Sweet Chariot comes to mind. It may not be officially classified as a Polyantha. But it certainly performs like one.

Cecile Brunner is my only fragrant (at least that I've noticed) polyantha

I received Brise Parfum from Roses Unlimited this spring. So far I love it’s sweet fragrance. This is a climbing polyantha correct? All I have seen is that it is a climber but no specifics on which type of climber.

Clothilde Soupert is very fragrant. It can ball for me when the weather is cooler so it may not work for everyone. Marie Pavie has a sweet fragrance that wafts even though the individual flowers have, at best, a mild fragrance. Sweet Chariot does look and act like a polyantha and has a wonderful fragrance. Perle d'Or has a lovely fragrance, I'd say at least moderate. This is the first full summer that it's been here (I got it last summer.). Cecile Brunner is new this summer so I haven't had a chance to compare it for things like fragrance yet. I have other polys that are sweetly fragrant but the above have the strongest so far. .

I have every some mentioned above and would heartily recommend them all, adding g cl. Cookies soupert, Linder for its wafting sent and Yvonne Tanker for its mild, but sweet scent. I have many plays and am also interested in acquiring more fragrancfragrantfragrancfragrant ones. Should

The color of Sweet Chariot is fantastic! That will definitely go on the list.

I think I can get cuttings for Cecile Brunner and Perle d'Or from a rose friend in town so I'll look into that. Thanks for the suggestions!

Clothilde Soupert is new to me this year. I love her, though she does ball some. I'm also wondering if she would prefer more shade than the other polys like Marie Pavie and Pink Pet.

I also added Pretty Polly Lavender this spring and adore the cute blooms and strong musky fragrance. I need to get it into a larger pot.

Pretty Poly Lavender is charming and hardy. I grow her in zone 5.

@Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley if you grow Pretty Polly Lavender in the ground, who do you have her paired with? Mine is in a pot, but I might end up sticking her somewhere in front of maybe Brindabella Purple Prince? Or just up the pot size and call it a day.

Does Yvonne ball for you? The bright white is so beautiful.

These are a few im going to get from Burling to try. Am I on the right track? I’m hunting for fragrant polyanthas for a no-spray garden.

Aunt Margy’s Rose

Denise Cassegrain

Sweet Chariot

Rita Sammons
Sunshine

Baby Faurax

Im going to try to get some cuttings of Cecile Brunner and Perle d’Or from a local rose society friend. I have a baby Clotilde from the spring I’m nurturing too.

I love polys! Please share your experience with growing these adorable roses.

I grew White Pet several years ago, and it had zero, 0, black spot issues if memory serves me well. It did have the oddest scent...herbal, like a combination of thyme, anise and tumeric.

Moses

If you could find the variety of Marie Pavie that was sold by old Pickering Nursery, near Toronto, Canada, it was exceptional. The nursery is now closed for a number of years. The petal count per bloom was very high. Other nurseries whose Marie Pavies I tried were only semi-double. You will see photos on HMFR of gardeners showing their very full bloomed versions of MP, and other gardeners showing their semi form blooms. I had both. The full bloomed version grew considerably larger, 3'x3'+, and was covered with nearly 1,000 blooms at its spring flush. The semi-double version never achieved such proportions nor bloomed so abundantly.

There are at least two polyanthas going by the name Marie Pavie.

A gardener several blocks away from me grew a lovely small bloomed, white colored polyantha she called Sweet Madeleine (could never find such a rose listed anywhere). It was very nice. I was told I could take cuttings if I wished which I never did. Since this was several years ago new people living there took out the planting of questionable Sweet Madeleine. It had small, grayish foliage, very double white blooms, 1.5", and reached about 30"x30". I suspect it was in fact Katharina Zeimet, not fragrant, but an exceptional polyantha which I never grew. Except for a lack of fragrance it is one worth looking into merely for the abundant bloom and disease free performance reports on it.

Moses.

