The rose I've been pushing on everyone this year is Austin's Munstead Wood--my favorite rose this year. It gets about 3 ft tall, is very fragrant, and has the most gorgeous blooms.
Munstead Wood at helpmefind.com

A good bloomer/rebloomer with fragrance is Our Lady of Guadalupe, a lighter pink floribunda--Our Lady of Guadalupe at helpmefind.com
Ignore what it says about disease-resistance (or lack thereof). It is above average in bs-resistance.

If you are looking for a more traditional HT shape and blooming qualities, try the floriferous Elle--Elle at helpmefind.com

Here is a floriferous bright red--a shrub that gets about 4 ft tall: Home Run {{gwi:332471}}
oh, but now that I think of it, it is not fragrant, but it is perfect in all other respects.

Do keep in mind that most roses are not "continuous" bloomers. Instead, they go through several bloom cycles, with a rest period of a couple weeks or more in between.

More into the yellows/golds? Try the shrub Well Being--which is also fragrant but does definitely rest between bloom cycles.
{{gwi:312793}}
I love the red that flushes over this bloom in places.

Hope that gives you some ideas.

Oh, they are all fairly good on disease-resistance, with Home Run being excellent.

Good luck in your search.

Kate

This post was edited by dublinbay on Fri, Nov 1, 13 at 15:31

Perhaps David Austins's Munstead Wood might work. Mine are new this year, but so far my experience is that that it's fragrant, blooms definitely held upright, very good repeat, holds up to heat and direct afternoon sunlight better than many dark red or purples, the shrub is compact and foliage has been way more BS resistant than most. The color is amazing! I am really impressed with this rose.

I had a Sunsprite. It was one of my favorite roses. Nice flowers, good grower. When I started growing roses again, I didn't plant it because it is a Floribunda and I only wanted to plant Hybrid Teas.

SS is a healthy little compact rose in my zone. She is in partial shade. Tolerates being at the base of a tree.

Kate, IâÂÂve been looking at Munstead Woods, and IâÂÂm happy to hear so far itâÂÂs working out for you. IâÂÂve seen a close up photo of The Prince that I just loved, but I keep reading that people have not found it very vigorous or disease resistant. DoesnâÂÂt bloom that much, so I am leaning toward Munstead Woods.

I also wanted to ask you, did you post a photo on HMF, of a Viking Queen rose? I saw that photo and just loved it. I wondered why it looks like a big full shrub when itâÂÂs listed as a climber and whether it was growing in full sun?

That LofGuadaloupe is very pretty. I like the foliage and the shrub form and the height and the form of the flowers and itâÂÂs fragrant too, sounds great.

Those flowers of Well Being are nice and large and the red tones are very interesting. Thanks Kate!

ratdogheads, that really does sound like something that would work for me, thanks! Glad you are enjoying it.

deervssteve, what did you think of the fragrance of Sunsprite?

Nice photo Susan and those are nice large flowers on Sunsprite too. Thanks!

Another questionâ¦. I normally avoid buying potted roses at the local nursery and most of the roses I've bought have been bare root from Pickering. I do have concerns about ending up with a rose that could have any kind of virus, so I like to be careful. Some of the roses I like are not available there. I looked on HelpMeFind to see who might have 'Lady of Guadaloupe' and Angel Gardens was the only listing which I am unfamiliar with. I googled it and Wayside Gardens and Park Seed are vendors, but that doesn't strike me as the best place to buy roses.

Any suggestions for where else to buy roses besides Pickering that being virus free might be a reasonable expectation?

No, prairie, I did not post a pic of Viking Queen at HMF. I grew the Queen for a couple years, but then it got RRD so I had to get rid of it. Florence, a long-time poster on this forum, used to recommend it a lot--she had a very nice climbing one. That was why I bought it.

I replaced it with a climbing Austin I wanted to try out.

Most nurseries do not have a RMV policy. You take your chances. So far, it hasn't had any real impact on my roses, so I don't worry about it. I'm thinking there is only 1, maybe 2, other places with virus-free roses. They were listed on a very recent post, but I've forgotten what they were.

We look forward to seeing pics of your new roses next year!

Kate

I'd strongly recommend sticking with Pickering and Palatine as vendors. Unless a rose is very vigorous (big) it isn't going to do well in the northeast own-root.

There is a world of difference in disease pressure between the northeast and the midwest. If Munstead Wood really is disease resistant enough to do well around here, that makes a grand total of two normal Austins that can be said about. Sunsprite committed suicide by blackspot here, so I'd strongly recommend against that one.

For me Sunsprite was a total dud. It wasn't very healthy, hardly bloomed at all and when it did they blew in seconds. Went from a tight yellow bud to almost white and dropping petals in less than a day. I called it my used kleenex rose. GONE! Julia Child is a MUCH better rose!

Thanks for your help, Kate, I should be able to get back with photos next season.

Mad Gallica, I just shovel pruned a couple of David Austins. I had Golden Celebration and Harlow Carr. I did grow the GC for about 5 years and it worked out okay. It did get some problems with the foliage sometimes, but I would get a good June flush of blooms and then prune it back hard and maybe get a few blooms in the fall. That way I would get all new healthy foliage the rest of the season. The flowers were very pretty and fragrant. Julia Child has been much better in that department. I only get a few spots on the lower leaves and the top looks very healthy.

