I first remember my father's garden, and how he loved Mr. Lincoln and Christian Dior. He had others that I loved, and he meticulously cared for them, and sprayed them regularly. He was even hospitalized once when he got mad at the sprayer, and spilled the stuff all over himself.

Now my idea of a wonderful garden has changed, and my love is new. Instead of the majestic blooms, I have come to admire the "rose in the garden". The best roses I have are Souvenir de la Malmaison, Cramoisi Superieur, Duchesse de Brabant, Monsieur Tillier, Mrs. B.R. Cant, and Marie Van Houtte. I have a nice selection of Buck roses that I also am very fond of.

I hope many people post on this thread so that I can use it as a source for my spring purchases -- that may be significant because of our freezing weather.

Sammy

The rose I have loved longest is the pink alba that grew on a small house in the village where I grew up and almost covered one gable. It may have been Maiden's Blush but I was only 9 then and didn't know anything about roses. I got my own plant only 16 years ago. Other long time favourites are the roses that grow in most gardens around here and as garden escapes, apart from Maidens's Blush they are the Double White spinosissima, Hansa, Rosa francofurtana Agatha, Maxima, Blush Damask and the rose we call Minette but most likely isn't. They may be common and unexciting but they are still what roses are about for me.

I am involved in a project for preserving heritage roses in Sweden and these roses are the most common roses that turn up when we arrange "Antique Roadshows for Roses". Sometimes the people are disappointed that their rose is so common but we tell them they are growing a piece of Swedish rose history.

v.interested in your hybrid musk choices as this is the class I am next going to get (in my hopeful attempt to grow at least one rose of every class). So far, very undecided between felicia, francesca or cornelia - going towards warmer colours with peach tones as I just love these colours in roses) - penelope is very common in the UK but I can think of other pale pinks I would rather have.
My nan grew climbing Cecille Brunner over the whole end of her house and I have always loved the tiny perfect blooms. No room for it myself though. Looking forward to reading lots of posts on this thread

A friend gave me a little dried arrangement that included Love in a Mist (nigella) seedpods and a couple of perfect pink buds that, only years later, I learned was Cecille Brunner. That was my first old rose infatuation - guess it was love since I still have affection.

When I started visiting the Sacramento cemetery, there were a few roses that I came to pay my respects to again and again -
1. Perle d'Or. I like this much better than Cecille. I love those buds that are little apricot-colored drops, the perfectly shaped buds and partially opened flowers, the strappy petals of the fully open flower. When I open the rose books that I owned a dozen years ago, I find lists that I titled "Must have this rose" - and PdOr is on every one of them.
2. Climbing White Maman Cochet. The red outer petals of the buds, opening to lemony-white packed-full centers, astounded me. In the cemetery, it grows up next to a mausoleum. Voices echo when you are there, and that setting just made the rose even more unusual and evocative.
3. Joasine Hanet/Portland from Glendora/Aunt Sally. This rose came to us as Aunt Sally. The plant's towering size, the fragrance, and its perfectly formed quartered flowers, very similar to four-leaf-clover, just blew me away.
4. Paul Neyron. Yeah, I know it's common, has little fragrant and is a rust bucket. But those fat peony-like buds, and huge cabbage flowers, swept me away.
5. Eglantine. Oh, the fragrance of the leaves. Oh, the sweet little flowers. Oh, the hips. Oh, the romance of it being from English hedgerows, planted throughout the California foothills wherever Cornish and Welsh miners came, and the briar rose of Sleeping Beauty legend made me love it passionately.

I grow all of these roses at home, and spend time with them in the cemetery, and their charm doesn't fade at all. I've fallen in love with a variety of roses since then, and know that I'll get crushes on others in the future, but these are the first, and the enduring, love affairs.
Anita

Introduced in 1909, I think 'Gruss an Aachen' has no problem fitting the description of an "old" rose, even though its heritage suggests an early introduction hybrid-tea.

My original 'Gruss an Aachen' has been with me for many, many years ... long before I discovered it also had a pink sport.
It's planted in a less-than perfect spot in nearly pure, unforgiving, red clay soil.
It has a large, shapely, Yaupon holly tree growing as a widely spreading canopy over it western side. This ornamental tree acts as a shield for the modest-sized rose against our brutal prairie sun.
It is more than simply a producer of those plump, peaches and cream, sweetly fragrant blooms ... its habit has become very sculptural over the years. Going against conventional wisdom, I've never cut back any of its larger, original canes. They are too interestingly curved and sinewy to do so. All these years, I've simply snapped off spent blooms and pruned off dead wood when it occurs.
So delicate looking, so fragile in appearance, so naturally "in proportion" to the overall size of my very small garden. And yet somehow it has proven to be a survivor for the long haul.
Does it sometimes drop leaves during stressful times of the year? Yes.
Are its blooms sometimes damaged by wet weather? Yes.
Do thrips visit it in the spring? Yes.
Do some of its more twiggy branches sometimes die & have to be pruned off? Yes.
Yet, for its faithfulness, its unique beauty, and the joy it has brought over the years, these are mere characteristic traits, rather than flaws. Like blemishes on a child.
How could I regard it as anything less than "perfect".

