roses (grafted on Dr.Huey) if planted before May 15 in my zone 5. It's the drastic change in temp., and repeated freeze-thaw, then more freeze-thaw from March to mid-May that hurt the woody & chunky stick of Dr.Huey-rootstock.

Tiny own-roots can't cope with the tons of rain in April, then soil frozen in a block of ice either. My top 10 MOST FAVORITE roses are the ones that can't survive more than 3 years in my zone 5 winter: Young Lycidas, Annie L. McDowell, Versigny, Sonia Rykiel, Summer Samba, Sweet Promise, Liv Tyler, Perle d'Or, Jude the Obscure, Pink Peace.

What a fun thread! In no particular order my top ten that I would grow if I could only choose ten.

Sweet Fragrance- Easy Elegance Rose that is hardy enough, has super fast repeat, has enough fragrance, disease resistance, pleasant mannerly upright growth and a nice apricot blend HT flower that doesn't fade too much in the sun. The perfect rose to give a beginner. Of course you will ruin them to roses.

Sharifa Asma- Fragrance counts a lot in my world, and this one has intense fragrance. Repeat is excellent, as is winter hardiness. One of my favorites even though it is light pink.

Double Delight- I cant imagine not growing this fragrant favorite.

Darlows Enigma- As a landscape plant, Darlows fits the bill for a lot of my yard. Mainly for its tolerance to shade, and disease resistance, also it never without its little white cluster blooms. Reasonably winter hardy. Hardly any fragrance to my nose though.

Fragrant Cloud- Too fragrant to leave out, good repeat, winter hardy enough, decent growth habit.

Lemon Spice- Tall growth habit, good repeat, unbeatable fragrance, hardy enough. The color is light yellow that fades n the sun.

Melody Parfume- My best repeating purple, tall growth habit, obscenely intense fragrance, hardy enough.

Bel'aroma- Doesnt seem to be available anymore but I love the strong, long stems for cutting and how long the giant blooms last. The scent makes me melt. Apricot blend that for some reason doesn't photograph well. Hardy and tallish.

Typhoo Tea- Its hard to get a perfect bloom out of this because the bugs love it so much, but this is among the most fragrant roses that I grow. Its very tall and lanky, average repeat, bicolor.

I havent picked a red yet- in my mind there is no clear winner. I love Papa Meilland, Fire Fighter, Mr. Lincoln, Rouge Royal (love/hate relationship), and Lasting Love, so depending on how you look at it, I've either named 9 roses or 14- Haha!

Al Mitchell zone 5b (ameri2nal) - once in awhile I see the name Typhoo Tea come up. Somewhere I read it has one of the strongest black tea fragrances of any rose - I would love that. I guess so do the bugs.

Straw -we have the same problems...but my roses go in/out of the garage in the spring depending on the weather...so my roses have it easier in that way.

Al - you have Lemon Spice and Bellaroma! Those two are ones I would love to get. Can you share a pic of your Bellaroma? Ooh!! That's a gorgeous single bloom of Typhoo Tea!!

Al Mitchell zone 5b (ameri2nal) I appreciate the info. you gave on bush beauty and scent. I saw a bunch of Sweet Fragrance at Menards when it first came out. Beautiful bush and smelled good too. I regret NOT buying it. Also regret NOT buying Fragrant Cloud in a pot for $10 at Menards years ago.

Are your Lemon Spice and Sharifa Asma grafted or own-root? My own-root Sharifa Asma died after 10 years, it was really tiny.

Thank you for the info. of not much scent on Darlow's Enigma. I get plenty of scent from Bolero in partial shade (only 4 hours of morning sun) .. a handyman could smell Bolero from 5 feet away as he walked past by it. Below is Bolero in a pot, grown from a tiny rooting as a back-up in case my Mother bush dies in zone 5 winter (Bolero died twice). Bolero threw a 3 feet top cane in its 1st year as band-size (from a tiny rooting). Its patent will expire in 2024.

Al Mitchell zone 5b (ameri2nal) Stunning perfect photo of Typhoo Tea !

