George Burns - smells nice, but THORNS FROM HELL!!!!

Mardi Gras! Smells nice, a performer to beat the band, wide variety of colors

Oranges & Lemons. Once again, a true performer, but no strong scent. :(

JFK. A local rosarian told me that this wouldn't survive. Been in the ground now since '08, no problems other than being chewed up by aphids (HORRIBLE infestation in 09.. yikes!)

I know I'm to limit myself to 5, but seeing as I only had 7 roses survive the winter from 08 to 09 and one of those is a NoID, I'll give honorable mention to Memorial Day. I love this rose.. IF it ever blooms "right"!!! Last year (2009) was a horrendous year for roses for me.. horrible horrible between the extreme weather snaps, the bugs (aphids & earwigs), lack of sun, blackspot, etc etc etc. This is the best picture of Memorial Day I was able to get all year. :(

Good contribution, Toni. I agree with the first four. They're great performers for me too, but JFK croaked long ago and I don't have Memorial Day. Super photo of it. Don't you just love the size of the photos on this site? I keep saying that to everyone. Clearly, I'm still overawed.

Neal, I absolutely agree about Seafoam. I walked through the garden and picked out the five best, but Seafoam's on the front slope, so I missed it. It might have been among my top five otherwise.

The Dark Lady. I don't have that many roses yet, but you will readily see that I am enamored of the English roses. This one smells good and bloomed last year for me after being planted the previous fall. Sporadic rebloom.

Charlotte. Great rebloom on this rose, although it is getting larger than I had hoped, so I'm having to do a lot of pruning to keep it small for its space. I will move it this year so it has more room. Good fragrance.

Another view of The Dark Lady.

Zu, yes. I love the larger pics as well.

Gertrude Jekyll. I wouldn't be without her. Wonderful fragrance but lethal thorns.

Tradescant, my hands-down favorite last year! This one has it all for me: fragrance, beautiful deep rich blooms. Unfortunately, does not rebloom well, or at least not last year. Keep in mind that most of my roses are newly planted and I don't have much of a collection (yet LOL)!

Great photos and information, Angie. It'll be interesting to hear how Tradescant and the others perform for you this year.

Angie - I just LOVE LOVE LOVE that Tradescant!! OMG, that I have to find somewhere!

Hmm, choosing five is difficult because my favorite always seems to be the one in bloom right now! =P I suppose my consistent best performers would be the way to go. Hands down, Hot Cocoa wins for that. It is ALWAYS covered with profuse blooms, has a great color, and is carefree in my garden. Cherry Parfait comes in for second place. Again, always in profuse bloom, but with the bonus of a lovely scent and mannerly behavior. Third would be Peace... consistent, beautiful, wonderful scent. Fourth is Gold Medal, which is robust and colorful. And fifth is hard to choose. Depending on the day of the week, it could be Angel Face, Don Juan, St. Patrick, or just about any of the Eddie Edwards cultivars. My list will probably change substantially in the next year as well, as the Cali Corner takes off. Last year was the first year in the ground for most of those roses, and many are already star performers. But, to make a "top 5" list, I need a bit more experience with them.

Here's a pic of Hot Cocoa

Cherry Parfait

Peace

And Peace again during warmer weather (lighter colors)

Gold Medal

Angel Face in cool weather

Angel Face in hot weather