I have it. Fragrance is very subjective, but it has some fragrance:
if you put your nose in the rose, you will feel it well;
if you stay away from the rose, the fragrance will not fill the air.

It is (much) less fragrant than many rugosa roses, it is as fragrant as queen elizabeth (different scent, same strength), it is much more fragrant than old blush.

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PS: in Italy it is a very widespread rose. It is considered one of the few relatively resistant 'classic' HT roses.

Fragrance is very slight to most noses. 'Peace' is not resistant to blackspot disease.

Peace's fragrance is elusive and only about a 3 on a 10-scale to mey nose. I don't grow many hybrid teas but two wonderfully fragrant floribundas are Honey Bouquet (YB) and Sunsprite (DY). The Buck shrub rose Prairie Harvest has very informal fluffy bloom touched with pink with a most unusual fragrance on a very sturdy plant. It's a generous bloomer so you'd always have a bloom to sniff!

Double Delight is my alltime favorite fragrant rose. I have half a dozen plants, all own root. They were purchased as bare roots but have all gone own root over the years.

To my nose, Peace has a wonderful sweet fragrance that is unlike any other rose. One of my favorite scents, I would give it a 7 out of 10 for strength of its perfume.

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Peace is the reason I have roses today. We had a Peace bush in the front yard when I was a kid and I remember well the nice fragrance and the large creamy yellow and dusty rose colors of the very large blooms.
I was very lucky enough to find a neighbor friend of mine who has a bush he planted some 30 years ago. I got some cuttings from it and sent them to Steve Singer and he budded them for me. I now have two lovely bushes from those and I gave one to a friend and another to the neighbor with the "mother" bush.
This "mother bush" reminds me of the bush I grew up with. It is very different in my opinion than the modern Peace bushes to be found today that seem to have been cloned to absolute death and lost the wonderful fragrance and alot of the very beautiful colors of the flowers that made this rose so attractive.
John

Wow! That is the reason, I do NOT have Peace anymore. Virtually scentless. So odd that some are like this, yet other people are finding it fragrant. It has to be the difference in particular plants???? For me NOTHING!!

Very interesting discussion and shows how elusive scent can be. The old Tea roses also seem to be a group that either people say have scent or they don't.

Maybe the intesity of scent depends upon the climate and the chemical compoisiton of the soil? can it be?

Anyway, if you want a very scented rose, go for conrad ferdinand meyer (CFM), it is among the most fragrant roses of all. Strange silver-pink color.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:256275}}

I haven't detected a scent in my Peace rose. Perhaps a slight old rose scent, but nothing to brag about.

Different people have different scent receptors.

I think Peace is one of those roses that requires high humidity and a warm day to have a fragrance. In my garden it smelled very strong on some days and not at all on others. I noticed it was when the humidity was high and the gates were closed in the garden (it was near a gate sort of in a corner) and I could smell it very well when all the conditions were met but on a normal day when the sun was high in the sky and not a cloud in sight, it was scentless and if the gate was open in high humid weather, no fragrance even then. It was almost as if it had to be bottled and steamed like incense to get fragrance.

I have a Peace climbing rose. i have had it for 8 yrs, and it has never had a scent even though as far as caring for it is one of my easiest. I just wonder why some have a scent and some don't?

Aughhh, and auugh again! Thanks for the beautiful piccies included.. Sadly, I am now almost 100% positive that the old rose from my childhood is indeed Peace (shape, darkness of leaves, petals from everyone's pics)... but that Rosebush would have been over 20 years ago, and just like Jont1 suspects, Peace has been over-cloned... Believe me, that ancient rosebush did have a wonderful aroma, other neighbors would comment and house visitors... So it just wasn't our noses being sensitive... To me this is rampant over-hybridization problem...I would be very sad to have no fragrance in my roses...

Curldoc, where did your Peace bush come from???? where can I find a grower that definitely has scented Peace roses? Is there any such possibilities any more?

