Have you considered a Tea (not Hybrid Tea) such as 'Lady Hillingdon'? Tea roses are more resistant to blackspot than modern roses.

Apricots are my favorite. I just happened to notice Vesper this morning. Not a spot on it and I have been busy and havent sprayed in awhile. I dont think it has a fragrance though.

Perle d'Or and Arethusa have been spotless for me and are fragrant. Pretty Lady has always been very clean also, but to me it does not have any fragrance.

The climber 'Papi Delbard' has been resistant for me so far (2 seasons). It has large, well-formed, fairly fragrant flowers. This is the only rose I know of that meets all your standards. It could be grown as a 7' shrub with pruning.

'Winter Sunset' is resistant to blackspot but susceptible to Cercospora spot, which may not be a big problem in your climate. However, it fades quickly and is best used as a cut flower, taken as soon as the sepals split. Then it keeps reasonably well and maintains an orange-sherbet color.

'Mother of Pearl' is a beautiful pale apricot-pink, resistant so far, but not fragrant.

'Warm Wishes' and 'Rosemary Harkness' will need spraying in the South and East. However, WW is one of my favorite HTs.

I think I would call Lady Hillingdon yellow. She does black spot for me.

I like Arethusa (an earth kind rose), but she is more beautiful in the garden than cut. I find that the bloom shape shatters quickly.

Rev 'd Or is great.

I only have had Winter Sunset for a year. It is very pretty, but I am not sure of a disease report.

Sammy

Thanks for the feedback so far! I forgot to put down my size restrictions though. The roses will be growing in raised beds along the path to the house that are about 4' wide. So some of the larger roses that would otherwise work well won't in this particular space.

Lady Hillingdon is one that I have admired, but when I saw pictures (from Olga, I think?) of the bush as an 8' gorgeous behemoth, it made me fear that it just wouldn't be happy being pruned as much as it would need to be for it to remain within bounds.

I had some chinas and teas at my other house and those have definitely done well down here. For those people in hot climates who have some of the paler apricots, do they hold their color or do they bleach out? This is my main concern as I want them to look peachy/apricot all year. I'd rather have a darker peach or apricot in the winter if that means the rest of the year the color is right, rather than a rose that's the right color in winter but then has barely any color during the remainder of the year.

Anyway, looking forward to hearing more about your experiences with these roses!

I grow Apricot Vigorosa and Amber Queen. Apricot Vigorosa has been disease free for me, but its clusters fade and blow fairly quickly. Amber Queen is fairly disease resistant for me. Prairie Sunrise is quite disease resistant in my garden. The apricot floribunda Royal Wedding has been extremely disease resistant and a heavy bloomer, but the only one who carries it now is Roses Unlimited (can't figure it out since it is such an outstanding rose). I also love growing the beautiful hybrid tea Jema, which is fairly disease resistant in my garden.

Prairie Sunrise
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Royal Wedding
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Royal Wedding bush
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Amber Queen
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Jema bud
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Jema fully open bloom
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'Praire Sunrise' has an outstanding flower and partial blackspot resistance, but it will need spraying in most southern and eastern gardens. It has a slight fragrance to my nose.

Mine was resistant the first season, but nearly defoliated when the wrong strain of BS came along, so I spray it.

Caramella (HT from '86) and Ambridge Rose (Austin) are apricot-colored and found to have good blackspot resistance in past ARS trials. Ambridge Rose can get powdery mildew, however, if that is a problem in your area.

Hmmmm-no spray, fragrant, apricot colored roses that hold that color (without going pink or ivory/white) are hard to find-but hopefully you'll find something that will work for your climate. :)

I'm in a very different climate, but no spray apricot roses that meet some of your criteria here (Portland OR) include:

Bronze Star-HT-This large bloomed, very fragrant HT grows without disease in my shady north facing bed. I can't imagine how much better it could do with more sun! Long lasting cut and in landscape.(Note: This rose does fade to ivory left on the bush in full sun.)

Compassion-shrub-This may be more peachy-pink than you want colorwise and wants to grow wider than 4'. I grow it as a self supporting shrub, worth mentioning for its good disease resistance and wonderful fragrance (similar fragrance to Tiffany & Elle, if you're familiar with those roses)

Crepuscule-noisette-The growth habit is too big for what you've asked for, but this also has been pretty much disease free for me.

