I think I bought my first roses in 2011. The very first two were cl. Aloha and Blueberry Hill. I knew absolutely nothing about them, to me they were the pink rose and lavender rose. I still have both, neither is a rock star, but after these first two when they didn't die after a few months and actually started thriving and blooming I tried the next few (Crimson Glory, Chrysler Imperial and Paradise), then a few more, then the obsession started!

Mr.Lincon ,2016 .

Zepherine Drouhin, Madame Gregoire Staechelin, r.spinossissima Double White kickstarted a rosy craze at the very beginning of my gardening obssession, back in 1997. An aged, much cloned, salvia microphylla and a seemingly immortal clump of Japanese anemones are the only remainers from those early years. I think I slipped sideways into species roses somewhere around 2001, around the same time I acquired an allotment... which I set about filling with another 100 or so (large) roses.

Hansa, Grootendorst Supreme & Therese Bugnet all from 1985. I somehow lost Therese Bugnet but would like to have her again.

The big Queen Elizabeths which were here when we moved in 30 years ago and already had huge trunks.

Celestial, Magna Charta, Mrs. John Laing and Therese Bugnet were all purchased about the same time approx. 20 years ago. Celestial was removed this week because she had fewer blooms every year, but the other three have just gotten better over the years. They are all shades of pink. I didn't add red and yellow until more recently.

Before moving, my oldest roses were Dainty Bess, Mme Alfred Carriere, and Blanc Double de Coubert, all purchased about the same time.

My oldest are also those that came with my 100 yr old house, New Dawn planted when a new cultivar, a once-blooming purple, Mme. Norbert Levavasseur, Margot Koster, Mother's Day, and a white Koster that died. I need to replace it and Margot. I was a bad rose mom for a bit and they finally succumbed. : ((

Scarlet Knight and Livin’ Easy in the fall of 2010 from Home Depot. That was before I heard of “bare roots” and “one can order roses through the mail”, LOL. They have been given to a friend because I needed rooms for more roses. Helen

Pinocchio, a pink blend floribunda planted in this garden in 1954. So it's been here 64 years. Second oldest would be Angel Face, probably around 1970ish. And third would be Golden Celebration in the early 1990s. These are the last ones left of the roses that were purchased and planted by my Mom and are cherished by me. Actually that GC Mom and I picked out together. I have a very fond memory of sitting on the sofa drooling over the DA catalog trying to decided which one we wanted. I have no recollection of which one we picked but do remember that we were a bit disappointed when DA substituted GC for what ever is was we picked. That is until she bloomed and we both fell in love with her!

Seil it sounds like you used to have many more roses in your garden long ago. I'm sorry to hear that only a few of them still remain. I'd never heard of Pinocchio until after reading this thread. After googling I learned there are apparently several colors of "Pinocchio".

David Austin 'Heritage' planted late 1980s. Pat Austin just after that. Then Zepherin Drouhin, Marie Louise, Charles de Milles and Alexander Mackenzie from the early 1990s.

When we moved in here there was one rose bush... Have no idea what its name .....Former owner said it was planted in 1969...

I transplanted it up to my moms house in 2005...

Someday I'll bring it back here... But its 49 years old...

My son standing by it in 2001 when it was still here....

My oldest bush is Snowfire, over 40 years old. Its petals have red on one side, white on the other. Wicked stickers on the bush too. I've never loved it but it lives on through brutal heat and near passing traffic.

Perennialfan, I do have many more roses now but those three are the oldest and my sentimental favorites.I am actually now in the process of cutting back. I got up to about 150 and found that was too many for me to care for adequately, I'm slowly getting rid of the 60 some I had in pots. As I've gotten older and my health has failed the job of wintering all those pots has just gotten to be too much for me. The ones in the ground seem to do well on their own for winter so they'll stay a while longer.

Gourmet popcorn; I gave it to my sister, she had it around 15 years or so, now it's back with me at the new place. It suffered badly with the transplant last summer, didn't bounce back this year -- it might end up being a goner. Sigh. My second-oldest (which might end up being the oldest if GP gives up the ghost...) is Wildberry Breeze rugosa rose. I don't love the flower color, but it blooms longer than any other rugosa I have and gets to a good height, so makes a nice screen. I took an offshoot from the mother rose when I moved.

I have gourmet popcorn. So pretty when it blooms. It seems to alternate between doing well and looking thin and scraggly.

I have a Shailer's Provence rose that was here when I bought the house - 25 years ago, and my neighbor at that time told me it had been there as long as she had. It is situated on the fence line, just a few feet away from the trunk of a large maple on the other side, and with another large tree a dozen feet or so further south -- which makes me wonder if it was planted before these trees were so large. The house was built in 1941.

It was thriving in that shady, dry spot until the neighbors allowed another tree to take root and grow immediately next to it. It is suffering from the competition, I think, and I suppose I should try to move it.

Along the same fence there was another very large, once blooming. beautiful pink rose that threw out enormous thorny canes, but again, as another tree and shrubs took root and shaded it out, it died (before I noticed).

Orange Honey, a mini. Sunsprite, I've had it at least 30 years, never gets mildew. The mini is 42 years at this house.

