There are many beautiful roses amongst those that are generally termed "old fashioned roses". Some have the drawback of only flowering in spring although here we are spoilt by the continual flowering of modern hybrids, which is a behaviour we now expect of roses. Some old roses do flower in spring and summer. One such group is that of the Hybrid Musk roses, which can give a spectacular display and are beautifully scented. We have a row of the Hybrid Musk "Penelope" in our garden and if we ever move, I'm going to plant some again - I wouldn't want to be without them. They're one of a series bred by the Rev. Joseph Pemberton in the early years of the last century ("Penelope" dates from 1922). They are larger and more spreading than a modern bush rose, so you need to plant them about six feet apart and, because of their arching habit, you prune them to an upward facing rather than an outward facing bud. The flowers are a sort of peachy/creamy colour and fade to white as they age. They have a lovely scent and make good cut flowers. Here's a picture of one I found on the 'net:
And a link to a web page about them:
http://www.rosegathering.com/hybridmusks.html
