What's your favourite roses?

[riverrune]

I know this has been done to death but..... I've got a space in my garden in which I'd like to plant a rose. I'm toying with the idea of a Princess Alexandra of Kent, but I thought I'd ask the opinion of the wise MNers of this board first! Does anyone have this variety and would you recommend it? Is there anything else you prefer? I've already got a Desdemona, Olivia Rose Austin, Mary Delaney and a Margaret Merrill. Ideally I'd like something pink or white, scented and fairly resistant to blackspot. TIA!

what about an Iceberg? I have an Olivia Rose Austin and a Desdemona too, and the Iceberg is about the same size. It’s white.

Gertrude Jekyll is my favourite. It's good for cutting and fills a room with scent. It's a bright pink so I'm not sure if that's what you want.

Do you love desdemona? I've been looking at it for our next house.

Clair Austin is stunning. Love Cecile Brunner too, it has small beautifully scented blooms, it does get huge though!

Cecile Brunner is a lovely pink colour, not too deep not too pale. forgot to say

I was going to say Desdemona, I love it.

It’s a pink tinged white, which I much prefer to yellow/peach tinged whites.

I also have Sceptred Isle which I really like. Beautiful shaped flowers and I love the colour.

I’ve always liked the look of Queen of Sweden but don’t have it myself.

Yes agree about G Jekyll (David Austin), the scent is amazing.

Another one which is lovely is the Eden rose (Beales). My mum has a climbing version and it's stunning. Pastel pink and white blooms.

I’ve just bought A Whiter Shade of Pale this morning and I’m just thinking about where to plant it. Wonderful smell.
Three other favourites are Buff Beauty, SweetSyrie and The Generous Gardener - the former is very vigorous though. All wonderful scents. TGG is new this year to me

I think I have Queen of Sweden. It’s gorgeous, lovely scent but the blooms are so heavy they droop.

Funnily enough, I'd actually already earmarked Gertrude Jekyll for another spot in my garden! I thought she might be good growing over the garden gate- I had her in my previous garden and the scent knocked my socks off, but I remember she was very thorny, which I thought might actually be rather handy growing over a gate!
Desdemona is a real beauty, she's really hitting her stride right now and the scent is gorgeous. I'd thoroughly recommend her!

I'd forgotten about iceberg! My grandmother had one pride of place in her garden and it always reminds me of her! Thank you for the suggestion!

Thank you so much for all your suggestions! There's a few here I've never heard of so lots to explore! I had been eyeing up Queen of Sweden previously too- I think I'm going to need a bigger garden! 😂

I have two of these roses, PAOK, l would highly reccomend, they have just started flowering, beautiful colour, good strong scent, mixes well with all my other pink roses, healthy, good repeat, l do use abit of support as roses are very large and deeply cupped. It is a beautiful rose at all
stages. I have over 30 different varieties, this one is outstanding.
Ben Hamilton Anderson is a DA expert and reviews roses on youtube, he is very likeable and honest. I always look at his reviews, then decide.

Thank you so much for this @DancedByTheLightOfTheMoon , that's really reassuring! And thanks for the tip off about Ben Hamilton, I've just watched a few of his reviews on YouTube- what a great source of info!

I have 4 Desdemona now all in a row on my patio
I also like Susan Williams Ellis, and have today taken delivery of two more to plant next to my other three already in the garden. I also bought the new Donahue, which seems like quite a sturdy upright shrub.

I have two Gertrude Jekylls. They have so many blooms on them each year and the scent is wonderful. About to plant two Roald Dahls in some large pots and contemplating an Elizabeth x

Zephirine Drouhin. Thornless, beautiful scent, deep red, looks after itself, seems really tolerant of all weather conditions and aphids. It's my absolute favourite.

I love my St Ethelburga rose. It smells and looks lovely. I'm looking forward to my new Desdemona blooming

Of the pinks, my favourite is Jacqueline du Pré. The flowers are palest pink turning to white, with jaunty salmon pink coloured stamens. Really very pretty, and it blooms its socks off without a break all summer.

I came on here to say my favourite is Malvern Hills but it's yellow so that's no good to you! It's such a beautiful climber though I have it as a bush shape atm.

I have a slight thing about only choosing roses I like the names of. I have another beautiful deeper yellow rose but it was planted by the previous owners and I don't like the name Graham Thomas for a rose very much.

Gabriel Oak - the scent is lovely. It’s a really hardy shrub. Mine have taken a battering in strong winds and torrential downpours, but they’re still thriving.

I planted an Iceberg last year. I inherited my dad's rose garden when we moved in and I'm trying to put back what used to be there but died.
His favourite was Peace, but that's no good to you as it's pinky yellow.
Last year I also added Blue Moon, a lilac, but with gorgeous scent.

There's an article about scented roses here. It helped me pick St Ethelburga. It has some other roses people have mentioned too. I like the look of the Generous Gardener, but don't have room for it at the moment
https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/top-scented-roses/

Peace
Blue Moon
Lamarque
Pierre de Ronsard

If I had to only have one rose it would be The Generous Gardener

What about a Hebe's Lip damask rose, it smells lovely. 😊