I hope others are interested in contributing.

Expect greatness from Frederic Mistral! Definitely on my favorites list! One of the prettiest roses I have, and swoon-worthy fragrance.

As I always sing the praises of Crimson Glory and Fragrant Cloud (which ARE my two favorites), I'll add some others here.

Heirloom (both purple bushes) - non-stop repeat and heavenly fragrance. In looking at a just pruned, naked garden, this pic gives me hope that spring is coming!

Memorial Day - never took a very good shot of this bush. Has huge frilly blooms, and- fabulous fragrance.

Stainless Steel - dreamy lavender/gray color, gorgeous form, and tantalizing fragrance

That Frances Meilland is beautiful. I bought a Frederick Mistral body bag a long time ago and it has been a great plant. Gets blackspot but what vigor! My plant was about 7x7' but after some cold damage it's about 5.5 x 5.5'. Has a great fragrance. Acts more like a shrub rose with ht blooms.

I wish i could get a good plant of Peace going.

Granada is a very good plant as far as health and rebloom go. Blooms are very fragrant.

I like Moonstone, Heirloom, Fragrant Cloud. Pink Princess is a good Brownell ht, with good hardiness:

Wow! Already so many glorious roses.

I had to really think on this one as most of my roses are all so new .

But here are the ones who took off and never looked back .

For sheer fragrance

Memorial Day.

I dont have to even have to stick my nose in a bloom to smell it.

I think I will add

Twilight zone for vigor and color

Number 3, hum

I guess for repeat bloom and fragrance

The Pretty Lady Rose

Ok, honorable mention is Beverly

And maybe next year Quietness will make the top three.

Sara Ann,

It's pretty well known by now that I am the unofficial, "Pied Piper," of Quietness.

Although Quietness is classed as a shrub, it grows in classic grandiflora habit. It is strongly black spot resistant, right up there with the Knock Outs. Winter hardiness to its tips without any protection has been its trait since I first planted mine in 2010, 9 years ago. Mine are wondering what's all the fuss about the current polar vortex. I can hear them laughing it up from me sitting at my warm and cozy kitchen table. The blooms are large, heavily petaled, high centered, English quartered style, and quite fragrant. Mine is a tall, 6'+ by fall, but bushy rose. Moderate to low thorniness make it a 'friendlier' rose. As own roots they perform wonderfully. Grafted, I imagine they would be gargantuan bushes.

Pope John Paul II is my second favorite. The bloom is large, pristinely elegant, fragrant and long lasting. Repeat bloom is very fast. Alas, black spot will get mine hard, but I spray. Winter protection is needed here.

The Meilland rose, Apricot Candy, is my third most favorite rose. It is surprisingly winter hardy for me. I winterize it, but have found the tips pretty tough come spring, which surprises me. The repeat is fast. The bush grows vigorously. Blooms are big with pretty centers once fully open...a trait so many hybrid teas lack when they are fully open. Therefore the blooms of Apricot Candy are lovely to behold from bud to petal drop.

Moses

I do love your Roberto !

Thank you, some very lovely roses here, I love them all!

Hi Sara Ann,

I’m trying to get back to gardening and following the forum after a year spent taking care of mom. I’ve really missed seeing everyone’s posts, and these beautiful pictures are such a boost on a cold winter’s day!

Unfortunately, I don’t have many HTs left. After going completely no spray, most of the moderns I was growing have been removed and replaced with more BS resistant varieties. Taking out Peace and Fragrant Cloud were probably the hardest…those would definitely be in my top 3 if I was still growing them.

From the HTs & grandifloras I have now, two of my top three are the same as yours…I planted both Francis Meilland and Beverly because of your pictures and posts about them. I’ve been so impressed with Francis Meilland…beautiful, wonderful fragrance and one of the few non-Kordes or Buck roses that really is extremely BS resistant here.

Beverly is a favorite for the sheer number of blooms she puts out with each flush, her great scent and good BS resistance. She’s a nice tidy, rounded bush for me, too. Some of my other Kordes roses have grown to be monster sized, but she stays a nice size and shape here.

I can’t decide between Madame Anisette and Dark Desire for my third favorite. I wasn’t sure I liked Madame Anisette’s fragrance at first, but I’ve grown to love it. It’s like an addiction...I just can’t quit smelling her when she’s in bloom. She isn’t the prettiest of bushes here…grows to monster (and thorny) proportions, but the number of blooms, intoxicating fragrance, beauty of bloom and excellent BS resistance puts her way up on my list. Dark Desire is pretty much a non-stop bloomer for me. Last year, I cut flowers every Saturday for my mom. From the time the roses started blooming in April until she passed away at the end of August, I don’t think there was ever a week that her bouquets didn’t include blooms from Dark Desire. It was a favorite of hers and one she instantly recognized amongst the others included in each week’s “posies” as she called them. It’s also a massive thorny beast, but has a rounded shape that makes it a better looking bush than MA.

Madame Anisette with Dark Desire blooms showing behind her

And, if we are counting Quietness in this group, it definitely rates high with me…so amazingly beautiful! Mine doesn’t bloom much in the dead heat of summer, but hoping it gets better at that as it matures.

Wow, everyone's roses are just absolutely gorgeous! I do second Quietness, Pope John Paul, and Francis Meilland. Another one that is in my top list is Savoy Hotel. THe blooms put up with the cold very well.

Pat, so glad that you Mom got to enjoy and smell the roses that you grow in her last days on earth. I wish I had that opportunity with my Mom when she was sick and needed care in the last years of her life.

Savoy Hotel

These photos are making me forget I have plenty of roses already coming and don’t need to purchase any more. They are absolutely lovely.

My three favorites in no particular order.