Karl, anyone, is there any beautifully scented tea roses that are hardy for winter (I will protect them with burlap, etc.)...but! have sunset colors to them...? as a last resort, I may have to find a David Austin, hardy rose (but alas, it's not quite the tea rose shape that I have the nostalgic memory for-- but I do read on this forum that they're very fragrant?)... What I love about teas is that the shape of the petals, otherwise the rose ends up like a "Peony" type...but it's just a personal nostalgia thing...If I were a prolific skilled rose gardener I'd have a bunch of types, but with my ignorance I can only select a few that I can do major TLC for...so I'm trying to relive childhood nostalgia with the Teas...

Serena, maybe you mean hybrid teas rather than teas; they are very different. Florist roses are hybrid teas. as is Peace. Most hybrid teas can be grown in KS zone 5 if you bury the graft and apply some extra mulch for winter. They will have to be pruned down to the ground or snow line (if any) each spring. They become decent-sized plants by late summer. All will need regular fungicide spray east of the high plains.

I can recommend a few roses that have hybrid tea bloom form but are hardier and more disease resistant. They are Prairie Harvest, Earth Song, and Winter Sunset, roses that were bred for Iowa rather than California.

Michael, the downside is fragrance here if the OP requires fragrance of a heavenly scent, the Bucks won't do it.

The only person I know who has an original Peace is Pat from RU who has her father's from the World War II days of its origins. However, I would be remiss if I did not add that hers will not be grafted and therefore, would probably not survive a winter in Kansas, not even my winters.

I am convinced we have the harshest winters here of anyplace, because we have the widest swings in a 24-hour period. That 85-degree noon that that started out on a balmy morn can quickly become 4 degrees of and water-turned-ice and that, that, that, that wind blowing out a cloud by night is what is chilling and killing. Most vegetation is unable to survive what we can and have of late, experienced in February, March and April.

I read my grandmother's journals (I guess what I would call diaries) and she seemed to be always concerned about the weather circa 1900-1930, and I think this turn-of-the-century time is very similar. My grandfather was a planter. Their livelihood depended on the weather.

If the South still depended on its independent farmers growing crops for production without the help of big business, the weather would be too much for the average man's resources to withstand. I think most of our independent rosegrowers can understand that.

Were it not for greenhouses and their ability to have fans and heaters, what would happen to the roses grown en masse in the south when that 85-degree noonday turns to near-zero between dark and daylight.

Yes, if Serena wants heavy fragrance and HT form, and is prepared to spray regularly, she should start a thread asking about very fragrant HTs for the Midwest.

ugh, smackdo! I did mean hybrid teas but should have abbreviated to h.teas instead; I was being laaazy! and tried to shortcut my overly long posts... Patricia, 20 years ago, that bush was already over 5'5" so I am thinking that Peace to reach that size must be from close to that era... But the Peace did so well, even in the coldest of N.Y. snows, but yes, N.Y. does not have the fluctuating temps that Kansas has but ours never! fluctuates within the same day it just strikes within 2 days and then suddenly vanishes... but am hoping with a ring of stakes, wire supported styrofoam/burlap shields, it will help H.Teas in the winter and from any crazy wind...My roses will be directly facing East...

Am still hoping Curldoc can tell me where to get that fragrant Peace... Michael G. Winter Sunset seems the closest out of the selection you gave me from the height color shape; it doesn't have quite the color richness of Peace but so long as it has the fragrance? to make up for it? Again, to me fragrance is very very important. But not sure from Patricia's end note which is the Bucks that won't do?

I am also hoping for a more tall bush, like Peace... In back of the row of roses, I planted gladioluses that are just peeking out of the ground now... and am purchasing lavender today to add as a backdrop for my empty rose lot...

I was recommending roses on the basis of easy to grow. Winter Sunset among them does have good fragrance to my nose. Color fades out, though.

Taller HTs after severe pruning to remove winter damage may grow to 5-6' by late in the season.