@sunnsunnSunny,.I grow PPL with a deep purple short bundlebundle buddlei is so PP would look great to set her off. yr will slightly ball in heavy rain, but is also a quick rebooked so it's not a big deal. She is a great little rose with very pretty leaves. Hurling carries her.. my White Pet died who knows why. Wish I could have seen it grow to size. Great choices. Looking forward to pic!😉

Also, sometimes a rose is considered having little to no fragrance through general consensus. I have found exceptions in several cases. My Apricot Drift of all roses, is quite fragrant, as was my Pretty Lady Rose. So, if you find a disease free, abundant blooming polyantha, or any rose for that matter, that is regarded as not being fragrant, give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Moses

Yes! Everyone says Pink Pet isn't fragrant, but to me she has a strong cloclovecloclove scent.

Hi, Sunny, I grow some of those. For the most part my polyanthas are easy and tough in my no spray garden. I have Sweet Chariot and Aunt Margy's Rose now. Black spot is never a serious problem for either of them. Unfortunately, I've lost Sunshine twice over winter and it wasn't even a cold winter for the last one. I'm reluctant to get it again. But you are a zone warmer so it might be fine for you. Another worth considering someday is Lullaby. This is an easy grower that blooms itself inside out. It is taller than say, Marie Pavie. It is a very upright grower, maybe more like Perle d'Or growth-wise and size-wise. It isn't as fragrant as Marie Pavie or Sweet Chariot but it does have a nice fragrance and very double white flowers a little under two inches. My winter is not a test and neither is yours, but this poly is able to handle colder winters.

Definitely Perle d"Or. I cut just a few buds to put in a bud vase in our bathroom to get ready for a dinner party a couple of days ago. To my amazement, by the next morning 4 of the 8 tight buds had opened, and by this morning all 8 had, (with so far no petal drop or drooping - all of them looked great) and the fragrance filled the entire room, and was discernible out in the hallway.

Here is a pic of about 1/8th of the bush they came from -

Jackie

@Ingrid_vc zone 9b, San Diego Co. inland I love your Aunt Margy's Rose!

@Moses, Pitt PA, cold W & hot-humid S, z6 Thank you for the information about the full bloomed version of Marie Pavie. And good to know about the fragrance.

Sweet Chariot was a blackspot fest here in Michigan -- it absolutely needed spray to survive, so it didn't.

However, its sibling, Vineyard Song, https://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=2.23671.1

is a lovely tough ever blooming spot of lavender/purple in the garden. No blackspot.

Thanks rosesmi5a I'll look into Vineyard Song! It's always great getting recommendations to add to the list. I do have high blackspot pressure here and have been told to steer away from minis since I don't spray. But there must be at least a few healthy ones out there right??

Jackie, I'm definitly going to try growing Perle d'Or from a few cuttings from a nearby friend. It does well free-range in a local cemetery. I think it would be a great fit! Yours is beautiful!

Karen, Lullaby is on my list but Burlington only has it as a gallon, so it won't fit in the box with the other cuttings/babies. Does yours ball or fry in the heat of summer? How is the fragrance? I'll definitly put it on the top of the list. Thanks!

Vaporvac I felt so silly constantly trying to smell my Pink Pet because alas I sense nothing... But! You have given me hope! I'm thinking I will douse it with some fish emulsion and see if I can get that clove fragrance to reveal itself! Thanks for the hope!

Moses, thanks for the rec on White Pet. I've only read good things about this rose. It is definitly on the top of the list now. And thanks for the encouragement to keep trying blooming machines that are not listed as fragrant. I would love a pleasant surprise! And indeed my Julia Childs are among my strongest in fragrance and many sites don't list her as fragrant at all. I'm fortunate in that way to live in a high humidity area. Sometimes I also wonder if food tastes better here in a humid zone since you can smell it better?

Also, I knew that to be true about the Marie Pavie petal count mix up. I believe I got my MP from Roses Unlimited. It is the rose in the top discussion pic. She seems pretty double to me. I think I got the right one. I do like the idea of getting the same rose from multiple vendors and perhaps on different rootstocks as well to compare notes.

Ingrid your Aunt Margy's rose is inspirational! How did she hold up for you in the heat of summer? Thanks!

Also, I was curious as to why the polyantha group tends to be listed under Modern Roses on vendor websites instead of Heritage/Old Garden Roses?

Sunny, my Aunt Margy's Rose really was happiest during the spring after plentiful winter rains but held up well the rest of the time too. However, this rose and the rest of my roses were basically destroyed by ground squirrels in 2018-19. If I were to grow in now with increasingly hot conditions I'd plant it where there is late afternoon and evening shade. My climate is quite dry so I can't speak to how this rose would fare in more humid conditions.