Randy

The roses that I have loved the longest remain among my favorite roses.
Certainly after going on to collect hundreds more since then, there are others that I adore but the 4 that I obtained first never fail to make my heart melt.
The very first rose was 'Celeste' ('Celestial') which my husband got for me because that's my name, of course.
I did not grow roses up until that point but grew everything else, having been a gardener all my life.
It was the ethereal beauty and fragrance of 'Celeste' that touched my soul and filled me with passion for old roses.

Then there is 'Charles de Mills' whom I fell head over heels in love with by way of glossy photographs in rose books. I couldn't believe the complexity of the petal formation on that rose. In mid to late-June of every year since then he has made my heart skip a beat every time I marvel at the perfection of that most wondrous gallica.

At the same time came along Belle Amour, centifolia Variegata and Paul Neyron. Belle Amour gets huge here in zone 4 which makes it a standout. The myrhh fragrance is not to everyone's liking but I enjoy it, along with the delicate shell-like petals. Centifolia Variegata is such a wonderful confection of palest pink stripes against a pristine-white background and is one of my first roses to bloom each year. I forgive it for lashing out at me with those extra-thorny canes on windy days! And Paul Neyron captivates me to this day with those massive blooms that know no rival. To this day these roses are among
my favorites, vying with so many other worthy roses for my affection.

These were my very first loves and I still love them dearly!

Celeste

Celeste or Celestial

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Charles de Mills

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centifolia Variegata

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Belle Amour
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Paul Neyron

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I hope you all noticed that I'm posting my list on January 10, 2020. My rose growing years are still not that many, so I can still remember the anticipation I felt at the beginning not knowing what my roses would grow up to be. Truly, none of the Teas that settled into my garden have been disappointments, but, of course, there are standouts that amaze and thrill my heart.

Louis Philippe is still the joy he was when I first brought him home, and time has only brought forth his greatness - constant green foliage, luscious sweet red flowers and a delicate sturdiness that is the pride of my garden.

Like Anita, Perle d'Or was among the first rose photos I fell in love with on the internet way back when, and she has grown into all the wondrous things that Anita mentioned.

I love Blush Noisette, too. Somehow I knew she would be perfect.

All the Maman Cochets are gorgeous, the epitome of what a rose should be.

Duchesse d'Auerstadt is simply magnificent. Nothing in my garden compares to that rich egg yolk yellow and her many petaled blooms.

Last but not least, the dowagers of my garden, Le Vesuve, are inspiringly beautiful and dependable. They are great mounds of pinkness almost constantly, their flowers almost beyond description, giving me no trouble at all except for the pain of cutting her back so she'll fit in my small garden.

Sherry

I simply adore CREPUSCULE. Peach is my favorite color - this one is so healthy, blooms all the time, and the color is stunning. I have a huge one that I have trained as a standard and it is attached to a fence, and arches and cascades down on each side - when it blooms, it is magnificent - all in peach. It was the last to quit blooming this fall, had so many blooms! I love all roses, but if pressed to name a favorite, Crepuscule would be it.
Judith

Without question it would have to be Mutabilis, the rose that fueled my love for old roses when I first beheld it in the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden. I've had this rose in every garden since, over a period of approximately 25 years, and would never be without it.

Ingrid

My favorite three old roses that I am loving for a long time are Zephirine Drouhin, Rose de Rescht, and Cl. Cecile Brunner.

I bought Zephirine Drouhin the first time around 10 years ago by accident (at that point I didn't even know that she was an old rose), when I was still living in Germany and growing roses on a roof top terrace. I love her for a gorgeous, very strong wafting fragrance and for the loosely-double, slightly tussled, pink blooms that occur in abundance on this rose in spring. I have seen this rose re-blooming well in Germany, and it seems to be the case that a colder climate helps with that, whereas in a very warm climate she seems to be a little bit stingy with the repeat. The color of the flowers vary in intensities from clear to a light soft pink depending on the age of the blooms, which makes this rose even more charming in my eyes. I am very happy that I am able to growing ZD here in San Diego, again. She is getting into her third year this spring and has grown quite a bit and I am expecting great things of her.

Rose de Rescht was also already with me ten years ago in Germany, and I bought her already twice in California again, once in the Bay Area and now in San Diego. Besides that this rose has very cute crimson pompom like flowers, which are nestled deeply into the beautiful gray green foliage, it has an awesome, strong, warm, old rose fragrance, which makes it even more adorable. I also appreciate that the rose is making a nice round shrub by herself, which looks very pretty in the landscape. To me it is very fascinating that she is so adaptable to very different climates. She was doing really well for me in Germany. In the Bay Area in CA she became a really nice big bush. Here in San Diego my RdR is not even a year old so it is too early to judge about her, but I got some very nice blooms from her last year already!