A very fragrant rose that is yellow and red is Sutter's Gold. It might be more tender, though (not sure, get z. 5 advice).

Get Double Delight like Karl said. Some other very fragrant ones are Sheer Bliss, Perfume Delight, Jadis (Fragrant Memory), Firefighter, Chrysler Imperial, Mr. Lincoln.

Presumably you're already thought of this, but have you looked at Chicago Peace? It's much more fuschia and peach than the regular Peace is, but it is fragrant, and does fine in my zone 5 weather

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Thanks again, for another set of lovely piccies lilyfrog... Your roses are stunning! Alas, I am specifically looking for sunset tinged color Hybrid Teas-- yellow, oranges, and pinks like Peace but with lots of Fragrance... So far I have to still wait for curlydoc to see where that fragrant Peace came from or from whomever can carry an old stock Peace, but almost all available Peace nowadays are almost scentless it seems...So if anyone knows in the meantime of Fragrant Peace lines from a specific grower, please let me know...

If I am forced to choose another HT, I vacillated with Winter Sunset but then so far, I think Sutter's Gold is still even closer... Various growers say it will grow in zone 5-10, but need to check with my local nurseries just to be sure...

Much to my shock, Peace was rated as being almost scentless (no fragrance)... whereas some vendors said it had a "wonderful" fragrance...

Humans have highly variable senses of scent. Our sense of sight is far more dependable and uniform than our sense of scent. In my (limited) experience with Peace blossoms I have never detected any scent at all. The flower is incredibly drop-dead gorgeous as far as its form and color go, but for me it is totally scentless.

(Between that and the way it grows I have never wanted to grow this rose. My own preference is for really stinky roses, but then again I like really stinky lilies, too, and I adore hyacinths. It seems to me Peace is particularly prone to becoming a "one cane wonder", and the fewer of those I grow, the better. It's bad enough that I grow Fragrant Cloud, one of Peace's grandchildren!)

My Peace has a great scent. One bloom can perfume a whole room of my house. I bought mine from Jungs. It has horrible blackspot but I love it anyway. My husband can smell it too so I don't know if it is just our sense of smell or the particular plant we have.

Syrenasyh asked: "Curlydoc, where did your Peace bush come from????"

I bought my 4 bushes of Peace from Jackson & Perkins by internet order in 2007. I've had good luck with J&P roses and the fertilizer they sell. There has been some variability in the vigor of the bushes, the two in my back yard do better than the two in the front yard. One factor that diminishes vigor of the one next to my front sidewalk is that passersby keep ripping the blooms off and taking off with them. I'm glad the Peace roses make people happy enough that they feel compelled to take them. Maybe that will inspire someone to be a rosarian.

serenasyh, what you describe as peace in your childhood does not fit with any specimen of 'peace' I can recall seeing... a huge bush from this hybrid tea is something I have never seen, but I don't go south all that much. Even though it may have been said to have been peace, there is a possibility that the bush you describe from your childhood may not have been peace. I am not saying that is the case, but roses often get other labels over time and peace is a well-known rose, so it may have been added if the identity was uncertain... just saying it could be possibility.

I would also say the lack is due to individual's noses. Fragrance is not lost through over-cloning. All rose cultivars are propagated asexually, so they are all cloned. The oldest types of roses often have a heavy fragrance. Compared to them, peace is new... cloning is that -cloning -so no fragrance would be lost. There may be 'improved' varieties of this rose that have less scent, but they are different that the original.

curlydoc, growing J&P roses in California, is like growing fleas on cats and dogs. Growing J&P roses on Dr. Huey in other parts of the country, is often, futile.

Patricia, I wish other vendors supplied roses that grow like fleas on cats and dogs like the J&P roses. I do think that Dr. Huey works better than multifora as a rootstock in my area of So Cal. By the way, the J&P is selling its Peace rose for only $14.95 on the J&P website:

http://www.jacksonandperkins.com/gardening/PD/00243/

They describe their Peace rose as having a sweet fragrance, so their cultivar might be a good one for people to get if they are not experiencing fragrance in their Peace specimen. Here is what J&P says about their Peace rose:

Peace Hybrid Tea Rose
The most widely planted rose in the world!