Lady Hillingdon-tea-I'd call it gold colored and I love the faint apricot fragrance to it. Pretty in the landscape, even without flowers, few thorns, purple toned new foliage/tint to canes.

Marie Curie-shrub- (Heirloom sells this as "Romantic Dreams") completely BS resistant/stays 100% foliated but can get a touch of cercospora spot some years. This may have more pink to it than you want though and the pink comes out more as it ages...

Warm Wishes-HT- (aka "Sunset Celebration") gets a bit of BS but does very well no spray. Long lasting cut and in landscape. For me this is a peachy/pink and they just fade lighter keeping those pastel tones, but never to ivory/white.

Winter Sunset-HT-I agree with MichaelG's assessment- completely BS resistant/stays 100% foliated, but can get some cercospora spot; fades to ivory and/or falls apart pretty quickly on the bush, but reasonable cut flower and nice (medium strength?) fruity fragrance. Attractive upright growth habit-the bush without flowers looks nice in the landscape.

I'm not terribly familiar with a lot of the roses on your list, but I have seen Reconciliation growing no spray locally and it gets quite a bit of BS...

Hope some of this helps.

:)

Dawn

re: have good blackspot resistance in past ARS trials.

I don't know where ARS got their data, for me it was one of the biggest BS magnets I ever grew. I got it from DavidAusinRoses so I assume it was the correct clone.

I've had really good results with Tamora, but I don't have the humidity. I think putting this rose in the shade causes more problems than anything else in our area. I'm no expert (pretty new to roses) but we have 90's in the summer here and she did really well in full sun all day and only shade after 5pm. If anything the blooms turned a little more pink, but they did not fade. Don't know if that helps, but good luck on your search :)

Karenforroses: Those roses are beautiful! Wow, I better wipe away the drool before I short my keyboard. Thanks for the feedback on the Vigorosa. Based on my experience with the Ruby one, I'm not surprised. Unfortunately I fear that your "fairly" and "quite" disease resistant roses in northern Michigan will be completely susceptible down here in Louisiana. But Royal Wedding is one I definitely want to look into more.

MichaelG: Thanks for posting about your experience with Prairie Sunrise.

Petaloid & LavenderLass: Thanks for your recommendations! Unfortunately, my local sources say that the Austin roses don't tend to do well down here unless they're with a pretty strict spraying regimen. I'm hoping that one will show up, but until then I guess I just have to keep on waiting.

Littlesmokie: I know I'm asking for a lot. If I can get even the top 3 though I'd be really happy (if I get all 4 I'll be over the moon) :). At my old house I had actually thought about doing Crepuscule, and depending on how I decide to landscape the backyard, that's a definite possibility there. Thanks for your advice on the other roses. I may just have to make a grab at Lady Hillingdon as she does get so many rave reviews. I may post something in the OGR forum...we'll see!

DennisB1: Thanks for the feedback about your experiences. Definitely helpful to know!

Anyone else care to share?

I'm in zone 9b. My winter temps average between 40 and 55º, with occasional mini snowstorms going down to about 34º at the lowest. Springs are generally cool to warm, and if there's rains, I get mildew and BS on even the most disease resistant roses. I do not spray. Don't have time. Summers quickly climb up to the triple digits, and average between 85º and 110º. At this point there is no disease in my garden except for some occasional canker on weaker plants. The only real problem I have by then is thrips and deer; with thrips being so bad, I think I might have to take time to spray next season!

Of your roses listed, here is my experience with the ones I have:

AMBER QUEEN - Nice rose; not the greatest repeat; some BS and mildew.
BY APPOINTMENT - Lovely small pale apricot blooms that can change to yellowish tones in high temps; decent repeat; gets some BS.
LADY HILLINGDON - Planted in part shade; grows lanky and sprawly; not the best repeat; good disease resistance.
NORWICH CASTLE - Almost always one of the first to bloom in spring; beautiful colors from apricots to ambers; decent repeat with abundant, beautiful blooms; gets some BS.
PRETTY LADY - Hasn't bloomed much in the last several yrs, altho could be lousy soil conditions; small blooms that are more of a creamy peachy-pink, not apricot.
RECONCILIATION - Gorgeous blooms, but more of a two-toner of orangey-apricot center and pink outer petals; slow repeat; decent disease resistance.
ROSEMARY HARKNESS - Nice blooms that I wouldn't call apricot, more like light orange with yellow undertones; good repeat; good disease resistance.
SPECIAL OCCASION - Probably the best of the bunch; almost constantly in bloom with colors that range between apricot, peach and pink; puts on an excellent fall show with more pronounced pale pink outer petals; gets some BS.
WARM WISHES (SUNSET CELEBRATION) - To me, again more of an orange and yellow than apricot; not the best repeat; some BS.
WELWYN GARDEN GLORY and WELSH GOLD are the same rose - Mine is still a little baby own root so can't really evaluate it too well.

