Moondance is my all time favorite white. It blooms abundantly and repeats well. The flowers last a long time without wilting or discoloring. The shrub has a nice shape and attractive foliage. It's almost a pure white, sometimes shows the faintest hint of cream.

'Moonstone' always drove me crazy with the split centers. I like 'Bolero 2004' and 'Snowbird'. No idea how they would do in zone 6.

Sombreuil (1960s LFC aka Colonial White) for a climber. It has the most gorgeous blooms - I think they resemble those of Madame Hardy. Repeats well. Mine is disease free (no spray). HMF says it is hardy to zone 6b. Gets large. I also love White Pet (aka Little White Pet).

Jackie

White Pet is a great little rose that remains on the small size. I have it mixed with larger bush roses. Snow bird and Bolero, recommended by Hoovb both have gorgeous blooms and are very fragrant on a bush that does not become huge.

White Pet

Bolero - this plant was only about 5 months old at the time

Lynn

We grow Cream Abundance and Moonstone. Moonstone is one of the top exhibition HT's and is a great garden plant for us. It grows 5-6 ft high and around 4 feet across. It is quite vigorous and repeats fairly quickly. The flowers are large, full and have a nice fragrance. Yes, there are some with split centers but still many without. It struggles with disease a bit when it gets humid in spring and fall but is fairly clean during the warm months of mid summer.

We have a grafted specimen of Cream Abundance from Pickering in our garden and are quite pleased with it. It has glossy, bright green foliage and is very mannerly. The foliage has good disease resistance. The flowers are around 3.5 inches across and are borne in clusters of 4-6 flowers; they are white It grows around 3.5 feet high and across. This would be a good rose for mass plantings.

Our favorite white rose at the moment is Pope John Paul II. Our own root plant grows to around 6.5 feet tall x 5 feet across. The flowers have a strong fragrance and are very full. It seems to repeat quickly and never seems to be out of flower. It has a nice, mannerly growth habit. It seems to get a touch of foliage diseases only when the humidity is high in early spring and fall.

Bolero is also and outstanding white, which others have mentioned. Dark green, glossy leaves with full white flowers that can have centers from blush pink to pale yellow. Excellent plant form and nice fragrance as well.

If a white climber is what you are after, It is hard to beat Jacqueline's suggestion of Sombrieul. Ours produce 12 foot long canes with dark green foliage and very full flowers that can exceed 4 inches across. It is rated as hardy through USDA zone 6b, so this might work for you if you need a climber.

We also grow Green Romantica, John F. Kennedy, and Snowbird, which are all good, but not as quite as good as the ones mentioned above.

As you can see, there are a lot a good white roses to choose from. Good luck with your choice.

I've only had this Prairie Harvest for 1 season but so far I'm liking it...Some blooms on PH do have some yellow and pink tones though...

Oh beautiful white roses! Thank you for sharing everyone! Too bad thrips feast on them first.

Thank you for all of the wonderful choices and suggestions and for sharing your lovely pictures, I appreciate your feedback! Now that I have guidance I might get more than one white depending on the area, some for landscape others for bedding and as Lynn suggested for mixing and matching. The climbers look gorgeous, something to consider although I was thinking of red for another climber but now I'm not so sure. I like stand out colors but it's a give and take with overall performance and easy care being the forefront of what I'm looking for. Fortunately Heirloom has some of these selections. While looking up each of the roses suggested I came across a shrub rose sold by Heirloom called Jacqueline du Pré, has anyone had experience with it?

Thrips are the worst problem for my white roses, and white roses are my favorite. Bolero is the worst off, very rare to have an unscathed flower (but such a delicious fragrance).

Bolero at its best:

What Bolero usually looks like for me (YMMV):

On the other hand, I've never seen damage on Winchester Cathedral. Maybe my favorite white so far (but fragrance that hints of latrine, and flowers shrink in summer heat).

KOrdes Tineke (Ice Cream)

Makes a medium tall upright bush with flowers on long stems but no fragrance. In my PNW garden no problems.

Synstylae (musk) ramblers. Although I do agree that the tendency for the anthers to go brown well before the petals drop is a drawback. Otherwise, space permitting these create spectacles matched or exceeded only by certain flowering trees.