Item No. 00243
1 for $14.95
3 for $39.99 You save 10%
Spring Shipping 2009
The radiant, sweetly perfumed flower with a fascinating history: this rose was named the day Berlin fell to the Allies. The day peace was signed with Japan, it won AARS honors and members of the newly formed United Nations were presented with its blooms. Golden yellow with pink edging. Shipped bareroot.
Rosa Peace /Gold,Orange /Ovoid buds / Blooms 5"-6" / 40 petals / 18"-24" stems / Dark Green foliage / Sweet fragrance / Full Sun / Shipped as Bareroot / Zones 4-9 / Width: 24in - 3ft / Due to state restrictions this cannot ship to: CAN, PR

Just wanted to thank everyone for their replies and thoughts! I rechecked at Jung's and they re-classified Peace as non-fragrant... My Tree Rose Gemini, sadly, only has a mild fragrance and if the second tree survives its winter damage... I already have 2 only mildly scented roses... The hit-and-miss I feel with Peace would be 85% miss, not something I want...and right now am in a desperate huntdown for the fragrant Sutter's Gold... ... The other reputable growers that Karl recommended do not carry Sutter's Gold so I am stuck back at square one... I do not! want StrikeItRich, it's offspring...so again, I am stuck, stuck stuck!

OK then, Granada. I should have thought of that earlier. It is everything you want except tall, and a very good rose. Colors are much brighter than Peace, though. Go to HelpMeFind for pictures and vendors. Maybe Regan Nursery.

Its flower color is something one usually either loves or loathes (with little in between), but Fragrant Cloud is a descendant of Peace and famously, strongly fragrant. HMF describes the color as coral-red, but I disagree. The petals are two-toned. The upper sides vary, but are usually some variant of dark scarlet (that fades to an orange blend as the flower ages), while the petal undersides are a dark coral.

"They describe their Peace rose as having a sweet fragrance, so their cultivar might be a good one for people to get if they are not experiencing fragrance in their Peace specimen."

'Peace' is 'Peace' is 'Peace', no matter who you buy it from. A catalog writer will exaggerate a rose's capacity for fragrance and disease resistance if it will sell the product, thats what they do. (Anyone who says 'Peace' has Blackspot resistance has either not grown it or is fibbing big time.) I do not believe for one second that fragrance is compromised by propagation and the whole mythology that there are "good clones and bad clones" out there is a fallacy IMO. When I was a teenager, I found 'Peace' had a medium-strong fragrance, and only at peak times under ideal conditions, IE: at 10AM on a somewhat humid, warm morning. Thirty-five years later my sense of smell has diminished, as it does in all people and it now has only a mild scent to my nose. The bottom line: if you want an intensely fragrant rose, then select one that has a reputation for good fragrance from 95% of the people reviewing it. 'Peace' does not meet that criteria.

Yes, I think 'Sutter's Gold' is almost universally found to be intensely scented, but I question its ability to survive Zone 5 Winters. Not sure what to recommend for you, since yellow HT's in general have the poorest Winter hardiness of their class. Maybe someone else in a similar climate can offer a suggestion based on their experience.

The best way to buy a fragrant rose is to go to a local nursery in summer and smell all the roses they have. That way you can be sure that you can smell the rose and that you like the fragrance. Last year I was trying to decide between Pope John Paul and Veteran's Honor. I found both at the same nursery and liked the scent of Veteran's Honor better (it's more of a fruity scent) so I bought that one. Two years ago I was trying to pick either Secret or Gemini and the local nursery had both and their Gemini smelled great and looked better than Secret so I bought Gemini. So, if scent is important to you then finding a good local nursery is much better than mail order.