Below bouquet in early Nov. 2023 contains my top 10 FAVORITES: yellow Well-being (scent is just as good as Jude, light pink Princess Charlene de Monaco, medium pink Radio Times (sweetest damask), dark red The Dark Lady (wafting old rose scent), dark pink Dee-lish and salmon pink Sweet Mademoiselle.

Below Blue Mist is another favorite since it has strong wafting scent in cold temp. Always healthy as 12th-year own root:

Great photo of your top roses strawchicago z5 , you have some beauties !

I hope we will have an early warm Spring, it's really hard to be so long without flowers - but helps to see gorgeous photos.

I'm too old for snow, I just want to sleep through Winter.

berrypiez6b I like sleeping through the winter so I drink decaf coffee for breakfast, so I can nap in the afternoon !!

Aaron Rosarian Zone 5b You'll like Poseidon for the vase, it lasts 5 days if picked in buds. Below bouquet was picked this early Nov. 2023, blues are Poseidon, the middle pink is Queen of Elegance, purples are Twilight Zone. Top red is The Dark Lady:

A few thing have changed over the years, but not many.

Louise Estes (HT)

Brinessa (HT)

Lady of the Dawn (Floribunda)

Hannah Gordan (Floribunda)

Pink Pet (OGR)

Whirlaway (Miniflora)

Tiffany Lynn (Miniflora)

These 7 are there to stay. They have proven themselves. Now for the 3 newcomers.

Marchesa Boccella (OGR)

Ring of Fire (HT)

Hot Princess (HT)

Straw - as always, I loooove your The Dark Lady!! :) :) I didn't realize that Well Being has such a good fragrance...now I really want one. :) Radio Times is the pink rose in the middle? WOW!! In your last bouquet my fave is Queen of Elegance!! What a beauty!

Rosecanadian - Heres Bel' A Roma and above is too. Strangely, I dont have any whole bush pictures. But mine can get up to 6 feet with long thorny canes.

STRAWCHICAGO- I love your bouquet pics! My wife was similarly inspired

Heres a grouping of Sweet Fragrance I took this year

That Sweet Fragrance is very pretty! I don’t think I’ve heard of that one before and am off to investigate

STRAWCHICAGO- Sorry I forgot to answer your lemon spice question. My lemon spice are all ownroot.

Darlows Enigma gets really big compared to Bolero in my house. Bolero gets about 3 feet tall and round at the most and Darlows gets 6 X 6 or bigger. In less than full sun it will get floppy too, but in full sun it remains upright. I felt compelled to talk about its lack of fragrance (admittedly my nose is weak) because every catalogue lists it as being fragrant. I would say barely fragrant.

This picture shows two Darlows Enigmas planted about 5 feet apart, they are about 4 1/2 feet tall here in June. They ended the year about 6 1/2 feet tall. Homerun planted in the foreground. How would you describe the scent of Poseidon? Your pics make me want to grow it. BTW, I totally agree that Jude the Obscure is a stingy bloomer.

Hmmm, anybody know who sells Sweet Fragrance? It looks pretty good according to Help Me Find

I see it listed on Plant Addicts. I have never ordered ftom them so cant personally recommend

Oh my! I’ve never see/heard of them before but they are pricey!

Oh, I didnt look at prices. Pretty bad huh

Al - so Bella'roma gets up to 6 feet for you. That's pretty big. :) Beautiful blooms, though. Your wife did a great job with those bouquets!! Wonderful!! Sweet Fragrance looks amazing! Your roses bloom prolifically...I'm so impressed!

I have 2 Poseidon. Poseidon is a tall bush with lots of blooms. However, I’ve never noticed fragrance.

Al Mitchell zone 5b (ameri2nal) Thank you for the info. of your Lemon Spice being own-root. Your wife is gorgeous with her many equally gorgeous bouquets.

So glad that I didn't buy Darlow's Enigma. Friends can smell my Bolero 5 feet away.

