In his 1943 ARS annual article "Getting Rid of Blues and Thorns", Hansen wrote that Zitkala was released in 1942. It is a "hardy, double thornless red rose....the wood is smooth except for some weak bristles and a very few small thorns near the base of the main shoots....Flowers a brilliant velvety red, nearly 3 inches across, with 25 petals. A typical R. blanda plant, of strong upright habit, with red bark. After many years this is the first 'break' away from the light lavender-pink of the wild rose, to get the blue out of the red.
Zitkala is the Teton Sioux Indian word for 'bird'...Pedigree: Rosa blanda (from Bonanza Springs, western Minnesota, on the east shore of Bigstone Lake) x pollen of the Amadis (or Crimson Boursault), an old English rose with deep crimson-purple flowers.
In June, 1942, the original plant of Zitkala bloomed in profusion, with over 250 flowers. No seed hips resulted, so far."

Zitkala is not recurrent and I don't think of it as particularly fragrant. I had to move mine after a tough winter (it had quite a bit of die back and the rabbits like it too).

My winters are usually very windy and dry with unreliable snow cover. This last winter we had temps in the 30 below range and it had no dieback. This might be one of those roses that takes a year or two to really come into its own.

Wendy