I envy people with good piping skills, I can not pipe anything especially not roses. I love fondant and I like making roses of fondant/gumpaste mixture.
Miriel, thanks for the link it would be handy to make some of those formers, this is first time I've heard of them.

I chose gumpaste because that's the only medium that my roses seem to come out looking good. I used to make decent buttercream roses, and then took a Wilton class with someone that made really chunky ones. Now I can't do them at all ! She told me I was doing them all wrong and showed me the "right" way . Now all I get are big blobby looking things!
I taught myself to make gumpaste roses, so far I've been happy with the results- but they take me 45 minutes to an our each! I guess I'm really fussy about making them- must be all my experience of being a floral designer years ago!

Well for now I prefer royal icing cause I still have buttercream-cracky-edges issues with those roses. But royal icing roses come out good for me I'm still working on my gumpaste ones and I know once I get those down those will be my favorite.

Honestly, I'd prefer getting a painful shot (vaccine) in the arm. than piping roses with buttercream. I still haven't tried fondant for that but I'm betting it's way easier.

When I took the Wilton I class, I struggled to get those darn roses to come out right. I practiced and practiced and they just didn't look nice. A girl in my class came in the second night with a box full of perfect roses. And had the nerve (haha) to say they were easy and she just piped those watching TV. Ugh!! I was so mad.