I have Cadenza, Orfeo, and Don Juan. My nose isn't good so no help there. Cadenza is one I don't see mentioned often, but the blooms last forever. The others are great too, but maybe not for zone 6, I'm wondering.

Cath, in my garden the oldie but goodie Mr. Lincoln is still one of the most disease resistant red HTs and the most fragrant of all the deep reds I've tried...except Francis Dubreuil/Barcelona. It's a tie. I find both their scents to be intoxicatingly old rose/Damask blend. They are both a gorgeous, velvety shade of deep red! I don't spray, and these two roses only get a few diseased leaves, old growth leaves later in the season. Lincoln is quite tall like his namesake. Francis is small. Black Magic is also very dark red and nigh disease-free but, alas, also nigh scentless. Carol

P.S. I love Niobe clematis! I have two.

Thank you so much Sheila and Carol. Good news that Cadenza is long lasting. Forgot to include that in my wish list of desirable characteristics. I really do need help here.

Cath

If you are looking into HTs also, I have found Royal William to be a reliable, healthy and bushy plant producing good darker red fragrant blooms and blooms all through our hot summers here. I much prefer it to Mr. Lincoln. What I'm not sure about is if it can be hardy in your climate. If you are an antiroyalist you can call it with its real name which is 'Duftzauber 84'... lol lol

A good, reliable, healthy short climber / pillar rose which can be grown also as a shrub is Dortmund. It produces large impressive single blooms in clusters with a slight scent and I believe it should be reliably tip hardy for you. It is pretty thorny though and the blooms are not good for cutting plus its main, impressive, looong flush is in spring to early summer with some later rebloom. Some say its kind of coarse and indeed it's somewhat 'masculine' but to me the only unappealing thing about it is its name..

Both are older Kordes creations.

Oh, gosh! Silly me. Munstead Wood is supposed to be hardy to 6b. Deep red, waves of rebloom, lovely old rose fragrance, disease resistant for me. Might fill a small shrub place in your red garden?

I forgot to mention that both Lincoln and FD are good in a vase. Lincoln lasts several days on the bush as does Francis. I believe Lincoln may only be hardy to zone 7 but Francis is 6 according to HMF.

Dark red climbers--that one is a tough order in zone 6. Hmm. As Sheila mentioned, Don Juan. I found him to be a gorgeous deep red, very fragrant, fairly disease resistant but modest with rebloom. Needs good culture. However, HMF says he's zone 6. Dortmund grows well here as well as in Nik's region. A brighter red but very pretty. My neighbor grows it. Carol

Florentina for a climber. Not fragrant but look at those blooms! Supposed to be good for cold and hot climates.

I love Don Juan, Munstead Wood, Tess of D'Ubervilles, Falstaff, Heathcliff and Chrysler Imperial too but my climate is so different from yours so I don't know how any of them do in the cold!

P.S. I'm also like you and have planted color blocks in my garden. I love a bunch of different pinks together and a bunch of different reds together. Some say not to do it in garden design... but hey, it's our garden and if it makes us happy, it's a beautiful thing. :)

Cl Crimson Glory (an old HT) gets to 8-12 feet in my garden, and is exactly the dark velvety color you describe - fades towards the blue side, not the orange side. VERY strong damask fragrance. HMF says it is hardy to zone 4b. Here it gets just a bit of BS in the Fall, not otherwise, but I don't know what it would do where you are.

Jackie

How would 'Gruss an Teplitz' do in your area? It's red, fragrant, and bred by Geschwind. HMF lists it as hardy to zone 6b. Don't know about disease resistance, vigor, rebloom.

A climber you may wish to investigate is Rhode Island Red. Click the link and take note of its other names, by any one of which it may be carried by nurseries. I haven't grown it myself, but for a fragrant hardy red climber this is probably a good choice.

:-)

~Christopher

I love my Don Juan. It is a good climber and blooms constantly. The foliage is really clean here and I never spray. I think Don Juan is really beautiful on black scroll like metal trellises. Really romantic looking.

I have Munstead Wood and it is also beautiful anf fragrant. It wants to climb here but the stems are extremely thorny (worse than my Mermaid rose) so I dont manipulate it too much. I just let it do its thing.

