Have cuttings for trade of my rose scented geranium and Chocolate scented geraniums. Seeking other scented varieties of geraniums. Feel free to make an offer. Thanks for your interest.

It's a long time between now and bareroot season next spring, so you have a lot of time to do your research. There are odd little pocket gardens around that have a rose or two that you can get a sense of how they perform. Local nurseries tend to have an extremely limited rose selection. Most of their offerings are not good for the climate, and it can get very tricky. If you do happen to stumble on something good, if can disappear in the time it takes to do the research to confirm it is good and get back to the nursery. For example, Adams entire rugosa selection can disappear in a matter of days, leaving only the hybrid teas that nobody wants. People here will try to talk you into ordering potted own-root plants, but for a variety of reasons there are issues with those. For one thing, the nurseries that carry them tend to be in warmer climates and don't offer the hardier roses. For another, some of them can be just plain difficult in a cold climate own-root and the nurseries don't necessarily know which ones those are. So to make this very easy, wait until next winter, then order something like three Jacques Cartiers from Pickering.

I love the Tantau roses I've acquired so far. I have three Bernstein-Rose (the full name) bushes which are small plants whose blooms look a lot like Julia Child's. The blooms are the same size as Julia's, but the plants are way smaller. I have them located on a lower level below my two JCs to kind of echo the Julias. B-R is very healthy with dark shiny green leaves and a nice compact growth habit. It's never supposed to have much size which is what I wanted in the small spaces they grow in. I also have had two stunning Tantau Ascot grandiflora roses for a year which I have been raving about for a while. The bareroot plants took off like rockets and are always in bloom. And they are only a year old. Don't overlook Tantau. Diane

1. This one is difficult to answer because often the scent of very fragrant roses can be lacking due to varying conditions I can't explain. Last one I was impressed by was Rouge Royale. I would have stated Rouge Royale is the most strongly scented rose ever a month ago! But before that I was sure it was Eugene de Beauharnais, and before that Yves Piaget, etc. Does anyone else observe such paradox? Eugene de Beauharnais seems to always have a scent but not always strong but can get very intense in the right conditions 2. Its a tie between Out of Yesteryear and Benjamin Britten. They both have a peachy fruity note to my nose. 3. I've never smelled a rose like Windermere with its lemongrass-like scent. Maybe there exists many similar scented roses but I've never encountered a scent like it in all the rose nurseries I've been to.