I would like to plant some beautiful, dease-free, fragrant, easy-care roses in my windy, drought-prone, hilltop gardens, but the more I read, the more impossible my wish list sounds. Any suggestions?

Me too!

As far as disease resistance is concerned, if I were you, I would purchase any Kordes rose from 2002 to date. In reference to both disease resistance and fragrance, based on my own experience, I would purchase Dark Desire, Golden Fairy Tale, Pink Enchantment, Laguna (climber) and Roberta Bondar (climber).
Others that are fragrant and I have had good luck with include the following:
Double Delight, Chrysler Imperial, & Reine de Violettes.
Peace and Fragrant Cloud are fragrant and I have had them for over 15 yrs. but they have had black spot occasionally over the years. However, they do recover quickly without spraying.
All of the above roses mentioned are grafted.
I think if I had to deal with a windy climate, before planting the rose I would secure a wooden stake in the ground as a safety precaution. The stakes I am referring to are 1" x 1" and come in various lengths. For example 4', 5', 6' etc.
Drought??? Rain barrels, I guess and deep watering with a hose (not overhead watering). Mulch.

Oops - I forgot about Ebb Tide - It's fragrant and does well here also.

I live in the Pocono mountains in zone 6a.

I suggest own root roses. Grafted roses need winter protection in my zone.

You may want to consider Austin roses grown on their own roots. Many Kordes roses do well for me also. The Buck rose, Honey Sweet, is a favorite.

My most fragrant roses are grafted hybrid teas. They need disease protection (Bayer systemic rose products) and winter protection.

The easiest care is the Canadian Explorer rose, William Baffin. It is super hardy, but not fragrant.

IMO, roses aren't low maintenance plants. Most need feeding, systemic fungicide and/or insecticide, deadheading, pruning and winter protection. If you love roses and want to care for them, you will be rewarded with beautiful blooms. If you want a low maintenance plant, perhaps they aren't for you. You may be happier with lilacs, hydrangeas or other flowering shrubs.

Your garden sounds ideal for tree peonies. Some roses that do well for me are DA Lady of Shallot and Sharifa Asma and Easy Does It. As they are fragrant, the Japanese beetles love them. the roses are not attractive in the summer because the JBs eat most of the blooms and skeletonize the foliage. Basically, they will have two shows a year, spring and fall.

Tree peonies? I have lots of herbaceous peonies and four intersectionsal, but I have avoided tree peonies because I have the impression that they need peony umbrellas. That would be too much coddling for me, if it is true, even though the tree peonies that I have seen are gorgeous. I need to avoid tempting plants that need coddling.

Thank you for the rose suggestions and JB warnings.

Karen and CS: I think Sharifa Asma is an excellent suggestion. It's good for zone 4 to warmer and has a strong fragrance. Here on northeastern Long Isalnd we had over a week of extremely high humidty, in the 90's (warnings about air quality). Here's a picture of this rose from a couple of days ago - it thrived regardless of the weather. I bought this as a band about 3-4 yrs. ago - now it 's about 4 feet tall. As you can see, it's showing so signs of blackspot - never has.

Margie,

Your photo of Sharifa Asma is beautiful!!! Is Sharifa Asma fragrant?

Yes it's fragrant.