Since we're both in zone 4 (albeit opposite sides of the country), I can tell you that damasks and portlands do well here. There is minimal winterkill in a typical winter, which is usually just some light pruning come spring. For repeat bloom, the best for me is Marchesa Boccella (some say it is the same rose as Jacques Cartier), followed by Rose de Rescht, Yolande d'Aragon and Portland from Glendora (also called Johasine Hanet). All are deliciously fragrant. For once-blooming damasks, my favorites are Ispahan, La Ville de Bruxelles and Leda. Ispahan does indeed have the longest bloom time and starts blooming later than my other old roses. I grow Autumn Damask, which is supposed to repeat bloom, but after 4 years it still hasn't re-bloomed for me. I wonder if it still isn't mature, or if my growing season is too short to reap the benefit of rebloom. I love these reliable roses and think you will too. I hope you enjoy the following photos on this cold winter day. Celeste MARCHESA BOCCELLA..... ROSE DE RESCHT..... YOLANDE D'ARAGON.... LA VILLE DE BRUXELLES....SEPAL ARE LOVELY TOO LEDA.... ISPAHAN.... PORTLAND FROM GLENDORA...

Hmmm, bman1920 said "purple" and "Gallica" in his original post, but I see we have wandered far afield, and so I'll add a couple more suggestions. I like the idea of purple roses too, but there are also Gallicas that start out purplish pink and then age purple-lavender-gray, and that are good. 'De la Maitre-Ecole' (the name has variations) is very good, with large fragrant blooms and a sturdy grower--it does sucker--and a favorite of mine, which might require better treatment than some, is 'Ypsilante', with big scented velvety flowers. I wish this one WOULD sucker. Actually I have met very few Gallicas I didn't like, and most of the medium- and darker-hued ones lean to purple or lavender at some stage of bloom development. Leaving Gallicas behind, a rambling rose I like, even though it's scentless, is 'Rose Marie Viaud'. This has little double blooms the shape and color of a Parma violet. I'm currently trying to figure out a place for mine where it won't die of chlorosis. Oh, and finally, two purple Mosses: 'William Lobb', very tall, vigorous and obliging, and 'Capitaine John Ingram', low-growing and Gallica-like, the flowers little velvet purple rosettes with a button eye and a smooth lavender reverse. Both fragrant, of course. Melissa

Here is a quote from an article published in North Dakota Quarterly in 1932: "... in 1744 the family moved back to western Virginia which was then on the outskirts of settled territory. On this trip, Nancy Clarke Bouldin took with her a slip of her favorite damask rose. After nearly two hundred years this rose is still growing on the Virginia homestead which remains in the hands of the family and Mrs. Heath was the proud possessor of a slip from this rose which is now a fair sized bush." Fannie was very conscious of naming plants correctly. She learned botanical latin so that she could be sure that she and her correspondents were discussing the same plants. She exchanged letters regularly with T. Hay who was the Superintendent of the Royal Gardens in London and had many connections in the U.S. I even came across a letter from Vita Sackville-West - totally cool.

There IS an "old rose scent". Roses express it in many permutations, that is, with different additions of other scents in more or less quantity. The old rose with the purest "old rose scent" that I have experienced is unidentified from an Indiana farm that was passed down through a number of generations. I gave a rooted cutting to Christopher. I hope that it survived. I am not adept enough at rose classification to say what class it belongs to. It is a once bloomer, medium to light pink, button eye, with about a 2" diameter flower. It is true that the perception of scent differs from person to person yet anyone I have seen who has smelled this rose has been enchanted. I have grown Tiffany, Fragrant Cloud, Blanc Double de Coubert, Rose de Rescht, Reine des Violettes, Souvenir de Claudius Denoyel, Crimson Glory, Chrysler Imperial, Munstead Wood, Proud Land, Autumn Damask (pink), Comte de Chambord, Jacques Cartier, Zephrin Drouhin, etc. and sniffed wild rugosa roses on a beach (clove scent, wonderful but not "old rose"). Also, I have noticed that many of the c. mid 20th century roses with decent "old rose scent" such as Crimson Glory and Chrysler Imperial develop a less pleasing scent as they age. Does anyone else sense this as well? Cath P.S. If you really want to smell the "old rose" scent, buy a vial of true attar of roses. Put the stopper right up to your nose. That medicinal scent is not it. No rose has a scent that concentrated. Then slowly move the stopper away from your nose in increments. You will know it when you smell it.