For a different type of white, consider Gourmet Popcorn--about 2 or 2.5 ft tall, charming, blooms a lot, and little or no bs disease. Wish I had a better picture, but you can get the idea in this one:

Kate

Souvenir de Philemon Cochet, a rugosa. Can be a stingy bloomer at times but the colour is so crystalline it makes all my other whites look dirty.

Jane

It seems the thrips love the whites as much as we do! Does Moonstone or Moondance have a big problem with thrips?

Tineke of course is not also called Ice Cream, that is Memoire's other name. Blame it on the time of year. I guess I need more than two and a half fingers to type with!!

Perfect examples of location, location, location. Beth noted above that her California Memoire gets about 7 ft tall. Here in the midwest (Kansas zone 6) my Memoire only gets about 3 ft tall. Of course, I have moved it a couple times, which probably slowed it down, but since none of my roses get 7 ft tall, I doubt the Memoire will either. It looks like those that top out around 3-4 ft. tall.

Kate

Mrs. Dudley Cross, Mlle. de Sombreuil, Jesse Hildreth, White Meidiland, Marie Pavie - this probably won't help since they're mostly antique roses.

My better white roses are Iceberg, Glacier, Winchester Cathedral, Claire Austin, Windermere, Moonstone, Polarstern, Botzaris, Pillow Fight, and Sugar Moon. Moonstone puts out a lot of flowers, but few of them are of show quality. It is inconsistent. The others on this list are more consistent. Botzaris is a once-blooming damask that puts out a lot of flowers in the spring only. The rest of my white roses are for the most part rather iffy as to how they do because of the exponentially fickle weather conditions that exist here especially in the spring.

Adelaide d' Orleans is my favourite rambler. She is extremely elegant in the way that she hangs her clusters of white flowers, opening from pink buds, down so that you can see her blooms fully. So pretty.

Madame Hardy is my favourite bush rose. The first time I saw her she took my breath away. She literally stopped me in my tracks. The quality of her pristine, silky petals is heart stopping.

Unfortunately, I cannot grow either of these roses here in Crete, but I can grow my beautiful Sombreuil. This climber flowers most of the year here, so I can indulge myself in admiring her beautiful blooms and drinking in her heady perfume.

Sorry. I realise that none of these are modern roses. There are some lovely white modern roses, but none of them can touch my favourite beauties.

Daisy

Sombreuil

That is the loveliest pic I've ever seen of Sombreuil. I've never viewed her in real life, but never could tell from the previous pics of her that I've seen why so many gardeners rave about her, but I think this pic gives me some idea. You forgot to add the smell, however. : )

Kate

For a white climbing rose with smaller blooms, in another thread someone mentioned Mrs. Herbert Stevens. It has a truly "ideal" bloom shape, reminiscent of a gardenia flower. I would like to show a single picture but the bloom shapes can be very variable. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Hybrid_tea_white_rose_-Mrs.Herbert_Stevens%282%29.JPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . https://pcat-rose.jp/cp-bin/wp3/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/5%E6%9C%8818%E6%97%A522.jpg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://jfukami.sakura.ne.jp/sblo_files/jfukami-rose/image/DSC_0467.JPG

Sugar Moon smells very sweet, some damask, with a hint of raspberries and vanilla fragrance.

My favorite pure white blooms that I grow, or have grown over the years.

Summer Snow----I grew this floribunda in FL. for years. Always dependable. It will be reintroduced into my garden up here in N.GA. this spring

Rosa Rugosa Alba---THE most beautiful white roses I grow. If you want a great, trouble free white rose (with a beautiful scent), this is it!!!!

Crystalline---For me, the best white HT I've ever grown.

Tineke----Right on Crystalline's tail coat. The only thing holding Tineke back is it doesn't have any scent.

John F Kennedy---This rose NEEDS to be grown on fortuniana rootstock. A tall, upright bush. It only produces about 8 to 10 blooms per bloom cycle but at least half of those bloom hit the "WOW" factor. Not the fastest repeat (52/58 days) but those "WOW" roses are worth the wait.

