I kinda got lost in here but I've never been a huge rose fan. I'm a daylily person. Ya'll can keep those thorns, LOL. I do enjoy roses.
I mean to interject no offense. Everyone has their thing. I maintain roses for people I work for and treat that entirely professional. Even though the blooms are always good they're a constant worry. I get phone calls. Needy. Fine for some but not for me. And that's just me. They're my absolute least favorite plant on planet earth. That's true to me, not you who grow and covet them. I do understand. I certainly do, and who knows at what point I might become one of you? I certainly do enjoy roses, I don't care for the maintenance.
I have Home Run which I didn't buy for Knock-Out status, didn't even know it was initially. I just like the small bloom and the fact that I can abuse it with shears instead of pruners. It snaps back as if I fertilized it. I love it because I don't have to. I can shape it and more or less rape it and it doesn't care at all. Not many flowering plants accept that and who could blame them?
For scent I'd quickly grow a climber on a trellis outside a good window and I've got my bedroom window in mind for a good specimen. Might happen this season too. Bloom, scent, and home security, that's a win-win for me.
The knock outs, love them or hate them aren't going away. And again a purist should perhaps hate them? I prefer it to grasses etc. in some instances. Classify it as a landscaper's plant and cross it off the list. I don't grow Stella D'Oro, I enjoy it's seasonal start but beyond that? I don't grow it, wouldn't take a freebie other than to gift it off. I don't like it! Guilty of hauling many Stella's to the dump after replacement. No shame in that. None at all. Some regard it as a wonderful flower.
I frequent a cancer clinic that prides itself on a horrible commercial landscape and 300k in tropical fish. Knock Outs would have been a good choice there. Just for the color. I gift my own Oriental lilies and Glads at the desk to....(cleaned to be nice)
Anyone wish to recommend the best scented climber? Any color but white might do. White house/green shutters. Could mix white/yellow depending on foliage.
