Some of the Austin roses have a wonderful scent and excellent repeat flowering - generous sized blooms of clear, attractive colours without ever being gaudy. I prefer their shrubby growth which is much more leafy than the HT's which can sometimes look very stick-like. I planted about twenty-five Austins this summer and the ones which really excelled were:

Mary Rose (medium pink with medium strong fragrance)
Redoute (almost identical to the above but palest pink)
L D Braithwaite (red with fairly light scent in my garden)
Abraham D'Arby (apricot/pink, popular for its heavy scent)
Brother Cadfael (pink with a strong fruity fragrance)
Dark Lady (crimson turning purplish with a bit of mildew but the most wonderful fragrance)

I prefer buying the Austins in their green Austin branded pots. If I'm not mistaken, some garden centres are licensed to propogate them themselves, but in my humble experience, the ones in the green containers have perfomed so much better, being stronger plants with little disease.

Happy rosing - I bet your garden will soon be the envy of your neighbours and you can cut your own roses to bring into the house too!!

Good Luck with the garden.

Andrea

Andrea

Don Juan, smaller blooms and a fussier bush, but I've seen it looking incredible elsewhere. A small climber that improves once established and happy, Good color, and a charming unique way of unfolding it's petals. I asked a little girl which of all my roses was her favorite and she picked Don Juan, although there are others certainly more impressive. Don Juan has something special.

Ingrid Bergman is highly regarded.

Altissimo is a huge single blossom, with healthy blue-green leaves; a piller rose, it holds it's lacy branches high. Not much fragrance, but whatever.... Put it at the back of the border. I like to see it with the morning sun behind it, illuminating its petals. Bright red w/ yellow stamens. It's perky individualistic, and well-behaved.

Hugh Dickson is an fine old rose, a hybrid perpetual, blooms profusely, powerful fragrance. Easy care. I had mine in a big pot in my yard, and someone actually stole it. My husband walked out of the house and accosted the rose-napper in our yard, he threw Hugh in his jeep and tore off. Alas, my beautiful well-loved rose was never recovered. I tried to buy another one, but it's no longer carried by the nursery. I need to special order.

Oklahoma may be the darkest, truest red. Beautiful flower.

Fragrant Cloud is a deep orange-red, but has what is probably the richest perfume in the kingdom.

David Austin has a couple of fragrant reds with old rose form, but I'm not familiar with them. I don't trust those English, maybe because I'm Irish. It couldn't be because most of the the bushes have been puny and pathetic, with one sorry bloom feebly held up to the light?

Ask at your specialized nursery or look on your local rose society website for recommendations specific to your climate.