Getting to choose new roses is so much fun!
The latest rose I am thinking about acquiring is supposed to be really good in your climate
Baronne Prevost. It's an old garden rose.

You might also try these David Austin English roses: (try buying them at Regan or David Austin (in Texas)
Lady Emma Hamilton
Jude the Obscure
Yound Lycidus

or these Hybrid Teas: (Regan, K&Mroses etc.)
Parole
Pope John Paul II (FABULOUS)
Firefighter
Elle
New Zealand
Velvet Fragrance

I recommend you use Help Me find.com (website) to read about and look at lots of pictures of these roses to help you make your mind up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Search for roses at Helpmefind.com

Belinda's Dream
Souvenir de la Malmaison

browse website: The Antique Rose Emporium
about 1 1/2 drive outside Houston 290,

visit: nurseries in the Houston Heights for perennials
(limited rose selection) Buchanan's Native Plants,
Joshua's, etc.

Louise Estes is a beautiful HT. Long stems, beautiful foliage, lots of petals and smells great. K&M Nursery.

Thanks for the suggestions, I am going to read up on all these before I pick a couple.

I am hoping to find something where the blooms last...my lavender rose is so pretty but the petals fall off within a day!

Crekha, I live just south of Dallas so you probably know what my climate is like. The bloomingest rose in my garden is Valentine. Not fragrant, but a bloom machine and healthy. I have three of them and bought one for my daughter. If you prefer pink to red, you might go with Belinda's Dream; it's larger but is also a frequent bloomer as well as being fragrant. I hesitate to name an OGR because you said your garden is microscopic, and my OGRs grow larger. Someone may suggest a small one.

Any roses that ARE or Chamblees offers should do well in Texas. Let us know what you decide. Lou

I really like my 'Secret' rose. It is a pink blend rose with a wonderful fragrance. It has several flushes.
I found the petals last a long time on the Secret rose. They start out lighter in the morning and get darker towards the end of the day. It is very interesting to see them change color too!

Good ones for beginners are
'Perfume Delight' and
'Miss All-American Beauty'

I bought all of these at Home Depot last year. Home Depot had much healthier roses than Lowes in my town. I also bought 'Mister Lincoln' and 'Memorial Day' Memorial Day gets brown around the edges and I didn't like that. Going to see how it does next year. I also have 'Peace' rose. One of the best roses of all time, but it does not have a strong fragrance. I love the Peace rose color, it is a pink/pale yellow blend, and makes the best cut flower - if you like to bring indoors. It has a high center.

If you would consider a shrub rose I would look at the Knockout roses. They are repeat throughout the summer. I prefer the single petal ones.

This post was edited by SusanBachman on Fri, Feb 22, 13 at 15:00

Jude the Obscure looks great, but the fragrance described is 'fruity'? I love the form and shape of the blooms, but was hoping for a 'rose' fragrance...

If you like Jude's flower- but not the fragrance, perhaps try Brother Cadfael. It's similar. to me Jude the Obscure smells like Sweet white wine and roses.

For a classic rose fragrance the old roses can't be beat. Those recommended above are:
Souvenir de malmaison
baronne Prevost

HT Roses that have classic fragrance (and you can probably find at Lowes or Home Depot)
Memorial Day
Oklahoma

If you don't know for sure if you mind citrusy kind of rose scents you will probably love:
Lady Emma Hamilton
Pope John Paul
Elle

I have Don Juan as well and for me, it's an OK bloomer, and the scent is pretty light. All of the roses suggested will be stronger.

lola-lemon, Brother Cadfael looks amazing to me.

Does it do well in Texas?

Don Juan blooms really well for me, not sure of any fragrance...

Honestly, I would wait until the roses come out for sale locally, and then go stick your nose in a few. It won't be very long now. For what it's worth, my smelliest roses aren't necessarily the ones that last the longest in our heat.

There are dozens of local nurseries there in Houston and surrounding area. While visiting my son, I went bonkers visiting some of them. I love going to actual nurseries and looking. But, they may also be able to better help you with what grows well in the Houston area and climate and you can see them. (their actual size, bloom colour & size, fragrance or none, leaf colour, &etc)..

Not only is bush and bloom important, but leaves are also something to consider to add different textures and variations to the garden.

The on-line catalogues do not always show true colours of blooms and since they want to sell you something, they might not be the ones to consult about the best roses for your area.and garden size.

That's my two cents worth.
~Annie

I agree that it's the best to check things out locally, if possible. I have a lot of experience growing Brother Cadfael at two different locations in our hot, dry summer climate, and he gets huge--and I'll bet in your hot climate, this will be true for you. I also grow Jude, and he gets huge, too. The bro stands up to heat better than Jude, and I prefer his scent. Their colors are nothing alike. Bro is medium pink, and Jude is a light creamy color, with very slight apricot tendencies. It can fade to almost white in the heat. Hope this helps. Diane

Houston is very humid, is it not? Look for superb black spot resistance FIRST and everything else after, if you wish to avoid regular fungicide spraying to keep foliage on the plant.

