Try Madame Isaac Pereire. Fabulous scent.

Depends upon what you consider "old fashioned type", size of plant, plant habit. It would also depend upon where you are located. Zone 6, fragrant, white. In my climate that could include Pope John Paul, Bolero, Sombreuil, Snowbird, Fair Bianca, Desdemona, Claire Austin, Winchester Cathedral , Boule de Neige... These are all very different looking in both flower form and plant habit.

Pope John Paul II is the best fragrant and long lasting white rose in my garden. I have 8-9 PJPII in tree form and they are all in pots though. Akron NY is in 6a, if you plant it in the garden make sure you plant it deep enough to cover the grafted union 3”-4” below the soil.

If there's a rose garden around you, go take a look/sniff around. You'll be able to see them as full-grown plants so you'll know what the right shape/size is for the space you have in mind, and you can find the exact right fragrance. And talk to whoever you see there! Locals will know best.

Go to your local rose club meetings to meet some rose nuts. Your local rose club is called WNY Rose Society. :-)

Don’t go to people’s gardens to look and sniff around, it’s not doable in this part of country. Public gardens are Ok. :-)

My favorite smelling roses
that I have smelled lately are Charles Darwin, Sheila's Perfume, Crimson Glory, Rose de Rescht, and Munstead Wood. I don't have a lot of rose experience but these all smelled so lovely that they were memorable to me.

I see you posted in the bee keeping forum too - check out some of the singles if you are wanting the bees to come - Darlow's Enigma, Oscar Peterson, Cassie (Snowbelt).

Give Quietness a look at.

It is:

Extremely low maintenance....no spray for black spot

Wonderfully fragrant

Beautiful full, light pink blooms with OGR, quartered centers like English roses

Repeat blooms very quickly

Black spot resistance right up there with the Knock Out line of roses

Winter hardy to its tips with no winter protection

4-5'X3-3.5' on its own roots, probably bigger and more floriferous if grafted

Long, cutting stems for the vase

Obviously I am the Pied Piper of the rose Quietness.

One thing is, prune Quietness like hybrid teas are pruned, not like bush/shrub roses are, otherwise it grows like a jumbled, haystack of small blooms.

Moses

Moses...you and Kristine influenced me to get Quietness too. I'm really looking forward to it being one of the founding roses of my new garden.

Pippacovalent,

You will not be sorry. Quietness grows very quickly to maturity. Just remember to prune it in spring like a hybrid tea/grandiflora because of its growth habit which fits in this class, not in the shrub class, IMHO.

Moses

Thanks everybody for your input. I can see why some folks end up with so many different kinds.I'm going to make a list of the suggested ones and shop around.Seems like any of the ones mentioned here would be a good choice.I started to look these up and I see now that I have to be more honest with what I really want to get.I think the decision is harder now than when I first asked the question.It'll be fun to see what I end up with and I'll let you guys know who the winner is. Thanks again

Thanks again for all your input.I finally ordered 'Fourth of July' . Tough choice considering I found out that there are so many choices and I liked most of them. Biggest factor for this one is that I got it for about $10 . I'll try this one and see how it goes.

It is a colorful, beautiful rose.