You are very thorough. Good on ya! :-)

At first I thought it might be Banshee, but the form of the blooms is not right for that rose.

It's definitely an Alba and looks like it could be Celestial or Amelia. Both are very old and wonderful roses.

Note about the site linked: photos are user-contributed, and sometimes folks post a photo or two of a mislabeled rose. It happens, but you'll find that most of the rose photos look like your rose. And, of course, different cameras and their macros vary in their color saturation, especially with pinks and reds.

Bloom color can also be affected by temperatures and the amount of sun the plant receives. Blooms on mature plants can be different from blooms on immature plants.

The brown gunk is a fungus called botrytis. It is most likely to occur in cool, damp weather. If temps are warm or the air is dry it is not so prominent. Some years you might see quite a bit of botrytis and other years there is little to none.

Some folks treat it preventively with a fungicide; others, like me, don't bother. We just clip off the affected buds as far as humanly possible, and clean up any diseased blooms that have fallen to prevent the spores from hanging around. Some roses are more prone to getting botrytis than others. But it is usually not a big issue, depending on your climate.

It is indeed a lovely rose and isn't it wonderful to have a wafting fragrance? This rose will probably outlive you and me. :-)

It's a vigorous, hardy, and care-free rose. Congratulations!

As soon as I saw the photos of the leaves and flowers, I thought that this could be Banshee. I'm still leaning in that direction. It's definitely not Celestial (unless the leaves on your rose have a blue cast that isn't picked up in your photos).

Does your rose sucker?

Connie

This rose suckers readily. The foliage isn't blueish at all. It's just a light green.

As for the brown gunk, we've had 2x the normal amount of rain this spring/summer. Most years the bush does better and we get less rain... so this isn't a major problem. :) (The peonies also got hit with it and they usually don't.)

I am going with Banshee. (The bloom you show from the front does look a little like Amelia, though.) Does it sometimes ball? That is a Banshee trait, though not all forms do it. If it doesn't, you have a fine form.

It looks a lot like a Banshee, but I've never heard of one where the plant flopped over. The ones I'm familiar with are generally tall and upright, and also hold their blooms upright.

Here's a link to look at:

Banshee: The Great Impersonator, by Leonie Bell, courtesy of the 1977 AMERICAN ROSE ANNUAL, from Paul Barden's Old Garden Roses and Beyond

Here is a link that might be useful: Banshee: The Great Impersonator

After I posted I started thinking about it a bit more, which is the exact opposite of what should be done. :-)

The rose has all the signs of Banshee:

1. Suckers wildly. Suckers often appear quite a ways away from the "parent" plant. I wouldn't be surprised if you found a sucker a mile away from the main plant; Banshee is very determined to put out new Banshees. :-)

2. Banshee is very prone to botrytis. The wetter the weather, the worse it gets. This past May was very unhumid in my area and there is very little botrytis. Like Marbree said, sometimes the blooms "ball" and may not open, even if they don't have botrytis.

3. My Banshee is just opening its blooms so I gave it a quick look-see this morning before leaving for work. Some of the blooms do nod downward. Never noticed that before. That clinched it. I'm almost certain that your rose is Banshee.

4. The color, leaf shape, and leaf configuration is absolutely dead on for Banshee. Pinks can be ubiquitous and the colors depend on camera settings and individual computer monitor settings.

The photos of the stems looked a little longer than typical for Banshee, which is why I suggested a couple of the Albas. However, as I looked at Banshee this morning, from a bit of a distance the stems look longer. As you get closer to the plant you see multiple buds hiding under existing blooms.

Another thing learned: my visual memory really stinks! :-)

I agree with Belmont and Marbree.