Alexis, Moses, I am now growing Caterina xymat zeoimet, And she is very fragrant. I have grown 2 from cuttings and it's become 1 of my favorite roses this year. Very healthy and a non stop bloomer.

Only realized recently that she has an adorable green button eye!

Katrina Zeimet

I would like to add that Schmidt's Smooth Yellow is fragrant too - it smells of green apples.

Jackie

I need Katharina Zeimet! I love my Perle d’Or with a honey fragrance that seems to get stronger while blooms are cut and brought inside.

Perle Dor is a great little rose here also. I just love this sort of rose and wish we saw more of them featured. My KZs are still small in pots, but great bloomers which probably why they arent bigger!

I got a picture of Sweet Chariot, what a great rose. Early on it had some black spot but it seems that that has dissapeared.

That is another rose that is also good here!

Vaporvac your Katharina Zeimet is gorgeous! Great job rooting those babies!

Kristine I love the bold color of your Sweet Chariot!

This is my first poly bloom from the Burling order: Rita Sammons! And this little baby bloom was super fragrant and sweet. I hope her disease resistance is excellent.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions! i have a decent length poly wishlist now.

Hmm, I didn't realize Perle d'Or was a polyantha. I thought it was a China. It's also called Yellow Cecile Brunner but to me the flowers are a bit bigger on Perle. I think it's especially pretty and can make a nice plant though mine is scraggly in a bad spot.

My favorite and most fragrant polyantha is Clotilde Soupert. It does ball sometimes, some years more than others. When it's good it's very , very good. I know it is not good in all locations. Fragrance is intense and sweet.

It's one of the most reliable growers here and makes a pretty large, shrubby plant ( own root ) with good bs resistance. We hardly get any mildew here but I have seen some powdery mildew on it . About twice in 20 + years. Repeat is great. Spent blooms are ugly. Eventually they fall off, then it blooms in a big flush again.

'Vineyard Song' is a sister to 'Sweet Chariot' and both are exceptionally well-scented, and make fine shrubs.

Excellenz von Schubert (EVS) makes a large bush with wonderful old rose wafting scent. Never see blackspots nor mildew on it. Mine is in the north side, with only 3 hours of morning sun. EVS and Cornelia both waft better than Clotilde Soupert (blooms tend to ball up, or turn ugly brown on the bush when aged).

I don't smell Clotilde Soupert unless I stick my nose really close, but I can smell EVS, Cornelia, Perle d'Or at least 5 to 10 feet away.

I grew Perle d'Or, a good wafting scent but it died twice in my zone 5. Perle d'Or is glorious for a friend in hot Texas. Below is EVS (Excellenz von Schubert):

Below Cornelia has a powerful wafting scent which I can smell it 5 feet away, very much like EVS. Cornelia can take my poor drainage clay with zero blackspots.

I agree 100% about CS. They did exceptionally well here until my helper Overspray some round-up. Climbing CS does very well here also. I don't really have so much of problem with her bowling. Adore the fragrancefragrance

Cornelia is also another good 1 here. I get slightly confused about the polyamor Genre genre Intento include most small flower roses! I don't recall if I mentioned Yvonne I don't recall if I mentioned YvonneRabie above but it also has a sweet fragrance.

Thank you everyone for the fragrant poly. recommendations! This is the current list based on your recs above:

Cecile Brunner

Cornelia (Hybrid Musk)

Excellenz von Schubert (We actually have this in a local cemetery. I got some cuttings of it a few weeks ago I'm trying to root. That color!!)

Katharina Zeimet

Lady Ann Kidwell

Lullaby

Marie Daly

Perle d'Or

Phyllis Bide

Schmidt's Smooth Yellow

Yvonne Rabier

Vineyard Song (Shrub)

White Pet

Burling has a few more fragrant polys listed in her inventory. I need to get them down on the list above.

Something to consider, since you have both 'Vineyard Song' and 'Excellenz von Schubert' on your list: they are nearly identical, except perhaps in size (EvS is larger). Having both may be a bit redundant.

Clotilde Soupert