Frederick Mistral...very fragrant, makes a study medium tall bush, good disease resistance, have read it can be fussy
William Shakespeare 2000...fragrant, shoots up tall canes with candelabra type ends of them. I find this makes the canes bend way over and should be staked or they can break off at the base, disease resistance good
Awakening...fragrant, one main bloom then like New Dawn should be pruned back and fertilized well for a good second flush, will make a thorny climber growing in all directions if not tamed with pruning, does get black spot if conditions are right
Prairie Star...makes a medium size bush with attractive hybrid tea shaped flowers, but in my garden it wasn't very generous with it's blooms, does get black spot

Sharifa Asma has done well in my yard. One of my hardier Austins, nice fragrance, and though I've seen a little bs it's still looking good right now. Considering I just sprayed my roses for the second time this year I'd say it's doing quite well. I think the flowers are beautiful - it's a definite keeper for me!

I really like Sharifa Asma. Have had it for a number of years. It does have wierd leaves, though. You might think something is wrong with the bush but it is not.

What kind of weird leaves?

Of those on your list I have WS2000 and Prairie Star. My WS2000 is currently in the shade and not doing much thanks to an interfering mulberry tree. It does have pretty red flowers although not many of them at any one time. It also is not a giant octopus like Fisherman's Friend.

Prairie Star is a nice white that could pass for a grandiflora in growth habit. Mine has been up to this year putting out a small, but steady supply of flowers even in the high summer heat. This year's Easter freeze knocked it rather hard, but it is at least still alive. I have two plants of it, one of them new this year as a possible replacement for the other one in case it didn't make it. It is the only Buck rose I have at the moment, but I do like it. Both of these varieties have been hanging in there better with the use of the Messenger spray.

I love Sharifa Asma, very reliable and hardy for me. Wonderful strong sweet scent. The foliage has a dark color to it which I find is a nice backdrop for the pale flowers. The foliage has a coarse texture to it, but that does not necessarily make it displeasing.

Let me give a more enthusiastic endorsement of Shakespeare 2000, even though mine is only in its second season. Wonderful full blooms with an old-fashioned appearance--dark red aging to reddish-purple--good fragrance. Like bustopher's roses, mine suffered from the big Easter freeze, but it's back to normal now. No big canes or drooping canes (although I had a bit of that problem the first year).

It is not among my most disease-resistant roses, but it is pretty good in that department. David Austin claims it has excellent disease-resistance--which mine did the first year, so maybe the limited BS problems I had earlier this summer had more to do with the plant having been weakened by the Big Easter freeze.

David Austin says it is "hardy" but lists no zone info., so I can't tell you more about that except to say that the big Easter freeze did much more damage to some of my other roses than it did to WS2000, so it must be hardier than those other roses.

It's a gorgeous rose that you should carefully consider.

Kate

Dana, I can only comment on 3 of your choices from personal experience:

1.Frederic mistral: I loved this rose while I had it, but it is one of those roses that does not appreciate being pruned back to nothing, which is the lot of many of my roses here in zone 4. Protect him well if you try him. FM grows very, very thick canes, quite rapidly and spreads out wider than it is tall. It is a good re-bloomer, and lovely to look at. But the scent...ahhh, the scent is heavenly. I keep dreaming of growing this rose again some way, some how!

8 Awakening: I gave this climber away. The blooms are really pretty, but the canes were not winter hardy here and I was not looking for another stunted climber. Should be good for you in zone 5, though - I think.

9 Prairie star: an absolutely beautiful rose and a reliable bloomer. Yes, it does blackspot and does best with a spray program. It is hardy and has a delicious green apple scent.

Our conditions are so different, I don't know if this will be valuable for you -- but 'Paul Bocuse' is a very very good rose for my conditions. The plant is an attractive 3.5-4 ft, and bloom production is good. It is disease-free here. (I don't know about blackspot, that's not an issue here.)
The blooms have lovely form, and are held in very shapely sprays.

I don't care much for the color, but given his other virtues, I'd be churlish to "diss" this rose on that one point.

Jeri

I'm also zone 5 and am growing some of the roses on your list. Fredric Mistral has been hardy, a vigorous grower, with wonderfully fragrant blooms. He gets tall in my garden by August (5 l/2 feet or so) but doesn't have to be staked - good strong cane. Sharifa Asma is also hardy for me - lovely soft pink blooms with a ruffle around the edge - not as tall as Freddy. This is my first year with William Shakespeare 2000 and Prairie Star, although both have taken off beautifully since June, and have been good repeat bloomers. I have Awakening coming this month from Ashdown Roses - I'm one zone warmer than Anne Cecilia, so I'm hoping it will do O.K. It's a sport of New Dawn, which does fine in my garden, so it should be pretty hardy. (Some years I have to prune New Dawn back quite a bit, and other years she's fine to the tips - depends on the winter). Another wonderful red is L.D. Braithwaite - a great rebloomer - beautiful velvety red many-petaled fragrant blooms, and hardy here with just a little winterizing.

I cannot comment on hardiness issues since I garden in a much warmer climate. But if Frederic Mistral, Sharifa Asma and WS2000 are hardy in your area you will love them. Frederic Mistral likes sun and a lot of water while I would plant (in my case, replant) WS2000 in eastern exposure to protect it from afternoon sun - mine in full sun is a dusty pink, nowhere near to crimson.

I do not have Star of the Nile but heard very good things about its blooms and fragrance; again, I cannot say anything about its hardiness.

My Fredric Mistral is a huge grower and it spreads out all over the place, so you have to give it LOTS of room to spread. It is very healthy and the blooms are very nicely formed and the fragrance is quite nice as well. I would certainly recommend it to anyone, just give it lots of room to grow!!!!
John

Thanks for all the responses.When I posted the message I was under the impression that I would be able to eliminate one or two from the list.But instead Iam going to end up getting most of them.Iam not ordering prairie star for now because my three years of gardening experience doesn't include spraying for BS.I plan to start that next year and it has always been available at our local nursary last three years.So I can always get it later next season.I have planted Dark Lady and Belinda's Dream(Both impulse buys from season end sale)over the weekend. Iam going to order Paul Bocuse,Awakening and Frederic Mistral(Ihave saved two spots at the back of the bed for tall growing roses and he can take all the room he wants there) from RU and see if I can get wonder stripe,Madrigal and Star of the Nile from RoseLand nursary.Iam getting grafted WS 2000 and Sharifa Asma specially ordered through the local nursary.Thanks again for all the responses which are greatly appreciated.
Dana

Dana,
I'm in a similar climate (zone 5a). The only two I have on your list are William Shakespeare 2000 and Star of the Nile. I can't say which of the two I love more! They are both AWESOME in terms of color & scent! They were both from RU. I am planning to order Paul Bocuse this fall, as you are. I hope we both love him! :0) Phyl