Hello,

What's roses would you suggest that are very fragrant and more disease resistant?
I would love to start my rose garden in the beachside city of South Portland, Maine.
When should I plant the roses?

Thank you for your advise and guidance.

Gaila Smith

Welcome to the rose forum! I can't really offer you any advice as my growing conditions are very different, but I'm sure you will soon get some useful suggestions.

There is a rose garden in Portland. Perhaps pLan a visit there even now and see what roses they are growing. There is also a book about growing roses in your area by Suzanne Verrier. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0913643076/ Rugosas generally do well in your neck of the woods as do many of the once bloomers. She wrote other books as well that you might want to look into.What are you looking for in a rose shape and growth habit? Bare route roses can be planted early When everything is still dormant or just coming out of Dormancy, but roses in pots can be planted anytime of the year. I planted roses there in the middle of July and they are doing Well so long as they get plenty of water. This was up near Sabbathday Lake. Zephirine Drouhin has done well.

What I suggest is when the roses are blooming, go visit a rose garden and sniff the roses that you like and jot down its name that YOU think smells good. I have purchased roses labeled as Strongly or Intensive fragrant and I could not smell anything. I have "Roses Without Chemicals: 150 Disease-Free Varieties That Will Change the Way You Grow Roses by Peter Kukielski very helpful since I do not spray my plants. He has written other books that he has written, but I do not have them. He has rated the roses the strength of fragrances in his book, but you do not have his nose, neither do I. Personally some of the bushes that have the strongest scent to me are Mr Lincoln, Sutter's Gold, Gertrude Jekyll and the Papa Meilland roses. Also Angel Face. Mr. Kulielski works and has picked the plants for the Peggy Rockefeller Garden in New York when it was renovated last, and they do not spray the garden with any chemicals,.

Prior to 2019 when I moved to a retirement community, I had a small hilltop farm and set about collecting fragrant disease-resistant roses for my gardens. Peter Kukielski's book "Roses Without Chemicals," mentioned in tantefrancine's post was my guide, and I visited numerous public rose gardens to see for myself. Out of the many Kordes cultivars I planted, 'Savannah', Beverly, and 'Wedding Bells' were my favorites.

Disease resistance is necessary but not sufficient for growing beautiful fragrant roses. A big discovery for me was the major impact of pests (e.g., aphids, thrips, rose slugs) on my roses, even though the air circulation in my breezy hilltop gardens was good. Pests seem to prefer fragrant roses, as I soon discovered in the second and third year of my rose gardening. My first year was pest-free and the roses were beautiful. But starting in year two and culminating in year three, even on roses that were highly resistant to blackspot and mildew, pests disfigured the rosebuds and made the edges of petals brown, especially those of white roses. Interplanting of Allium and other plants that supposedly deter pests around the roses had little to no effect. 'Savanna' fared better than other cultivars. The problem was at its worst during the first and second seasonal flushes. By October, the pests were mostly gone and the roses were generally beautiful.

In the retirement community where I now live, I have only one rose in my garden. I think it is Chrysler Imperial, which is very fragrant and dearly loved by the pests that live here. I found that the pests mutilated all the rosebuds and turned the edges of the petals black. Last summer I discovered that I could reduce the pest damage by spraying the developing buds with 2% Murphy's Oil Soap, with special attention to targeting the areas between the developing petals where the pests seemed to lurk. Since I have only one rosebush, this is a practical solution for me. Rose slugs were the problem at the time I discovered this solution, so I have not yet had the opportunity to determine whether it works earlier in the bloom season. Blue sticky traps set out near the rose bush did not work at all.

I wish you success with your fragrant rose garden project and hope that pests are not as much of a problem for you in Maine as they are for me in Pennsylvania.

@WillardBeachLady Have you checked with MOFGA?
https://www.mofga.org/
They're a pretty good resource for Mainers, farming and gardening.

Apparently peter K. designEd the garden I suggested you visit in Portland. It is an earth kind garden If you are familiar with that. He apparently lives in Portland So perhaps you could contact him for a visit to his personal garden.

Many on-line rose nurseries have search engines that will do both disease resistant and fragrant. High Country Roses, Heirloom roses, Northland Rosarium, and more, will give you a idea of what you like...then see if there is a local nursery that will have them in spring so you can smell them.

Hands down, #1. RUGOSAS,
Albas and Ramblers.