It would really, really help if we knew where in the world you garden. Winter viciousness and blackspot levels can vary a great deal from east to west.

It's a pink single, but it's hardy, has scent, is vase-shaped, and blooms vociferously. It's hard not to like even though it's not double. Northern Encore, aka Polar Joy, deserves a spot in any garden. It is commonly sold as a reliably hardy standard, but it is an even better shrub.

Steve

I garden in Nebraska in a Zone 4 pocket.

I don't know how well this rose would handle zone 4, but you might want to take a look at Glendora, a found rose on HMF. HMF indicates zones 5a through 9b. Glendora has lots of foliage in my garden--no bare knees. No sign of disease either. However, blackspot rarely makes an appearance on any rose here. I don't know where your garden is and don't know how much blackspot pressure you have. My Glendora is one of the mother plants from Eurodesert. It was a 5 to 6 foot rounded shrub there. I cut it back a lot for the move last spring. It now is back to about 3 to 4 feet, still quite round in shape. Flowers are very double, with a button eye, and very, very fragrant (damask scent).

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: Found rose

'Autumn Sunset' & 'Westerland' are both climbers. I grow 'AS' and it's currently about 10' tall and needs to be staked onto a trellis.

I do grow 'Thomas Affleck'...it might be what you are looking for. Blooms most of the season, has big, fat, dark pink blossoms on nicely rounded shrubs. Pretty BS-resistant for me here in central Illinois. It's available at Antique Rose Emporarium.

Here's another suggestion, The Gift, which is a polyantha, but a BIG one. It is only a single. However, when in bloom it is quite spectacular. The whole plant is covered in fragrant white flowers. Easily makes it to 4 feet in California. Very bushy and round. No knees visible at all.

I took a picture of Eurodesert's plant on May 8, 2011 when it was just starting to bloom:

{{gwi:218918}}

Someone else bought it, but I really liked it, and after it had been dug up and shipped, there was still a tiny sprig left in the ground where the huge mother plant had been. I asked Cliff Orent if I could have it, and he said yes, so I pulled that tiny sprig out of the ground with my gloved hand and stuck it in one of the 15 gallon pots I had purchased. Brought it home. Didn't expect it could possibly live with such rude treatment. Stuck it in the ground with a little potting soil. It took root and is now about a foot high.

The link at HMF shows the same mother plant as my photo but taken when in full bloom. I don't know the date it was taken but the plant doesn't appear as large as it did in May of last year. Other pics on HMF indicate it can get big. It sure can put on impressive displays of flowers!

Parentage on HMF doesn't appear to be certain (see Member Comments for discussion). I don't know about its bs resistance. On HMF there are gardens listed as growing it in Maryland, Florida, Pennsylvania, and New York. One of the New York gardens is the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, and I believe they select roses for disease-resistance.

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: The Gift at Eurodesert Roses, Morongo Valley, CA

The Gift is a wonderful shrub here between the Great Lakes, but you would lose it to the ground each winter, as you would Autumn Sunset and Westerland.

Steve

Carefree Beauty just never took off for me. I had it for three years and it was floppy. It was in a spot that received lots of sun too. If you check the forums with that name, several other people in that thread had the same problem but...it might be the perfect rose for you.

The only rose that actually looks like a decent shrub all year for me is Cardinal Richelieu, the gallica. It only blooms in the spring, but the blooms are beautiful purple that do smell good. It does spread a bit, but can be pruned to fit the space available. It does get some blackspot but mostly I just ignore it since it is really too big and dense to spray effectively.

I had Westerland for about a year. It grew two canes about four feet long that bloomed on the ends. It would die to the ground in the spring and it died from canker after the first winter. So I can't recommend it unless you've got a more sheltered and better draining spot.

The hospital that I work at has a rose planted outside that I think is Carefree Beauty and it does well with minimal care. But I'm not certain on the ID.