Dame de Coeur was new for me last year, but I was very impressed by it. So far it has been very bs resistant and handles full sun without the blooms frying. Big blooms open a rather shocking true, bright red and take on dark, smoky tones as they age. Supposed to be highly fragrant...I haven't noticed too much of a scent yet, but mine is young. Mister Lincoln will blackspot some here, but has better resistance than most of its kind for me. It is a tall, stiff, very HT looking bush, though...might benefit visually with a smaller rose planted in front of it. I planted Night/Lady Sackville as a band two years ago. It has been a very slow grower with only a couple of blooms so far. Does seem to be fairly bs resistant, but really can't comment too much on it until it gets bigger. Francis Dubreuil/Barcelona is a good bloomer with great fragrance. Makes a lovely, short, rounded bush. Blooms do fry quickly, and it will blackspot, but worth it to me for the beauty and scent.

Dame de Coeur

I don't have a lot of reds. Either I'm not crazy about them, which is strange because red is one of my favorite colors, or they don't do well here. I loved my Red Intuition and it lasted for several years but the last polar vortex winter did it in. Crimson Bouquet was good for me. Lots of blooms with a nice fragrance, fairly healthy and very hardy. I also have Black Baccara but I'm not crazy about it. For a supposed HT the blooms are barely miniflora size and the color is so dark they always look sun burnt to me. Veterans' Honor is gorgeous and has been pretty hardy but I wouldn't call it healthy. Spots all the time. The only other red I have is Home Run. It's a fabulous, healthy, super hardy bloom machine but I'm not sure it's what you're looking for and it has no fragrance at all.

Try searching for Liebesauber on this forum. Hopefully I'm spelling it right - may be Liebezauber

Ingrid Bergman a deep velvery red. Smells like strawberries, very prolific.

Florentina for a red climber. Firefighter for a true red and rock and roll to give it a splash.

Roundelay is a pretty good rose for me. I have it as a shrub version.

H'mm. Let me know if you find your 'unicorn' red fragrant healthy reblooming climber!

Thank you everyone. I have been researching these. Two that were intriguing but I didn't find were Crimson Bouquet and Roundelay. You have enabled me to try again with Munstead Wood (it never bloomed) and Don Juan which bloomed. I fell in love with the flowers then it died. Cadenza is a half sibling of Don Juan, both have New Dawn as a parent, a zone colder but not as much fragrance. I think I'll try both, maybe 2 of the Don Juan. Did I say you enabled me? I did want to limit the hybrid teas but they are good for cut flowers aren't they. So will be getting Francis Debreuil, Dame de Coeur (Pat bama's photos were truly seductive and I am drawn to Lens roses), Royal William ("better than Mr. Lincoln" is a hook indeed), Red Intuition and Chrysler Imperial which I remember from the 50s. It was one of my favorites, the other being Peace. Melissa has me with Gruss an Teplitz. It is an old rose and appears to be tough. I will probably also get William Shakespeare 2000 while I still can. Would also like The Prince on fortuniana from K&M. But as it is I will probably be found toes up under a rose bush with this list. So we'll see.

Cath

Forgot to say that I already have Tess of the d'Urbervilles (like it a lot), Climbing Crimson Glory (hasn't bloomed yet - maybe this is the year), Firefighter (new last year), Stephen's Big Purple (new last year) and Indigo (which may be too blue-ish to go with the rest.

Cath

Good job doing research on top of these recommendations, Cath! You might give another thought to Don Juan as a climber for your zone. It doesn't survive in my zone 5, so while it might be likely to survive in your zone it might not survive with enough cane left to climb. Florentina is rock solid hard in my zone, as is Rhode Island Red or Field of the Woods - Florentina is the closer to fire engine red of the two as RIR tends to blue out a bit in the heat.

All the other ones you mention in your latest posts have done fine for me except Stephen's Big Purple that doesn't want to survive in my virtual zone 6 pocket. Even in your zone it might appreciate some protection. All of the Austins you mention have done fine for me as have Firefighter, Crimson Glory, Dame de Coeur, Francis Dubreuil, Royal William, and Chrysler Imperial. Red Intuition is to die for and it appreciates a little protection in my zones.

Other dark reds that come to mind might not be fragrant, since I can rarely detect such things. Veteran's Honor and Madame Delbard are both true dark red and bloom occasionally like the HTs they are, and Red Masterpiece blooms a little more often. I think one of them is supposed to be fragrant, and I know Oklahoma is but I can't get it to survive. Black Cherry is a lovely dark color and a frequent bloomer but the blooms are looser than the others you describe. You should look at the bloom form of Braveheart that I expect you'd like.