Here are some others that you might consider:

APRICOT NECTAR - Gorgeous blooms that repeat fairly well and smell good; slight BS.
ASHRAM - Drop-dead gorgeous big blooms of all sorts of shades and tones of apricot, orange and amber; good repeat; gets slight BS.
BRANDY - Gorgeous huge blooms, altho could repeat better; some BS.
CHESHIRE - Beautiful long-lasting blooms of all shades of apricot and peach; almost no disease.
HONEY PERFUME - Gorgeous apricot-to-amber blooms all season long; very little BS in early spring.
MAID OF HONOUR - One of the best. My plant is waaaay over 7ft tall, blooms almost constantly with gorgeous creamy apricot monster blooms; very little disease.
MARILYN MONROE - Monster plant; monster blooms that last forever and repeat all the time; very thorny; just a touch of BS in spring.
MOTHER OF PEARL - Nice blooms that repeat pretty well; grows tall and upright; decent resistance.
OSIANA - Another great pale apricot that grows very tall (over 6ft) and has only slight BS in early spring.
PAUL RICARD (SUMMER'S KISS) - Gorgeous big fat long-lasting blooms; fair repeat; good resistance.
SAMARITAN - Really great FL with tons of old-fashioned blooms ranging from apricot to peach, to pinkish with a touch of red at the edges; get mildew and BS in damp weather.
SISTERS AT HEART - Beautiful big blooms that repeat well and have good resistance.
SIXTEEN CANDLES - Very nice apricot blend that has fair repeat and very little disease.
SOUTH AFRICA - New one for me this season, and impressed me with massive clusters of gorgeous amber-apricot blooms all season; almost no disease; wonderful sweet scent!
SUNSTRUCK - I love the beautifully formed blooms with the deep veining, but they do tend to fade to a very pale yellowy-apricot; some BS.
TOP NOTCH - Beautiful clusters of golden-apricot blooms all season; only minimal disease in fall.
VALENCIA - Big fat beautiful blooms on a tall plant; blooms best in heat; some BS.

I can't recommend Amber Queen, much as I love the colour. It's one of the worst BS victims I have. Folksinger, not far away from it, is healthy, but it may not be apricot enough for you? I don't spray, never have, but my climate is fairly dry.

Great list, Beth. I wonder how many of them will be BS resistant in New Orleans? I love apricots myself, but to find one that can be grown no spray here is almost impossible task. Arethusa and Perle d'Or are better in resistance to BS here then any other apricots I tried. Still not completely clean, but look decent at least half the time.
Olga

I too would recommend Warm Wishes (Sunset Celebration) as it grows and blooms vigorously and stays very disease free.
Mother of Pearl and Summer's Kiss (Paul Ricard) are lovely very large heavy blooming and disease resistant.
Marilyn Monroe I have two bushes of and they are heavy blooming and vigorous growing and only get a touch of BS.
European Touch is another super tall 8' bush sport of Folklore and is a very good apricot in my garden.
John

This is certainly belated for this post, but...
Beth, you've sold me on getting Special Occasion!! I've been eying it, noticed it in the Heirloom catalog. Does anywhere else besides Heirloom sell it? Their plants are healthy, but just so small and priced at a premium rate. Picky, aren't I?
Astphard, I know you posted your question in November so have probably chosen roses by now. But what the heck. I'll throw in my 1 cent's worth, because I live in New Orleans.
I've grown Sunset Celebration, Valencia, Prairie Sunrise, Just Joey, and of them, Sunset Celebration has been probably the easiest. Very good disease resistance (for a hybrid tea.) The bloom form is fine for garden but not formal enough for the show table.
My absolute favorate of the bunch has been Valencia. Yes, it needs spraying, but its otherwise a healthy bush that cranks out huge fat gorgeous golden-apricot blooms with a unique vanilla and rose scent. They last very long, too, both on the bush and as cut blooms.
Prairie Sunrise is pretty, like the picture above, but for me the blooms blow too quickly. And it has been one of the more blackspot-prone plants in my garden. Just Joey is gorgeous but I don't think it cares for our heat and humidity. It'll grow, but doesn't bloom enough for my taste, and it definitely needs protection from blackspot.