I too vote for the "time to go shopping"! We all perceive fragrance slightly differently, so what smells great to someone else won't necessarily smell great to you (and visa versa). I've learned a lot about roses in my climate from just frequenting local nurseries. I've brought home many I never heard of after burying my nose in one and suddenly not being able to live without it. Some nursery personel are knowledgable, some not. Find out what you like, then do some homework. When I find a rose I like at a nursery, I do a quick help-me-find search on my cell phone, and have the info right at my fingertips.

Another vote for in-person shopping at our local nurseries. I am northwest of Houston, but I visit all of the nurseries in the spring and seeing the roses up close and personal is wonderful. I suggest Arbor Gate (tomball, tx), Buchanan's in the heights, Joshua's in the heights, RCW nursery, and the best of all, The Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, Tx. I agree with Harmony's suggestion to do a little research after you find some roses that you like. You may also want to find out if the nursery you are visiting has grafted or own-root roses, as that can be a contributing factor in their growth.
Molly

In Houston, I too enjoy rose shopping at RCW Nursery - they have a great selection, see their website, and The Arbor Gate. Also highly recommend the Antique Rose Emporium. Ordering from Chamblees in Tyler is an option - very reasonable prices and great roses. You might also consider joining the Houston Rose Society - $12/year for electronic mail which gives you a monthly newsletter, also 10% off roses and rose products at specified nurseries. They have a rose appreciation week, which just ended, that gives 15% off. I go yearly to Southwest Fertilizer to get Mills Magic Rose Mix - its a great store, everything you would want or need to garden with! Houston Rose Society members can give you all sorts of advice on what roses to grow. Good luck!

lots of great suggestions.. I will try and visit the nursaries mentioned. i wish I had time to drive to some of these, but with two toddlers and a full time job, I may limit myself to local ones, or the one's within the loop. When do the roses come out? Next month?

I am looking at the Houston Rose Society's website, some good information there.

Crekha, the locals are giving you great nursery suggestions to visit. I second every one of them. But Joshua's doesn't really have many roses, I was there the other day and only saw 2 or 3 there. But it's a wonderful nursery, and have a lot of unusual things, along with the usual stuff, all reasonably priced. Buchanan's and RCW are probably the best local nurseries for roses.

Watch out for some of those David Austins, such as Brother Cadfael. Some will get humongous here, much larger than the catalogs say. And some won't do well here at all. Look at locally bred roses that Antique Rose Emporium sells. They have bred them from antiques and some moderns, and they are moderate in size and do well in our climate.

They will have some special events this spring, look at the calendar. You can see what's in bloom and how large and wide they grow.

Here is a link that might be useful: ARE Event Calendar

I hate to say it, but fragrance seems to accompany disease susceptibility.

No one seemed to mention Fragrant Cloud - probably among the best stinkers around, it's a high-count double with exhibition quality. The lower petals reflex downward very much like Touch-Of-Class and other exhibition winners. It blooms constantly, is a fairly compact HT and more bushy in shape.

Of course, one of the finest roses ever bred is Double Delight - second only to Peace in historic popularity, it's a great stinker and the flowers are incomparable (except for Peace, perhaps). It's also fairly compact and available almost everywhere.

Both Fragrant Cloud and Double Delight are Gamble award winners for fragrance. Secret is too, but I have severe issues with thrips on mine. If that new fungus chemical from Rosemania works this coming season, I may change my mind on Secret. ;-)

You will probably have to spray any of these, though, to keep the BS off.

^ I was honestly a little stumped when trying to think of a very fragrant rose that was also long lasting around here. I have around 100 roses, so I honestly don't always notice whether or not single blooms stick around, as there are always others nearby. I agree too, that Austin roses turn into monsters here, as do a great deal of antiques. Pretty much count on sizes being at least double what they're reported to be in the catalogs.

Hybrid teas that I do like, and that do reasonably well during our heat are Pope John Paul II (white, very fragrant), Pink Peace (med. pink, very fragrant), Grande Dame (dk. pink, very fragrant), Gemini (pink/white bicolor, little fragrance), Veteran's Honor (red, lightly fragrant). I have several others that are new, so can't really comment on them.

I also like Hot Cocoa (russet, lightly scented), Koko Loco (lavender/tan, moderately scented), Archduke Charles (lt pink/fades? to dk pink, lightly scented), and Belinda's Dream (lt. pink, lightly scented). These will be larger and shrubbier than the hybrid teas.