Among the darkest burgundy flowers are LavaGlut, Nigrette, and the incomparable AC Navy Lady. The latter is the most exuberant bloomer and it's virtually all summer of dark burgundy blooms, and LavaGlut has small but frequent blooms. I doubt any of them have any fragrance but they might be a nice accent of different reds to make the others play nicely with each other.
Among fragrant red, Kim says Velvet Fragrance smells heavenly when you bring it in but I can't detect anything. Black Magic and Deep Secret are also worth a try, though I have to protect them here and they're pretty small.

If you're interested in something on the purple side of red, Dark Desire is truly awesome in frequency of bloom, health, and winter hardiness, though I doubt it has much scent.

Lotsa reds to choose from! I grow a lot of roses here and can give my two cents about hardiness.

Cynthia

Red Cascade is a beautiful climber. It has tiny blooms but they are a gorgeous deep blood red. Oklahoma is a gorgeous deep dark red. I think it is a sibling of mr. Lincoln.

How hardy is 'Cl. Etoile de Hollande'? This is very fragrant, very dark, not too double. I love it. HMF gives only a default hardiness rating, which doesn't mean much.

Love, love the red roses! Crimson Sky is a great true red, as is Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Always and Forever, The 1812 Rose, and Dublin Bay. Where are you all getting some of these older roses? I have not seen Rhode Island Red offered anywhere, and that's one I've wanted for a while.

My yard has a red bed, a red and white bed, and one that has mixed plants of red and purple. Oh and a pink area, orange, etc....

Rose Petals Nursery has one gallon own root Rhode Island Red in stock (limited qty) for $15. I've ordered from them several times and always been pleased.

Thanks, Pat. Looks like Rose Petals has lots of antiques that would be hardy up here!

When I began I had too much garden and not enough roses. Now with all the wonderful suggestions I have too many ( can there ever be too many?) roses and not enough garden. Not all of it is ready for planting yet. So many suggested Rhode Island Red and Florentina that I will likely try one or both. I lost Etoile de Hollande but may try it again for the fragrance.

Thank you Nik for mentioning Dortmund. I intended to have only double flowers (forgot to mention that in the list) but you reminded me of Parkdirektor Riggers which I saw blooming once a long time ago and it was memorable. The two are somewhat similar, both by Kordes and only a few years apart in introduction. Dortmund has a higher HMF rating while PR has continuous bloom and a solid red flower.

I was not consciously thinking of the following when I titled this thread perhaps it was unconsciously:

A Red Red Rose

O, my Luv is like a red red rose

That's newly sprung in June;

O, my Luv is like a melody

That's sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,

So deep in luve am I,

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear'

And the rocks melt wi' the sun;

I will luve thee still, my dear,

While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!

And fare thee weel awhile!

And I will come again, my luve,

Though it were ten thousand mile!

Robert Burns

My father always gave my mother a red rose(s) on special days; Valentines, Mother's Day, Birthday, etc.

Cath

I hope someone could weigh in on 'Rouge Royale' aka Father's Love. I'm thinking of getting this rose and was wondering if it could stand up to the heat of summer. Good choice about Red Intuition -blooms very frequently, last a very long time and withstands the heat very well.. Fire fighter blooms get sun burnt and look worn out during the hot spell of summer. Good scent but blooms dont lasdt long compare to RI. ALSO, the flower form of FF can look kind of messy but a it's a tough rose.

I have seen wonderful photos of rouge royals from others gardens on here. In this part of the Bay Area in NorCal, it is not a happy plant. Looks so terribly diseased and miserable at the nurseries in our climate that I have run away from it... but others in hot areas have shown photos of it doing great so I don't think it's the heat. It definitely doesn't like something here though.

Cynthia,

I am so grateful to you for your extensive list of red roses. It will help not only me but also anyone who gardens in a cold climate who is looking for good red roses.