I just got the delicate apricot miniflora Ambiance last fall. Too soon to know how bushy and prolific it will be, but it sure is beautiful. Blooms are 2 to 2 and a half inches in diameter.

I have a true mini that may not be what you're looking for, but it is beautiful and one of the healthiest and most disease-resistant in my garden. Even placed in my front hard with somewhat less than 6 hours of direct sun, it is superb. That's the apricot, yellow, white, and pink blended "Absolutely." It blooms regularly in rapid cycles and in its 2nd full season last year just covered itself in blooms each time. Really nice!

I still want to check out Special Occasion and perhaps Over the Moon. Marilyn Monroe looks good but probably too big and too thorny for my garden logistics.

I almost forgot, I used to grow Medallion when I lived in Mobile, AL. Terrific novelty rose for cutting, but I wouldn't pick it for the garden. Very tall and lanky, the blooms are enormous, fragrant, and if they can escape being damaged by rain, they open to fantastic blooms. I would usually resort to cutting them in bud and bringing them indoors to open, as they spoil in rain. So it has some quirks, but as I recall it was respecably disease resistant for a HT.

Mike

Both Pickering and Palatine used to offer Special Occasion.

As to no spray in the south Arethusa and Perle d'Or are definitely are the winners; I never had to spray them. Warm wishes are almost no spray and fragrant, if you are not a perfectionist, and can tolarate some blemishes, you can grow it. It didn't defoliate for me as it did in futher up north.
Lady Hillingdon is not really apricot here but rather egg yolk yellow - for a moment or two before it fries to white except in early sping and late fall when she is able to keep its egg yolk color longer; it is a frustrating tea in the south if you want to grow it in full sun.

Floral fairy tale is positively no spray here in coastal NC but it is minimum 5'x5' - wider than taller. Of course you can prune it with every deadheading if you want it, I couln't do it.But why not, if you can?

My first nominee got discarded due to size restriction, namely William R. Smith. I never noticed that the huge apricot blooms of this tea rose ever faded and they pop up for the end of the street. Alas, it is about 8-9' tall. Also, I agree with Michael about Papi Delbard, mine is about 4 or rather 5 years old and I never sprayed it though it should. be treated against thrips. Papi is more fragrant that WRS but I do not have good nose for teas. Again, Papi is bigger than your allocated space.

Fyi, Lady Hillingdon 'comes in' bush & climbing forms. I thought the same as you about it getting large, but the bush is usually quite small as I understand. So if you admire it, you might want to consider it anyway.

Thank you so much for all of your extraordinarily helpful replies! I'm so sorry for dropping off the face of the planet (or at least, the forum). But while doing my rose plans I got engaged and gardening kind of got swept aside in favor of wedding plans. Now I'm ready to get back into garden mode, but it's too late for me to plant any roses until the fall. But hopefully it means I'll be able to pick up some of these beauties before they get sold out again!

Correction! William R. Smith is not WRS as I thought. WRS died. The gorgeous behemoth is Caramel fairy tale. Does not fade to white or cream but it gets huge. I am sure it can be tamed but I would not challenge it to stay at 4'x4'.

I bought 2 huge potted 'Over The Moon' bushes last fall, planted them. This spring....full of buds and blooms and I dont see any blackspot. They were big bushes when I bought them....they are now growing like crazy, so healthy and the blooms are huge and absolutely gorgeous!

My Apricot Vigorosa is doing well, no blackspot, pretty color. I dont know about disease resistance, but I adore Carding Mill.

I got "Easy Livin" from K & M Roses, in Feb., grafted on Fort. it is gorgeous and a bright apricot-orange color, and I have not sprayed as yet..... sally