Poseidon is great for the vase, and its grassy scent only shows up in COLD weather late fall. Poseidon gives me the most blooms for the vase (lasting for 5 days if cut in buds). It lasts longer than Dee-list (pink below)

I like below Well-Being (from LongAgoRoses) way more than Jude the Obscure, Golden Celebration and Moonlight Romantica. Well-being beats them all in fast repeat and equally nice scent, plus large blooms. The pinkish are Augusta Louis next to yellow Well-Being. I like Well-Being scent more than Augusta Louis.

Well-Being is a very compact & small bush and blooms well with my alkaline tap water at pH 9. It blooms more than Queen Nefertiti (beige blooms above it).

Straw - I put Well Being on my list of roses that I'd love to find and buy.

Me too Carol, I am on the waitlist at Heirloom.

Ooooh, so you're getting one, Kristine...I'm jealous. :)

Carol, I have been on the waitlist for a month and so far crickets .

Kristine - well, I'll cross my fingers that you get Well Being. :) :)

What a Fun Thread! Although, I have no idea what are my top 10 favorites????? I have 125 rises recent count and about 10 coming…… & LOVE THEM ALL! Hmmmmmm ???????

Thank you, Rosie Friends, for sharing your fav lists. I sm looking at them…..great ideas to see what works best or is best for all of you and your plant zones.

I love unique roses….. the more fragrant, frilly and gorgeous color -the better!!!!! I tend to love David Austins, Old Garden Roses, Meillands, Japanese roses, Kordes and many fragrant roses! I think if I could only have 10 favorites…… I’d griw 10, then switch them out for 10 more, then switch them out for 10 more….. and keep going…..

What might be my first list of top 10? Can I have 15?

1. Eden

2. Mary Rose or Rouge de Parfum (Japanese)

3. Yolanda de Aragon

4. Madame Dubost

5. Bliss

6. Munstead Wood & WS2000?

7. Royal Palace, Japanese

8. Charles Darwin or Bring Me Sunshine?

9. Rosarie de Chatelet

10. Wedding Bells

11. Princess Kisha, Japanese

12. Cartonnage, Japanese

13. Miyab, Eustasia Vye, Jubilee Celebration, Mikoto, Georgia Peach, Domain de Chantilly or Juliet-undecided on a peach-all gorgeous! When mine bloom this season I can choose.

14. Effie, David Austin

15. Summers Romance

I have many more favorires tgat couod he in top 10….. how can one really choose???? I love OGRs: Variegata di Bologna, Jacque Cartier, Mme Isaac Pereirre, La Reine, Comte de Chambord, Benny Lopez, Gloire de Ducher, & Honorine de Brabant!!!! I love Meillands: Yves Splash Charlotte, Yves Piaget & Frances Meilland, Orchid Romance., Kordes -Mme Anisette, DAs…..soooo many DAs I love, PAoK, And so many more roses….

My Japanese roses have not all bloomed yet and I just love these favorites…..ETSY photos:

Princess Kisha (new growing in house)

Cartonnage , Etsy photo,

(new growing in house)

Royal Palace, Etsy photo

(I had a few sm new buds just before winter, it has this color & shape!

Miyabi rose (new in fall) bloomed 2-3 times before wonter. This is my photo..

Mikoto, new in fall, ny photo, had a few blooms before winter.

Effie, David Austin Wedding rose, ETSY PHOTO, new to my roses. I am growing over winter in house to plant in spring garden.

Effie rose is named after Effie from the “Hunger Games,” movie…..golden hair snd golden attire….

LOL! Love it! I’m just in love with Effie rose…. hysterical Effie!

Kitty - you have such a wonderful variety of roses!! I really love the picture you shared of Cartonnage!!

Carol, Thank you! Cartonnage is a top favorite starting out deep fushia

Etsy photos

My new Cartonnage us growing in my kitchen, no blooms until spring planting outside.

then turning this antique purple and the blooms are exquisite!

Oh, Kitty!!! SWOON!!!! That is divine!!! I want one. Boo hoo, snivel. lol My fave is the 2nd picture...oh my!!