Cath

Don Juan might be a bit tender for zone 6, but if it's in a good spot, it would work. I don't see that anyone mentioned Firefighter. Great red color and fragrance. I had a Fragrant Cloud which was very orange. I lost it in the polar vortex and the replacement is more on the red side. Like you I arrange my beds by color. I have a 'hot' bed with red/yellow/orange and then a 'cool' bed with pinks and lavenders. I have one bed that is all yellow/apricot/orange/red/purple, I call it my sunset bed because it's on the west end of my yard where the sun sets. I also love the red/white combo. I just dug out a new bed to the left of my Frau Karl Drushki, which is a pure white. I have Altissimo which i will plant there and some other red and white roses.

Another vote for Rhode Island Red or Fields of the Wood. I love the cherry red and flower form

if you can do a warm weather tea, Noella Nabonnand is a similar cherry red

Mr Lincoln wants to be very tall and would be good in the back row. I don't get scent from Don Juan but others too. It is a more warm red

Thought I ought to write what I got. First I must confess to "non-buyers remorse". As soon as the orders were sent I realized that both Falstaff and Nur Mahal were serious omissions. Next year, with luck.

Reds:

Etoile de Hollande cl.

Rhode Island Red (Field of the Woods) cl.

Don Juan (2) cl.

Florentina cl.

Mustead Wood

William Shakespeare 2000

Gruss an Teplitz

Francis Debreuil

Royal William

Red Intuition

Chrysler Imperial

Dame de Coeur

Fragrant Cloud

Other Colors for Elsewhere:

Colette cl.

Siren's Keep (what size bloom?)

White Maman Cochet (a grand experiment)

Brother Cadfael

Pascali

Stanwell Perpetual

Blush Noisette

Gruss an Aachen

Fortuniana (maybe I'll do some budding)

Chartreuse de Parme

Francis Meilland (as fduk says, it was an"Ooooh pretty")

Cath

I aways recommend Ingrid Bergman

Thank you Kristine. So many "prettys" and so little energy, space and time.

I agree there are so many roses I still want but I am honestly out of space and I need to either get rid of something or just stop

Hi Cath! Interesting to see the list of what made the cut. I'm wondering if all the roses survived? Especially interested in FD aka Barcelona, EdeH cl., Colette Cl., and Brother Cadfael.

Vap, thanks for bringing this thread up. I was looking for deep, deep red .

Don Juan is not reliably hardy here in Brooklyn, NY (6b). We have had It twice, each time it did live over for a year or so. My husband loves this one so much. If I had room I would grow Gruss an Teplitz, which I have seen at the Botanic Garden. I'd also like to try Alfred Colomb, which I have only heard about on this forum. People say it's very fragrant. https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.251253

Vap, first a caveat: roses do not do well in this garden. With that in mind, all the HTs died except Fragrant Cloud, Gruss an Teplitz and Steven's Big Purple. Oh, and I have a grafted Don Juan that lives but does not bloom - probably too shady.

Surviving Reds:

Rhode Island Red (Field's of the Woods)

Florentina

Munstead Wood

Indigo

Tess of the d'Urbervilles - like her

Falstaff no flowers, hangs on, probably too shady

Don Juan (grafted)

Nur Mahal survived Winter in the garage, a rarity here

Fragrant Cloud

Gruss an Teplitz

Steven's Big Purple

Dead Reds that lasted some:

Souv. de Claudius Denoyel cl. - a few years - it appealed

Royal William

Francis Debreuil

Don Juan - own root

Dead Reds:

Red Intuition

Chrysler Imperial

Dame de Coeur - early demise but alluring, "suave" is the word that comes to mind (although applicable to a woman?)

Cath

Also

Dead Red

Etoile de Hollande twice - Winter

Dead but Lasted a few years

Firefighter - in a bad spot, soil, some shade

Oh that's so sad, especially about FDakaBarcelona and EdeHollande twice no less. At least Nur Mahal made it as that's one I'm considering. I have had bad experience with otherwise hardy roses when they're planted in a less than stellar spot. If a Z6 rose they have died rather than just being knocked back. Lesson learned, but sometimes one has to try and work with what one's got. : ((

We who garden in zone 6, at least here on the east coast, have to deal with unseasonable warm spells in spring that prematurely push the roses out of dormancy, followed by late frosts that then kill them.

Exactly, monarda. It's so frustrating which is why I now zone up and have given up on my dream of roses climbing a north-facing wall at the bottom of a hill. It's a rose death-trap for all but the best! ie. Pink Pet and Chuckles! : ))

Another vote for Ingrid Bergman.