Cecile Brunner, Climbing. This rose stood out for me when I came to California 6 years ago. I saw her everywhere in CA, sometimes gigantic specimen always producing an absolutely spectacular spring flush of small blush pink flowers. The rose is relatively floriferous year round. The sheer vigor and will to live of this rose has impressed me tremendously. I also love the dainty, cute flowers and the fragrance is also not bad. Even though it is a very common rose here in CA I get never tired seeing this beautiful rose!

Christina

Mutabilis, SDLM, Safrano and Mrs. BR Cant. All are dependable and make my heart glad when I look at a bloom!

I have not been growwing old roses that long, but I have to agree that Alba Semi-Plena is a favorite, Lovely, dependable,Hardy, as you can see I live in OH and Luxurosa lives in Emeryville! I have had Tuscan Superb for only a few years and I love it not only for the blooms, but the form of the plant and the charming leaves that are green with tinges of red when new.
roseberri

It's nice to think about roses with a long view like a decade or more; too often I get enamored with a flashy new bloom only to shovel-prune a sickly plant a year later... But my favorites are a lot of the "oldies but goodies", in no particular order:
1) Felicite Parmentier -- best fragrance, delicate flowers, manageable size
2) Marchessa Bochella - good health and repeat with damask fragrance.
3) Ispahan - vigorous, healthy, extra-floriferous bush with damask-scented flowers
4) Heritage - one of the "modern" roses that made the list, but it's a classic that has been outstanding in my no-spray garden.
5) Rose de Rescht- almost always in bloom; easy care and great fragrance
6) Charles de Mills - what flowers! Good health too
7) Belle de Crecy - one of my first gallicas, and I still am enchanted by the color of this one.
8) Konigen von Danemark - very healthy and fragrant!
9) Balleria- first hybrid musk and one of my first shrub roses. I love the clusters of blooms and often visitors don't think it's a "rose". In fall the tiny red hips are lovely too.
10)Mme Ernst Calvat - the fragrance! All the bourbons are spotty here, but this one has a lot of vigor.

Quatre Saisons Mousseaux Blanc--all the best qualities of the damask and moss classes, with the added benefit of dependable rebloom, very charming

Stanwell Perpetual---a virtual bloom machine, loves 100F heat/wind, really. An enchanting combination of spiny/species mixed with refined damask, like none other. The first and last blooms of the season

Souvenir de la Malmaison, Maggie, Souvenir de St. Anne's--bourbons as a class do exceptionally well here, love the heat and dry.

Natchitoches Noisette---faultless in my garden

LaPactole---the bloomingist rose of all

Belladonna--of all my damasks, the loveliest, most blooms

My favs are
1) Charles de Mills
2) Konigin von Danemark (wish I had room for more)
3) Mme legras de st. Germaine (a little black spotty but love the blooms)
4) Mme Hardy

Some of my oldest memories are of going to my grandparents' house and seeing their healthy, care-free roses. I loved going and picking some off to bring to my "Maw-maw" for her to put in a vase in the kitchen. The rose was this sweetly fragrant, magenta-colored , short-stemmed beauty that I many years later found to be Cramoisi Superieur. As an adult, I went back to that old house and took some cuttings off those old rose bushes. After rooting the cuttings I potted them up and presented them as gifts to family members after carefully planting one of them in my own yard. Now our children enjoy the same roses. Everyone in the Southeast should have at least one Cramoisi Superieur in their yard.

OK, I know I have already posted but I MUST weigh in with madame gregoire staechelin. This is a truly outstanding rose in every way - the flowers, the stupendous fragrance, the beautiful matte foliage, and the fabulous huge heps. My neighbour (who has requisitioned quite a large chunk of it) asked me if I was feeding it chopped babies! Needless to say, it grows in a neglected corner, colonising the pergola and our West facing walls with only one measly top dressing a year. She makes my heart beat faster and even hyperventilate. Certainly, I have no words to do justice to this stunning rose.
organicgardendreams, ZD was my first old rose and I will never be without it. It is the first and last in my garden - i picked a bloom for xmas - no mean feat in chilly east anglia.

I have a bit of a list also. I have become fond of Fisher Holmes in spite of its blackspot propensities. It blooms almost the whole season. I also like Comte de Chambord. If I can keep the blackspot off it, it does well. I have had it over the years in a couple of places. It is quite reliable. Arthur de Sansal and General Cavaignac do well enough to make the list. Then, there is Cardinal Richelieu, Charles de Mills, La Belle Sultane, L'Ingenue, and Botzaris. The last one was the old pink probably damask or maybe alba rose that was at my parents' house that perished before I could find out who it was. I do have a couple old pictures of it and plan to see if it looks like Konigin von Danemark since it really didn't fit La Ville de Bruxelles.

Thanks for sharing everyone. I was able to remember more exquisite memories from each of your postings. It is like someone mentioning that they too know and love the same old and dear freind that you've known and loved for years.

Lux.