I have grown many species roses for use in hybridizing. The many spring or summer flowers that appear at the same time are very impressive. Also, the fall leaf colors and hip displays are worth waiting for.

One warning, some of them spread extensively by underground suckers.

my favourite type...by a long, long way. I tend to go for larger roses such as arvensis, moyesii, helenae and souliana but such great shrubs. In fact, if I could only grow species roses, I would not be alarmed. Thery have grace, stature and somehow, add maturity and best of all, many of them have fantastic heps - great for us and great for birds. They also assort extremely well with other members of the rosaceae family such as fruit, pyracantha, brambles, hawthorn, as well as making terrific hedges and adding privacy and security to boundary lines. Often, they have good foliage and demonstarte versatility. Any non-species roses I grow tend towards HMs such as Trier, Agalaia and Darlows Enigma, Pleine de Grace and other small white or pink roses with large panicles of blooms. Those perfect HT blooms do nothing for me and just look ridiculous at my rambling allotment.
I love to see swathes of briar roses, dogroses and eglantine, mixed in with guelder rose and hawthorn, sloes and damsons - now rapidly disappearing in the english countryside. For those of us going the no-spray route, species are reliable and resistant to many pests and diseases and even when they are afficted, never look as bad as a spotty or naked highly bred specimen. They do not require intensive pruning and so are a boon to the lazy or distracted gardener (like myself).

I love the species roses too! You will adore R. Rugosa Alba. I think I can honestly say that its the healthiest rose of any that I grow. It also produces a nice spring flush, but also seems to always have a bloom or two throughout the season. Just a great rose!

Besides R. Rugosa Alba, I grow Austrian Copper, Double Chestnut, Dragon Wings, Eglantine, Father Hugo, R. Anemoneflora & R. Moschta Plena.

My favorite is Dragon Wings....even when its spring flush is done, there's those amazing red thorns! Very unique! I also really like the Double Chestnut rose because its repeats and is always healthy.

Tammy

Some/many species roses are large, and then there is such a thing as hybrid vigor!

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hybrid+vigor

Here is a link that might be useful: picture of hybrid vigor

I grow some species and species crosses. My favorite is a hybrid called Bella Nitida. If anyone needs cuttings -- or in her case, rootings -- let me know, btw.

Next is Purezza. Then in no particular order: bracteata is the bees' favorite. They sleep on the huge tuft of stamens :D It's a beautiful rose, and mean as the dickens.

Eglanterias Amy Robsart and Greenmantle. A nice cross by Vintage Gardens called Sebastopol Queen. Also Toby Tristram, who is very similar to me.

Evangeline and Blush Rambler. A crazy Cherokee rose threatening to take over my woods (actually, the rabbits nest there are are very happy). R multiflora 'Bamboo Rose', who is the opposite and very mannerly and small :)

I'm sure there are more. I used to grow some more of the smaller ones, too, but the huge ones overtook them in my temporary 'holding spot'. Those roses aren't going anywhere, and the 'holding spot' is solid 15-20 high of pure rose, lol!

I grow fortuniana. It covers a shed in my yard, and is loaded with fragrant blooms for about 3 months every spring. I'd love to have the swamp rose, but it gets too large for my yard.