The Pope. Gorgeous white blooms with the most addicting fragrance.

Westerland. I never thought I would love this deep of an orange but there is something special about the shade. And the scent...reminds me of pears.

Last is Moondance. Keeps pumping out bloom after bloom, healthy and great fragrance.

My honorable mentions are:

Cream Veranda

Blooms are exquisite with that “vintage” feel I love but not fragrant enough to make top three.

Blue Girl

She was new last year but if she looks and smells as good this year she’ll be breaking into the top three.

WinterSun

Lives in a container and as the season progressed wasn’t as disease resistant as prior years. Hoping for a bounce back this year.

Pat, so good to see you back on the forum.

I am sorry about the loss of your Mother. You are a good and faithful daughter to care for her and to fill her last days with beauty and fragrance

That is so beautifully expressed, Kristine!

I also like Winter Sun very much! I think I get like 3 flushes a year from this rose. If I don't have JBs, I may have even more.

I echo what others have said. My mother loved her roses until the end and I now realize the gift when a not very close friend came over one day to prune them so she could experience their first flush.

Thanks you guys! It was a tough year for her and tough for me watching her suffer. She always looked forward to the posies, though. They really seemed to cheer her up. I think I might try to keep up the weekly bouquets this year and deliver them to local nursing homes and hospice facilities in her honor. Maybe they can bring as much joy to someone else in need as they did to her.

What a great ministry that would be Pat. You could really brighten
someone's day .

Grande Dame...the fragrance!!!

Blue Girl

Chicago Peace

Honorable Mentions -

Oklahoma

Nigrette

Chicago Peace is so gorgeous

Thanks again! Pat, so good to hear from you again, but I am so sorry for the loss of your mother, and second Kristine and Karen’s sentiments.

I always admire your roses so much, and they are all beautiful. Your Dark Desire looks amazing! I’m fairly pleased with mine, this will be its third season, anxious to see what it does. I keep reading and hearing so many good things about Quietness. I’ve seen it featured in a couple of YouTube videos recently, it is one beautiful rose.

Oursteelers, your roses are beautiful, really love Moondance and Winter Sun is a good rose for me too, love yours and Desertgarden’s Blue Girl, so lovely!

Desertgarden, love that Grande Dame, that’s another one I’m anxious to see what it does this season. And of course Chicago Peace is always lovely!!

Please provide a report on your Grande Dame, Sara-ann. I am really curious regarding its performance in zone 6! There are so many gorgeous rose images in this thread!

Desertgarden, I would agree about all the gorgeous roses! I’ll try to keep you informed about my Grande Dame’s performance. For the most part it’s done good for me, but I could tell it needed to be in the ground, so I transplanted it last year, it didn’t bloom a lot in 2018, but did set on some nice blooms later in the season. I have several roses that I think will do much better than last year because they were transplanted, besides GD, they include Melodee Parfumme, Berolina, Dark Desire, and Plum Perfect.

Erasmus, I wish my Granada blooms looked like yours, gorgeous!

Thank you, Sara Ann. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your mother, Pat. I lost mine in 2004 a couple months after losing my dad. My mother loved flowers and nature. It is so hard to lose a mother.

I can't leave out Cherry Parfait, grandiflora. I bought mine in a peat pot at Walmart with chopped roots and all. It has been a wonderful big plant with great rebloom. Too bad it doesn't have any fragrance.

Wow, Cherry Parfait looks amazing! What zone are you in Erasmus?

Off hand, I think I only have one, so it must be my favorite - Rouge Royale - and I am not going to post that photo again. I'm getting weary of it so I know everyone else must gag.

It's news to me that Twilight Zone is a HT. Mine doesn't look like it in bush or bloom form. So, it's another favorite.

Roberto Capucci - I planted him, changed my mind, put him back in his original band pot and he's bursting at the seams to get in the ground. I love him even though he hasn't bloomed yet. He's an eager one!

If we're calling Quietness a HT, then it's definitely up there with Rouge Royale, and they look smashing together.

Cream Veranda and Westerland are HTs?! No way! Mine have been keeping this little secret to themselves. Geez, I didn't know I had so many HTs.

Flowers, those sound lovely! I wouldn't mind if you posted a picture of your Rouge Royale, or any of the others.

Gorgeous photos here , what a treat as always !!

Pat , welcome back !! I am so sorry to hear about your mother as well, there is no one on earth like our moms . I hope you find peace and healing in your garden too ! please share, what is your madame annisette grown on ? It’s spectacular. I’ve been afraid to try it but if I had a clone of yours id be happy !

Gosh that cherry parfait! Wow !!

Thanks again everyone! I miss her so much, but am taking comfort in knowing she and dad are reunited now, at peace and singing with the other angels :)

Lilyfinch, my MA is own root and came from Chamblee’s back in 2016. I liked it so much that I got another one from RU the next year. My original one is in blazing sun all day and blooms in frequent flushes. The second one doesn’t bloom as much or as heavily as my original, but it doesn’t get as much sun, either. They both get to be at least 7 ft tall by end of season and benefit from some support for those sky high canes…could be used as a short climber.

Wow pat I was sure yours was from k and m for sure !! I may try this rose if u can remember to be patient . Yours is a stunner !

Hi Pat, I lurk here but don't post often. I am sorry to hear about your mom. I am also impressed with your M. Anisette. Do you feed it anything?

I don't think I fertilized at all last year, but in normal years I do every month or two March thru August. My dogs think Rosetone and other organic fertilizers are candy, so I just use generic 12-6-10 rose fertilizer

Pat, may I offer my condolences, too. I'm so sorry. Losing our mothers is crushing. As others have said, I hope you will find peace and comfort among your roses and in time, even joy in your memories.