I only know two on your list and I don't know how helpful my experiences in Kansas zone 6 will be (though I'm sure I can match you heatwise!)--but here's my 2cents worth, if that helps.

Elle--is a lovely pink/peach/apricot HT (with a touch of yellow at the base). In some weather it is a pastel pink blend; in other weather, the apricot tones in the center dominate. She's a tough rose--too much heat won't do her in--but that said, she tends to shut down in prolonged HOT weather--but so do most of my roses. She is somewhat disease resistant for a Ht, but will have some periodic problems. Not the worst by any means. She's also a fuller rounder bush than most HTs, and she is fragrant.

Love and Peace--has gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous yellow and red bicolors. I adore her blooms. However, after each blooming cycle, she would come down with a major case of BS and as a result, never grew very tall or wide. Other posters say they don't have that problem, but Love & Peace may be the only rose whose bloom I adore but I still kicked her out of my garden forever and ever.

Since you seem to have mostly pastel pinks, would you be interested in a vivid hot pink--Peter Mayle--for contrast? Tall, fairly floriferous, fairly good disease resistance, fragrance, big big big fat blooms--quite a show off. Visitors always comment on Peter. Oh yes, I probably should mention he is very thorny also. One of my favorites.

Kate

IâÂÂm in Z7 Alabama between Huntsville and Birmingham, so still not your winterless climate, but hot and humid. From your list, I grow Elle, Love & Peace, We Salute You and Coretta Scott King.
ElleâÂÂs a great rose for me, but like KateâÂÂs, will shut down during long spells of really high heat. It starts back pumping out beautiful, fragrant flowers as soon as the heat breaks a bit and bush doesnâÂÂt suffer during shut down. I spray and Elle stays very clean for me.
Love & Peace is another good one for me. Big, beautiful, yellow and pink with more fragrance than I expected. No blackspot problem for me with spraying.
We Salute Youâ¦IâÂÂm on the fence with this one. I bought it in bloom at a local nursery 3 years ago, so I must have liked it then, but not so much since. ItâÂÂs a nice color, a decent bloomer as far as frequency and quantity, the blooms are very large and moderately fragrantâ¦so not sure why IâÂÂm not that crazy about it anymore except that the blooms do blow pretty fast on the bush, and I donâÂÂt find they last long cut, either.
Coretta Scott King...I planted this one bare root this spring. It was the new rose I was most excited about, so maybe thatâÂÂs why IâÂÂve judged it so harshly. ItâÂÂs been a really good bloomer for such a young rose and foliage is a beautiful candy apple green. ItâÂÂs stayed very clean for me. I just donâÂÂt like it very much. It blooms mostly in sprays and each bloom is tiny, flat and no fragrance that I have been able to detect. I know itâÂÂs young and will improve with age. A lot of times I donâÂÂt detect any fragrance from a first year rose and a lot of times blooms will be larger once the bush settles in. I'm sure I will grow to like her more as she matures. I havenâÂÂt tried her as a cut flower.

Below are pics of CSK and WSU:

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If I was picking 5 southern ones for myself, they would be:

Baronne Ed. de Rothschild
Beverly
Darcey Bussell
Elle
Gemini

Moonstone and Thrive! Good 'N Plenty (formerly Peppermint Pop) would likely jump into my cart too. Also, Regan's doesn't carry it, but every Florida rose garden should have Louis Philippe. Now where did I put that chainsaw, I feel another tree coming down soon.

Elina is a wonder soft yellow HT very disease resistant and a wonderful cut flower. Belinda's Dream, pink, while not an HT, makes a good cut flower and is very disease resistant and bushy.

Okay - TOTALLY different zone - but I can add relevance to fragrance.

Paradise Found flowers last a long time, the stems are thick, the flowers are many and the scent is unique. I just can't describe it - but it's wonderful. I love smelling this rose.

Paradise (here) has no smell.

Elle smells like candy. So sweet. Love the smell of this rose.

New Zealand is only in its 2nd year; but so far, I'm not impressed. Smallish flowers that take a l o n g time to come back. And there is no scent. But I'm sure that will improve.

Lucky you!! New roses for your birthday. Have fun picking them out. :)
Carol

I saw Rainbow Sorbet at a nursery here locally and almost bought it. That is one flashy, flashy rose.

And, I posted in the other thread about rose selection because I didn't see it listed, but it's mentioned here...

I went to a local nursery that has a broad selection of roses, but hasn't been caring for them lately. They pruned them but REALLY need to water. It's been a bad season for mildew, and BS is back.

By far, the biggest standout for vigor and gorgeous foliage after all the neglect:

Beverly.

This post was edited by racin_rose on Sat, Aug 31, 13 at 4:07