Moonstone----Moonstone isn't pure white. It has a faint pink edge on the outer petals. But this rose can be breath taking if grown right. The first two years feed it heavy and grow the bush. Just smile at the split blooms. from year 3 on, feed it heavy one time to start the spring. Then cut the food in half. About 1/4 cup of granular food or 1 table spoon of liquid for a 2 gal watering can every 2 weeks. 80% of your blooms should be almost perfect.

My favourite is PJP II, very productive and nicely shaped blooms, not as bad with thrips as some other whites.

However, when Full Sail is good she can be very good:

Thank you again for the great advice. I have narrowed it down and considered thrips since I don't spray for that. I think I may find places for the smaller plants to mix and match, Green Ice and White Pet. Green Ice also seems like an interesting color and I'd like to find a place for Moondance. I adore Moonstone and that one seems like a standout except maybe for the split centers, but my husband gears towards PJP 11. Heirloom doesn't have PJP, so I'll have to try to search for it. I'm considering Popcorn and Ice cream in our landscape area, they all look delicious! But of course there's still Cream Abundance...lol

I have never had a problem with thrips on Moondance. It's not especially fragrant, maybe that helps. Green Ice and Popcorn are wonderful. My Green Ice remain quite short but spread oout. Popcorn is nearly chest high, but still a great rose for small gardens. I love minis, the more the merrier.

Thanks it helps and it gives me a better idea of location. I like that Moondance isn't as susceptible to thrips and it seems to be an altogether good rose! Having fragrance is a great attribute but for me it's okay if it doesn't. Thanks again.

Marianne

Has anyone tried Joan Fontaine?

I have Joan Fontaine. It is not a pure white; it is more creamy white. It has old garden rose-type flowers. Mine gets about 4 to 4-1/2 ft tall and has not gotten gangly. It does reasonably well once it gets going. It can be quite pretty, and it sometimes blooms in sprays.

I heard of Joan I'll have to take another look at that one. Moondance is on the top of my list, thanks for sharing everyone!

I think people confused Moonstone and Moondance. Moondance is a pure white floribunda (maybe a touch of cream in the center). Moonstone is a white with pink edge HT, an exhibition rose. Moondance is a descendant of Fabulous! which is from Iceberg. At one point I had all three. My Iceberg climber succumbed to mosaic virus. I love Fabulous and Moondance. Last year I added PJP II, JFK and Randy Scott (also Moondance, but I don't consider it a white rose). I love them all. I have started spraying Orthene for thrips. Since you only spray the unopened buds, it is not as harmful as spraying some other insecticides. I find once every two weeks is good to keep the thrip damage down.

I think this was my best Sombreuil cluster ever (ignore the ugly spent bloom at the top). Of course it was a week after a rose show. I often get pinkish centers in the cooler weather.

Indeed sometimes plants can get confusing, been there. That's a beautiful picture of Sombreuil! I like the cream in the center of Moondance or ivory hues, actually I prefer it. While I adore Moonstone's look my husband thinks we should go for a more overall white without the pink edge. I don't have any predominately white roses yet but I was inspired after getting a few annuals and daylilies that were very pretty and standouts that glowed at night. I have Cherry Parfait which is a white and red bicolor. It did fairly well the first 2 years, last year it lost vigor and it only had 2 blooms the entire summer, the leaves were not nearly as full and it's now only about a foot high. It's the only rose with white and it's another standout. I'm just surprised considering it's reputation to do so well in all climates how poorly it did last year. I hope it picks up this season.

Bumping this thread.

I'm looking to fill in some gaps in a large foundation bed. I've got about 15 double knockouts (dark pink) that are between 4-5 feet tall with prolific blooms.

Also some groundcover juniper, small boxwoods, and skyrocket junipers for height. Oh yes, I have a white crepe myrtle in the back corner, too. Several variations of green color with the small dab of white.

The bed is mostly symmetrical, which is what I like.

I am not good at color scheme or design. I think* I want between 2-5 white grandiflora roses to plant in the bare spots, which are not very wide. The goal would be to make this bed completely full.

