I’ve been researching old roses for the heirloom garden for the front of the house. My primary search criteria are:

• Strong fragrance. I want the fragrance available for passersby and open windows in the summertime.
• Good rebloom. Since the front garden is not large, it needs to put on a good show for a long time.
• Old/heirloom/antique. The variety was introduced before 1905, ideally in the late 1800s. Our house was built in 1900.

Additional requirements:

• Non-invasive. Roses which are clearly invasive in the New York City area are R. multifora, Multiflora Rose and R. rugosa, Beach Rose.
• Disease resistance for mildew, black spot, and so on.
• Shrub form, non-climbing. Up to 6′ high and wide is okay.
• Long season interest. This is provided by good foliage, especially persistent or semi-evergreen leaves, rose hips, and interesting branching structure.

I’ve been able to find a surprisingly large number of varieties, primarily by taking advantage of the advanced search capabilities offered by the Web sites of Rogue Valley Roses (RVR) and Vintage Gardens (VG). Both of these offer searching by fragrance, rebloom, and year of introduction. I tried using HelpMeFind/Roses, but it doesn’t offer any search by fragrance, and attempts to include year of introduction in the search returned nothing.

Of the list below, varieties which most interest me right now are marked with *. I don’t think I have enough room to grow them all, since I’m not interested in growing a rose garden. I might try a few, keep the ones perform best in my gardens, and give away or donate the others. Varieties which are not suitable for my needs are marked with -.

• Aimée Vibert (RVR, VG). Introduced 1828. Flower color: white/near white. Foliage: Dark green, semi-evergreen. Habit: Spreading. Height: 4′. Disease resistant.
• *Ardoisée de Lyon (RVR, VG), a color sport of Baronne Prévost. Introduced 1858. Flower color: Deep pink/purple, fading to lavender and mauve. Habit: Upright. Height: 6′. Disease resistant. Good for hips. Good for cutting.
• -Baltimore Belle (RVR, VG). Introduced 1843. Flower color: Blush pink (VG), White, near white (RVR). Habit: Rambler. Height: 10-15′. RVR doesn’t list this as reblooming, while VG notes a long, moderate rebloom.
• *Baronne Prévost (RVR, VG). Introduced 1842. Flower color: Rose/Clear/Deep Pink. Habit: Upright. Height: 6′. Disease resistant. Good for cutting.
• -Blanc Double de Coubert (RVR, VG), classified as a Rugosa. Introduced 1892. Flower color: White. Sets few hips.
• Blush Noisette (RVR, VG). Introduced 1814/1817. Flower color: Blush/Light pink. Habit: Shrub, upright. Height: 6-8′. Disease resistant.
• Cecile Brunner, Everblooming Spray form (RVR). Introduced 1881.
• *Clotilde Soupert (RVR, VG). Introduced 1890. Flower color: White with pink centers. Habit: Upright. Height: 3′. Both RVR and VG note that this variety “balls” for them, whatever that means, especially in the cool, wet weather of spring. It seems to mean that the buds never fully open.
• -Deuil de Dr. Reynaud (RVR, VG). Introduced 1862. Flower color: Cerise, deep pink. Habit: Shrub, or climber. Height: 10-15′.
• Eugene de Beauharnais (RVR). Introduced 1838.
• Général Jacqueminot (General Jack) (RVR, VG). Introduced 1846/1853. Flower color: Dark red. Habit: Shrub or Climber. Height: 8-10′. Good for cutting.
• Mme. Bérard (RVR, VG). Introduced 1870. Flower color: Apricot, Peach. Habit: Shrub. Height: 6-8′.
• Mme. Creux (VG), likely Kaiserin Freidrich. Introduced 1890. Flower color: Apricot-Buff. Habit: Upright? Height: 4-5′?
• -Mme. Ernest Calvat (RVR, VG), possibly sport of Mme. Isaac Pereire. Introduced 1888. Flower color: Light pink, lavender, cerise. Habit: Upright. Height: 10-15′. Shade Tolerant. Good for cutting.
• *Mme. Isaac Pereire (RVR, VG). Introduced 1881. Flower color: Pink, amaranth, magenta, purple. Habit: Arching. Height: 8-10′. Good for hips. Good for cutting.
• Mme. Lambard (RVR, VG). Introduced 1878. Flower color: Variable, pink, apricot, coppery. Habit: Spreading. Height: 6′. Good for cutting.
• *Marie Pavie (RVR). Introduced 1888. Flower color: White. Habit: Upright. Height: 3′. Very disease resistant. Good for cutting.
• Narrow Water (RVR, VG), sport of Nastarana. Introduced 1883. Flower color: Blush/Light pink. Habit: Shrub, upright? Height: 6-8′.
• Nastarana (RVR, VG). Introduced 1879. Flower color: White. Habit: Shrub. Height: 6-8′. Good for cutting.
• *Pierre Notting (RVR, VG). (Note: This is completely different from Souvenir de Pierre Notting.) Introduced 1863. Flower color: Dark red (VG), Mauve (RVR). Habit: Shrub. Height: 6-8′. Good for cutting.
• Pink Soupert (VG). Introduced 1896. VG describes this as “Almost a ringer for Clothilde Soupert, and every bit as fragrant, but with somewhat smaller flowers a bit less double, foliage narrower, more rugose.”
• *Reine des Violettes (RVR, VG). Introduced 1860. Flower color: Violet/lilac/mauve. Habit: Shrurb. Height: 6-8′. Disease resistant.