I get a lot of enjoyment out of my Rugosa Polaries. It has a unique feature in that the unopened buds are also fragrant. In my area it grows to about 3 feet tall and wide. There is a photo on my website under Rugosas.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rugosa Polaries

If there were a rose that fully met your specs for the HT type, it would be world-famous as the only perfect modern rose.

I would consider Quietness. It has a truly elegant flower that is fairly fragrant and thrips-resistant despite being a blush rose. The plant is tough and quite vigorous.

Thanks. I have Quietness last summer, and it was definitely a good choice. It's good news that its thrips-resistant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Quietness

You might want to spend some time browing Lynette's link above. Besides the fact that she has beautiful pics of all sorts of roses, including rugosas and hybrid teas, she also included short comments about disease-resistance and other prominent traits under many of her pics. That might give you some new ideas to play with.

Kate

I don't have this rose - YET - but Pope John Paul II won an award for its fragrance, and from what I've been reading, it's quite vigorous.

Deanna

Wow that Quietness is a beauty that I have not heard of before.
Anyway JPW I recently started a thread. It was titled "Your best roses that are intensely fragrant, please" It has quickly moved to the third page, I see. Wow once off the 1st page, then they speed on. Anyhow, got a lot of great comments on this. You may wish to check it out.

Pauline - Vancouver Island

"Hardy, nearly constantly blooming all summer, disease resistant and very, very fragrant."
If you find such a rose please let me know. I have several rugosas and they do not bloom constantly - mostly a spring flush with a few blooms after that, and the blooms get past their freshness date very quickly.
I also have Bucks, Austins and Romanticas. Most Bucks are not very fragrant, including Quietness. If you are so inclined then Earthsong is for you. Lots of blooms. Prairie Sunrise is fragrant (if you like magic marker) but does not bloom constantly.
Many of my Austins have also died over the winter. Sharifa Asma and Abraham Darby survive with little disease but do not bloom constantly.
As for Romanticas, Frederic Mistral survives the winter and has nice fragrant hybrid tea blooms. This is a good choice and produces a fair number of blooms. Peter Mayle died over the winter. Bolereo and Comtesse de Province are new this season but have produced lots of nice fragrant blooms; you will probably have to winter protect them.
An old garden rose that is hardy and blooms in flushes is Rose de Rescht, although it gets some "creeping crud" on the leaves (my rugosa Hansa also has black leaves by this time of year).

well the rugosa is easy. conrad ferdinand meyer. the flower is pink. it has a white sport, nova zembla, which is suppose to have the same attributes with only color difference. I have 3 cfm. most vigorous rose i have,blooms continuously,tea-like bloom,definitely the strongest fragrance.disease resistant. susceptible to rust, i dont have but i think more prevalent on west coast.if you've got the space for.fragrance can be overpowering.

conrad ferdinand meyer is zone 6b and will not work in chicago. I am also looking for the perfect rugosa rose. It looks like an awsome rose and some day I will move to a higher zone because the roses always look greener on the other side!

My favorite HT's are Mr. Lincoln, and Flaming Peace (also Wow factor in fragrance and color and blooms).
Samuel

Perfume Delight is extremely fragrant, blooms all summer, blooms more with deadheading, healthy bush.

Quietness is a lovely choice - I love mine. Most of my rugosas (except for Fru Dagmar Hastrup) are too large and too prickley for pots, and none of them are constant bloomers (Sarah Van Fleet and Topaz Jewel do repeat quickly though). I have two newer roses, however, that are excellent candidates for pots on a rooftop garden - both are floribundas - Royal Wedding and Rainbow Sorbet. Both have been profuse and constant bloomers all summer long, both have been extremely disease resistant, and both have stunning large blooms. Rainbow Sorbet spent last winter in a pot in the garage and leaped into spring growth immediatly. This will be my first winter with Royal Wedding, but it is supposed to be quite winter hardy, especially on its own roots (Jackson Perkins and Roses Unlimited carry it). Other than some of my larger David Austins, these two floribundas have been the true stars of my garden this year and I can't say enough good things about them. Here's a photo of my Rainbow Sorbet, and I've included a link on Royal Wedding.

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Here is a link that might be useful: Royal Wedding

Is Rainbow Sorbet fragrant?

Yes, on top of all of its other great qualities, it is fragrant. Not "Old rose" like some of the David Austins, but a nice fruity fragrance.

Robusta is an excellent hybrid rugosa. However it can get big and lanky and later in the summer gets BS without spraying. It is always in bloom, brilliant red flowers. And very hardy.

Rugelda is another. Yellow flowers edged in pink/red. Much bushier but not as hardy. Supposedly z5 but I lost mine a couple of years ago. Climate change may? bring somewhat warmer temps to z5'ers and even ours supposedly in now z6. I'm trying anothe R as it was one of the most beautiful roses I have ever had. And blooms cover the bush most of the summer. Also big so may not be suitable for a deck garden.

I have enjoyed my Rugosa Polareis as well.

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