Here are pictures of the bed from early spring. Unfortunately they don’t show how much space there is for new roses.

All the plants are substantially larger now.

That's beautiful jc! I also have a knockout next to Earth Song and they're both great roses. I ended up with Cream Abundance, it's a floribunda and I'm very pleased with it so far. It's about 2 feet wide and about 2 feet tall but I'd need to wait another year to get a picture of what it's true size will be. I know you're looking for a grandiflora which is taller, maybe someone else can give you some good suggestions.

Thanks, Marigold!

I’m only thinking grandiflora because the available space is more narrow and the knockouts are 5ft tall in their 2nd year.

I wouldn’t want anything new to get lost in the middle of the bed. Whatever I plant won’t be on an edge.

Come to think of it jc, I had my eye on another white rose which is White Lightnin and happens to be a grandiflora but I'm running out of room lol. It caught my eye while surfing Heirloom roses, it looks like it can get kind of wide but it's just a thought! https://www.heirloomroses.com/white-lightnin.html

I have a few white roses. JFK tends to die unless I protect it like crazy, even then it death nearly down to the ground. I have first year iceberg and milwuakees calatrava and I already love them. Plentiful blooms from iceberg and amazing scent from MC.

Pope John Paul II is my favorite white rose. It blooms prolifically, smells great, and the thrips are not as bad as as some other roses. This rose pumps out beautiful blooms like no other! LOVE this rose! I also love the look of Randy Scott, it has an almost PERFECT bloom, but no fragrance. All white roses will suffer from those nasty thrips. I have the most trouble during the spring bloom. No thrips for me now.

Two points:

1. Grandifloras aren't that narrow--probably most of them are around 3 ft wide, perhaps even 4 ft wide in some cases. Is that narrow enough?
2. There really are not many white grandifloras to pick from. How about a burgundy red and white Rock & Roll Rosa Grandiflora instead? It would provide some contrast, but in an interesting way. I haven't grown it myself, but I understand it is a strong grower--gets about 4-5 ft tall--and good disease resistance. See https://www.regannursery.com/rose/Rock-and-Roll 

Kate

Thanks, Kate!

The spaces I have are probably 3ft wide at their max, but I'm OK with the roses intermingling. Whatever gets put here, I want to be sure it gets tall enough to be seen.

I like the Rock & Roll one. Do you think those colors would turn out OK in this bed? I'm really bad at picturing how it will look.

I only have 2 white roses , Bolero and Winchester Cathedral . I love both but Winchester cathedral is a long time between flushes for me.

Jc--I think Rock and Roll would provide a very interesting look. I have a bed that started out red and white roses, but much shorter ones than you are looking for. I like my red and white bed, but some days it seems a bit too severe or lacking in variety. So I added a striped one (supposed to be red, pale yellow, and white--but it didn't turn out quite that way) and a pink/white one--just for some variety. The red and white still dominate, but the others add a bit more play or dynamic quality. I think Rock and Roll with its burgundy red and white stripes would give some of that quality to your red plantings also.

But, of course, different strokes for different folks, so you might have your own vision!

Kate

I love my Rock And Roll rose. I wish it bloomed more. Mine is pink and red

I have a lot of red and I thought that R&R added interest.

kristine_legault's ideas · More Info

Y’all are talking me into this one. I actually prefer a more severe look for this space with limit on variety.

I think it could be pulled off.

Might be stupid to ask now, but is there a color other than white that might be better?

I was thinking of a red/pink area, just a thought

JFK Rose is my favorite white. The scent is absolutely amazing and the shape of the flower is stunning.

Victoria how long did it take for your JFKs to have scent? I bought mine as bare toots and it's year two and still no smell from any of them

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Mea-Nursery-All-Time-Favorites-Rose-John-F-Kennedy-60017/202060674 I got this one as a bareroot from my local home depot in chesapeake VA in April. I purchased 2 and murdered 1 (this is my 1st year gardening) lol but the one I murdered bloomed once 2 months later with a STRONG scent. The other just produced buds that started opening yesterday and I can already smell them. The bush is small and compact though but I'm learning how to amend the soil and control weeds for better growth