The above comments reported these over a decade roses: Zeph. Drouhin, Scarlet Knight, Livin' Easy, Crimson Glory, Chrysler Imperial, Paradise (CA), Hansa, Queen Elizabeth, Pat Austin, Dainty Bess, Shailer's Provence, Gourmet Popcorn, Snowfire, Pinocchio, Angel Face (zone 6), Golden Celebration, Marie Louis, Blush Noisette, Rugosa, Heritage, Charles de Mills, Blueberry Hill, Celestial, Magna Charta, Therese Bugnet, Orange Honey, Climbing Aloha, New Dawn, Mme. Norbert Levavasseur, Margot Koster, Mother's Day.

For my zone 5a roses, below 12-year-own-root Evelyn pic. was taken spring 2021:

Below 12th-year own root Evelyn was taken 6/4/2022, note the large & reddish thorns and shiny & dark-green leaves:

Below 12-year own-root Christopher Marlowe was bought from Roses Unlimited in 2011:

Below Radio Times in 4 hrs. of sun was bought in 2011 from Roses Unlimited:

Below Carding Mill was bought in 2012 from Heirloom Roses:

Mary Magdalene was bought in 2011 from Roses Unlimited, very drought-tolerant:

My most favorite is own-root Zeph Drouhin, bought 8 years ago, old rose scent that wafts 30 feet away, pure heaven, even in 4 hrs. of sun, pic. taken 6/4/22:

Below Comte de Chambord was bought in 2012 from Burlington Roses. It doesn't sucker like other old garden roses. Pic. taken 2021:

The Dark lady was bought 8 years ago from Roses Unlimited. Small as own-root, pic. taken 6/4/22:

Pat Austin, bought in 2011 from High Country Roses, it's my most healthy rose among 150+ fragrant own-root:

Twilight Zone was bought 5+ years from Roses Unlimited:

Below Golden Cel. was bought 2011 from High Country Roses, pic. taken 6/4/22, note the bush is eaten by rabbits in only 4 hrs. of sun:

My most healthy & rain-tolerant rose bought in 2011 is W.S. 2000 from High Country Roses. Pic. taken 6/4/22 with 1st spring blooms:

Own-root Dee-lish was bought in 2015. Below pic. was taken last year 2021:

Below Blue Mist was bought in 2012, pic. is taken on 6/4/22. Fantastic wafting scent.

Duchess de Rohan was bought 7 years ago but it gets huge and started suckering in its 4th year. It's right next to the rain spout and I never see blackspots. Best with acidic rain.

Other vigorous own-root roses that I gave away due to lesser scents, but they are still alive today: Queen of Sweden (got up to 7 feet tall in late fall), Scepter d' Isle (4 feet tall as 1st year own-root), Lilian Austin (big & thorny bush).

I posted upthread 3 years ago about the uncertainty of the Gourmet Popcorn. I'm happy to report she's now doing well. Last summer I had to do some major surgery of sawing off large, thick portion of what looked like dead root, which ended up splitting her into two. Mother is still smallish but did quite well potted and protected last summer while she recovered, just planted her a few days ago and she didn't miss a beat, is budded up. Daughter was planted last fall; she survived but had some winter damage but seems to be bouncing back nicely. So GP is still my oldest rose, purchased in 1996 or 1997, I believe!

Crown Princess Mag lives forever, bought that as own-root back in 2012. I brutally pruned it down to 1 foot last fall to work in gypsum (soil gets harden after a decade). It came back strong with many buds, pic. taken 6/4/22:

Lady of Shalott is just as vigorous as CPM, bought that in 2015, below is LOS 8th-year as own-root, pic. taken 6/4/22. Both LOS and CPM require more rain water than Pat Austin and Carding Mill:

Fabulous roses!!! :) :)

'Othello', which I have had for 28 years now.

Purchased from Cruikshanks in Toronto in 1994.

Night Owl (very winter hardy for me...in the winter, I have it by the garage door and it gets cold weather there.) I've grown it for 14 years in the same pot. Definitely needs to be repotted. I grow it like a shrub.

I'm new at gardening so my oldest rose is John Cabot. In August it will be 2 years since I planted it. Here is a picture of it from about a week ago, just beginning to bloom.

Well done, Magpie!! Such vivid coloring...and it's a great bloomer for you!

Low-thorn Lynnie, bred by Roseseek (Kim Rupert) has been in my garden since 2013 in only 3 hours of sun. Lynnie is always healthy, zero diseases regardless of flood or drought. Lynnie has faster repeat than Knock-out, and it blooms 2 weeks before FlowerCarpet in spring.

Lynnie is #1 rose in fast repeat and disease-resistance, plus it has fat orange hips in fall.

Below pic. was taken 6/4/22, 100% healthy despite tons of rain and flooding. Rabbits never eat it since Lynnie's leaves are very thick.

FlowerCarpets have been in my garden since 2004. They have shiny & glossy foliage and like my soaking wet clay. They are in my shady bed, only 3 hours of sun. FlowerCarpet are more disease resistant than Knock-out (gets cerespora plus survived only 15 years in my garden).

GASP!!! Your Lynnie roses are to die for!!!! Such beauty!!

Love Linnie.