ItâÂÂs hard to get away from David Austin roses for me, because they offer so much of what I am looking for, the fragrance, the heavy petal count, the repeat bloom, the hardiness. I donâÂÂt mind trying the Munstead Woods. Is there another DA rose you are aware of that is known to be disease resistant in the Northeast? Thanks for the warning on Sunsprite.

Seil - thanks for the review of Sunsprite, I love my Julia Child, so IâÂÂll stick with that. I had a rose called âÂÂRhapsody in Blueâ that was a nice shrub rose that had that problem with the flowers. They would open in the morning and be dropping off the shrub by the next day.

I agree with seil's assessment of Julia Child. I wasn't impressed with a friend's two Sunsprite roses which she had for several years--and she grows many roses well. The rose Ascot you might take a look at. It has an old fashioned Austin look to its wine red blooms, though its growth habit is somewhat different. In my climate it's very healthy and grows large (and grows fast). It's available from Palatine.

I don't know how this rose will do in your climate but I know labrea in New York grows is successfully. I'm talking about La France, which is supposed to be the earliest hybrid tea. It has huge, petal-packed and cupped pink roses that have a strong and wonderful fragrance. In my climate it has no disease but I know that's meaningless for you. It's a very good rebloomer and is blooming quite a bit right now. If you want to see a picture of it in my garden, there's a thread on the antique forum entitled "Last Roses of this Year" or something similar, which shows an open bloom and some large buds. I've recently purchased a second one because for me it's such a great rose, aside from its historical significance and old-rose charm. It also has a climbing form which is supposed to be magnificent.

Ingrid

Its hard to go wrong with Marie Pavie. I've never heard anyone complain about it and many people put it on their winners list

Lilian Austin has been OK for me. I think a couple of eastern people have said good things about The Mayflower, but it is hard to remember. The way these threads usually run is that there are two or three relevant responses buried deep in an enormous pile of irrelevancies. It makes it extremely hard to keep track of who is saying what.

The reality is that there are onesies and twosies in a bunch of different classes that might fit the bill. However, it just isn't easy to pry them out. You could start with a new thread asking for input specifically from northeasterners who don't spray. Then you can follow up on the responses by asking if they spray. It is really about the only way to find out what is a good bet.

ThatâÂÂs such a pretty color, Nanadoll! I was thinking of something that would compliment the Julia Child I have and that would be nice with it. Too bad they are already sold out at Palatine. IâÂÂll keep it in mind for next year though. Thanks.

Ingrid, I did check out that thread and see your La France rose. Really amazingly gorgeous form to that rose! A very nice pink too. Thanks.

Kittymoonbeam, I think I have a spot for that Marie Pavie, even though itâÂÂs white, I like it enough to work it in. Thanks.

Madgallica, I will check out those two Austin Roses, thanks. I do understand what you are saying about the way threads run. It really does matter if the recommendations are from a different area & different conditions, so it does take some weeding out to draw any conclusions that will make a difference. Good suggestion about starting another thread, thanks!

I also have been reading through some older posts and was reminded of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden that changed to No Spray and I'm referring to their top performers list too.

Prairiemoon, maybe this rose has been suggested to you already because it goes so well with Julia Child, but have you thought about Twilight Zone, the dark purple? I posted this photo on another thread about roses that are good partners with Julia, but here it is again. Diane

Diane, I really love that color and the size of the blossoms. I had a Rhapsody in Blue that would start out that color. It was almost a single blossom and had a little lavender at the center and had a nice fragrance, but the flowers were almost single and small and they barely lasted a day on the plant. So I am actually looking for that color again and Palatine has it in stock. :-)

I'm now realizing that my problem is looking at gorgeous photos and wanting dozens of roses. (g)

Twilight zone is so awesome.

Diane, did you buy yours at Palatine?

Prairiemoon2,
Palatine and Pickering are great places to buy roses. I buy from them every year.
Susan

I bought my Twilight Zone from Edmonds so it's grafted on Dr Huey which I prefer because of our alkaline soil. Now that it's been for sale longer, you might be able to find it locally, sold in a pot. I know my favorite nursery here had TZ for sale last season. TZ is related to Ebb Tide, so they look a lot alike, though TZ is a grandiflora and has quite upright growth. It doesn't fade like ET, though. But ET has more scent, I think. Right now in autumn ET has glorious deep color, but in July it's ick for color during our hot, sunny summers.
Thanks, Susan. Both Ebb tide and Twilight Zone have their strong points. Diane

Thanks Susan and Diane! Thanks to everyone, lots of great information here. Going to try to make some orders this week.

I am in Florida.

I also have a garden in Vermont in zone 4. In that zone 4 garden - two zones COLDER than your zone, I also plant only own root roses - successfully. It is a matter of wise selection and proper delivery and planting times.

Many of the folks that bought the GRAFTED 'rose of the year' for decades were perplexed about how it changed color the next year.

If you doubt that it is still happening, take a look at the thread linked below:

Here is a link that might be useful: Most Popular Own-Root Rose in my Neighborhood

PM2, have you considered the Rugosas? Check them out.
Also, some of the repeat blooming Portlands?
Susan