Lady Banks (Lutea or White)
Rosa banksiae · Zones 7–10 · Soft yellow or white · Violet (Lutea is scentless) fragrance
A species rose that behaves like a garden event: thousands of tiny pompon blooms smothering a plant that can swallow a pergola. Nearly thornless, evergreen in mild winters, and virtually disease-proof — give it serious space and let it run.
View Lady Banks (Lutea or White) in the PetalPals catalog
Mermaid
William Paul, 1918 · Zones 7–10 · Creamy white, golden stamens · Light apple fragrance
Huge single blooms the size of saucers floating over dark glossy evergreen foliage, followed by orange hips in fall. One of the most spectacular wall-roses ever grown — and one of the most vigorous, so site it where twenty feet of canes is a feature, not a problem.
View Mermaid in the PetalPals catalog
Madame Alfred Carrière
Schwartz, 1879 · Zones 6–10 · Creamy white blushed pink · Strong tea-noisette fragrance
The old Noisette gardeners plant on north walls — it flowers in surprising shade and perfumes the whole yard. Great moppy white-pink blooms repeat from early summer through fall on a plant that ages into a small tree’s worth of canes.
View Madame Alfred Carrière in the PetalPals catalog
Sombreuil
Robert, 1850 · Zones 7–9 · Ivory-cream · Strong tea and myrrh fragrance
Flat, quartered, porcelain-colored blooms that look too elegant to be this easy. A Tea climber with old-fashioned manners — refined, repeat-blooming, and a favorite for pillars and doorways in warm-zone gardens.
View Sombreuil in the PetalPals catalogClimbing Pinkie
Sport of Pinkie, 1952 · Zones 6–9 · Bright rose-pink · Light sweet fragrance
Sprays of clear pink covering arching, nearly thornless canes from spring to frost — the polyantha habit scaled up to a climber. Wonderful draped over a fence with no training at all, and friendly enough for a garden where kids play.
Peggy Martin
Found rose, 2003 · Zones 6–9 · Rose-pink clusters · Light fragrance
The “Katrina rose” — thornless, massively spring-flowering in clusters of small pink blooms, and famously tough after surviving weeks of saltwater flooding. Worth growing for the story alone, but earns its keep on vigor and health too.
View Peggy Martin in the PetalPals catalog
Lamarque
Laffay, 1830 · Zones 7–10 · White with cream center · Lemon-fresh tea fragrance
One of the great old Noisettes — cascading clusters of double white blooms with a crisp lemon scent. Repeats steadily in warm climates and grows with an easy grace that suits porches and pergolas.
View Lamarque in the PetalPals catalog
Crépuscule
Francisque Dubreuil, 1904 · Zones 7–10 · Soft apricot · Gentle tea fragrance
Masses of small apricot-cream blooms in enormous trusses, near-continuous once the weather warms. In zone 7 it stays a manageable twelve feet or so — the same rose needs serious containment further south.
View Crépuscule in the PetalPals catalogSea Foam
E. S. Schwartz, 1964 · Zones 5–9 · Ivory white · Light honey fragrance
Foamy sprays of white double blooms over dark, extremely clean foliage. Equally happy mounding as a groundcover or trained low on a fence, and one of the most disease-resistant roses ever introduced.
View Sea Foam in the PetalPals catalog
Red Eden (Red Eden Rose)
Meilland, 2002 · Zones 5–9 · Deep red · Strong old rose fragrance
The modern answer to “I want a red climber that blooms all summer”: fat, quartered crimson globes in clusters with real old-rose perfume. Excellent repeat bloom and strong black-spot resistance on vigorous upright canes.
View Red Eden (Red Eden Rose) in the PetalPals catalogCommon questions
Related guides
Best Roses for Zone 7
In zone 7 you can grow nearly every class of rose — the challenge is summer heat and humidity, not winter. Mister Lincoln, Double Delight, Julia Child, Graham Thomas, and Belinda’s Dream top our list, chosen because they combine real beauty with proven staying power through zone 7’s long, muggy growing season. All ten repeat-bloom without any winter protection.
Read the guide Top 10 ListsTop 10 Climbing Roses for Zone 6
The best climbing roses for zone 6 combine real cold hardiness with repeat bloom: New Dawn, Eden, Climbing Iceberg, Don Juan, and Westerland top the list. Each pick below is hardy to at least zone 6 without special protection, repeats through summer rather than blooming once, and has the vigor to cover an arch, fence, or pillar within a few seasons.
Read the guide Top 10 ListsTop 10 Most Fragrant Roses
The benchmark fragrant roses are Mister Lincoln and Papa Meilland among red hybrid teas, Double Delight for spice-plus-sweet, and Gertrude Jekyll and Munstead Wood among modern shrubs — with the old Bourbon Madame Isaac Pereire as the all-out perfume champion. Every pick below is fragrant at garden-nose distance, not just when sniffed up close, and each carries its scent character — damask, tea, fruity, or myrrh — so you can choose the perfume you actually want.
Read the guideKeep this guide in your pocket
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