Hello there :),

Could you elaborate on where are you located and what are the rose diseases most prevalent in your area? These factors would impact which fragrant floribundas will do great in your area.

Angel Face has a great fragrance and is a very floriferous Floribunda. If you live in a heavy black spot area it would be a huge mess.

Any specific reason you are only looking at floribundas for your walkway? English Roses can give you the scent you want the bushy look also depending on where you live. The Queen of Sweden is very healthy English Rose and fragrant and would do a great job lining a walkway.

Queen of Sweden

Earth Angel is super fragrant Floribunda with excellent disease resistance, but is not a constant bloomer like the Queen or Sweden or Olivia Austin.

Spring color

Summer color is more pink

Olivia Austin is the perfect pink rose with excellent disease resistance to blackspot, and constant rebloom. Her fragrance is not as strong as Earth Angel or Angel face and she is not a Floribunda but if blackspot is an issue she is wonderful.

Olivia

Another gorgeous choice would be Jude the Obscure, with gorgeous peach/yellow globular blooms and amazing fragrance. This rose is another English Rose and not a Floribunda. I’ll add a link to help me find since I my baby Jude is too small. On this link you can see BenT’s rose which made me run to buy one.

Good luck with your project, I am sure others here with better Floribunda choices will give you great ideas. I don’t grow many fragrant floribundas in my garden.

https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.321210

Thank you so much for your response. Sorry I forgot to mention my zone. I am in zone 9, central California and have Really hot and dry summers.

You are welcome. Lucky you I don’t think blackspot is an issue in California. There are several people here that garden in Cali and their replies will be much more useful to you. I actually think English Roses tend to get big in California so I hope other add their suggestions.

Margaret merill is what i'd recommend, its a small, white floribunda what an amazing sweet fragrance

Just as an example of location, Jude the Obscure suggested above as healthy is without doubt the spottiest rose Ive grown here in Sydney. Most of David Austin roses get released here but many of them stop being propagated within the first 3 years of release....the main ones suggested for most locations tend to be bred/released 30 to 40 years ago. Its unusual when one released this century is mentioned despite releasing multiple new ones every year.

By far the most fragrant floribunda I’ve ever smelled is the new variety ’Life of the Party’. Every time I have smelled it the scent is amazingly strong, and it is a heavy bloomer too.

Agree Bolero and Violet’s Pride are good choices too, if you’re looking for a different color or look.

I absolutely loved and dearly miss my Belinda’s dream. I loved everything about it .

I now am reminded that I need this one again !! Lol

Sonia,
Violets Pride, Life of the Party, Bolero and Belinda’s Dream are all recommendations by folks living in hot areas so should do well for you. I have Belinda’s Blush (white sport of Belinda’s Dream) that has been in bloom constantly in my hot dry SoCal garden this summer. You can get both of the Belinda’s online at Antique Rose Emporium. If you want a yellow rose then one that blooms continuously at Descano Garden, near my house, is Julia Child, with nice fragrance too. It really is an exceptional yellow floribunda for our area. Here is an article about how Life of the Party was developed. It was also released under the name Huntington’s 100th.
https://www.huntington.org/verso/2019/04/how-huntingtons-100th-came-to-be

Oh and for a red rose Darcy Bussell does very well for me. It is from the David Austin rose collection that Dianela mentioned. I LOVE the look of David Austin roses, but many don’t do well in our heat since they were bred for the cool English climate. Darcey Bussell, however, does very well for me and I tried her after doing research into DA roses that stand up to heat, much of it here on this forum. Pictures of Darcey Bussell and Belinda’s Blush.

Also, I should mention that Belinda’s Blush has only very light to no fragrance to my nose. Darcey Bussell is sometimes light and sometimes medium fragrance. Belinda’s Blush is also 100% thorn free. Maybe Lilyfinch can comment on Belinda’s Dream thorn level. Sometimes when a rose throws a different colored branch (called a sport) that branch also has other different traits than the parent. People then take a cutting of the unique branch and root it to make a new rose.

Jude the Obscure was seven feet tall for me,

Jude the Obscure is 8 feet tall for me. It might take a year or two (three here) for Jude to reach this size, but that rose can get huge. I was going to say that in California, he would be monstrous. But Angel Face would be great, and so would Austin's Tamora. Ebb Tide has a wonderful scent, and is a medium sized floribunda. There might be a fading problem of ET's beautiful purple in your sun. Diane

Sonia, if you are in the CV, like I am, I would stay away from David Austin roses for lining a walkway. They get way too big here and don't do all that well in our temps and lack of water, not to mention our alkaline soil and water.

Of course, that being said, I have two David Austins lining my walkway but they are up against my house and get to be about 4--5 feet tall. One, you can no longer get anymore, Pretty Jessica. The other is Munstead Wood which will send out 8 foot canes (sideways) and you will need something up against it so it doesn't attack people when they walk up your pathway.

How tall are you wanting your rose to be? There are several roses bred by Ralph Moore that would do wonderfully along a walkway, that are resistant to disease, can take the heat here in the CV, flower all the time and stay low and not attack folks trying to get to your door.

Thank you, I am looking for rose bushes that are no more than about 2 to 3 feet tall to line my walkway. The area gets full sun all day long. Since it will be a high traffic area, I don’t want the rose bush to get too huge.

Sonia, have you checked out the Drift series of roses? They are the size you want, bloom constantly with small blooms, and are easy care. I have quite a bunch of Apricot Drift, but there are other Drifts to choose from also. Diane

Most of my roses are young but a few that I have that fit your requirements are supposed to stay small and I think they were already mentioned above...but I'll add another vote for Bolero...wow I am loving this rose!!!! Gruss an Aachen is another that I adore!!

Lilyfinch...how big did your Belinda's Dream get?? I think I have one coming this fall but I don't really have a spot planned for it yet since I've totally rearranged since I ordered it LOL.

I will check out the drift roses, your roses look gorgeous..!!

Bolero seems like a favorite.. thank you everyone for your recommendations. This is so helpful..!!!

I would recommend Sequoia Gold (Moore rose). It can take the heat and is always in bloom. Burlington Nursery sells it and they are located in Visalia. You would get a band and then have to pot it up until it was big enough to put into the ground. Great little rose. Disease resistant. Hard worker.

Peppermint Parfait would also work if you wanted a stripe rose.

Mary Magdalene is a DA rose that can take heat and keeps on blooming. It (on its own root) stays small (for an Austin). It is a very pretty rose but it will take about 3 years or so before it really comes into its own.

You know, one more rose I would recommend would be Kim Rupert's, Little Butterfly. Little Butterfly. Kim breeds great roses. It is really pretty.

Sonia , it is hard to keep any roses at 2-3 ft in ur warm area. But all the recommendations are fabulous. I have Julia child, violets pride, Belinda’s dream, darcey bussell. They are fabulous roses but might go way beyond 2 ft:). Drift roses are a good choice too.

Pippa , my Belinda’s dream was about 4 .5 by 4 by end of season , maybe a smidge taller!! It responded well to total cut down in the spring , too if you wanted to keep it smaller . I really loved this rose!

Another vote for Bolero - it has a lovely strong fragrance, attractive dark green leaves, does well in heat, has a relatively good vase life if you want to take one inside, and stays compact. (Note that in your climate you may need to cut any roses you plant back every so often, to keep them from getting too large - once you know how to do it, it's easy!)

Re the "Drift" series of roses, they would be great for lining a walkway, but I'm not sure that they are fragrant? (I don't personally have any of them.)

Here's my Bolero (young plant bought this year - pictures are from spring as they are the best ones I have on my phone, but the repeat bloom is also good):