Dream Come True is similar to Peace with a good scent and much better blackspot resistance. But I'd recommend smelling it in person if you can as it is classified as having a mild scent.

I can't believe everyone is out of Sutter's Gold. Have you tried HelpMeFind?

Here is a link that might be useful: SG on HMF

RU has Sutter's Gold on their website. I think I got mine from Rogue Valley and Vintage, separate times. From Vintage was a gift from a very nice former poster here.

hi, everyone and thanks again for all the tips and thoughts... It took me forever! like 3 hours of intense web-searching to find Sutter's Gold... and I had to check on grower reviews... For example some like Hortico, had hugely erratic/somewhat scary reviews, some places were completely sold out and some were blank in terms of recommendation. Yes, Roses Unlimited seemed to have good reviews and they do carry but since they are not equipped to take online orders, I waited to be sure I looked at all my options... I will call up RU tomorrow morning...and if they do have their Sutter's Gold still in stock, for sure I'll order. I just want to be sure before I mail in my check...

In the meantime I found this beautiful rose from Heirloom, it's supposed to grow in hardy zones 5-10...And it's supposed to be very, very fragrant... And it looks like Peace! I went ahead and took the plunge and got 2... These will go on the Southwest side. But on the East side lot, I think if I add the Sutter's Gold next to the Lincolns it will also add a beautiful contrast, I am hoping...

Here is the heirloom rose I found. It's called Special Occasion.

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I also bought a whole bunch of protective gear to protect roses from any strong spring winds...The nursery guy thought I was being way overprotective, but not me! heheh! We don't get tornados in my suburbs but we do get the wind trailers... Karl, thanks so much about the soaking info and how deep to bury the bud union... As soon as I get those bare roots, I will email you right away!!!

Sad update, the last highly recommended grower Roses Unlimited when I called indeed said even their Sutter's Gold has completely sold out... only Hortico is left... I am thinking that it's very important to get a strong viable rose...but since Sutter's Gold is so hard to find, if RU can promise it will be in next year I can try to wait and place a pre-order perhaps... That way, I can gain greater experience with caring for roses by next year... But if RU can't guarantee it will be in next year, I'll have to take the risk with Hortico.

I am with Paul on this one:
1. We have a large climbing Peace in the front yard that produces an annual spring show of 100-200 blooms. My wife is bowed over by it's strong fragarnce. I was mystified - it's totally scentless to my nose, even with it buried in it's petals. I thought she might be mistaking it for Eglantyne, growing beside it but she reassured me that she smells that one too, but the two fragrances are different.
2. My two kids smell anything from mild to moderate fragrance to it.
3. Here is the kicker, whenever we come across Peace in other gardens - locally, in Portland and in different parts of England, the same variation in the ability to detect it's fragrance stays the same.
4. The reverse holds true - there are roses which are fragrant to me but are scentless to her.
Frangrance, therefore, is the sum total of the genetic blue prints of both the rose and the beholder.

Serena, I wouldn't advise a small own-root HT for zone 5 anyway, especially of a tender variety. Look at Granada, it should be available grafted.

Own-root HTs, even tiny bands, do fine for me here in Wisconsin. I wouldn't be afraid of them. E-mail or call Roses Unlimited in the fall and they'll hold it for you for spring. I wouldn't bother with Hortico, their roses are the only ones that I have trouble with. And keep an eye out locally to see if there might be something else that catches your eye (or nose in this case).

Fragrance, therefore, is the sum total of the genetic blue prints of both the rose and the beholder.

Indeed! It's like in cooking - some people think cilantro is the tastiest herb there is, and some people (like me) think cilantro tastes like soap! I've read before that some scientists who think about this (minor) matter suspect that some people are born with a gene that makes their sense of taste sensitive to some cilantro chemical or other that makes it taste soapy, but that other people simply cannot detect because they lack the necessary gene to make their sense of taste capable of detecting the flavor.

I don't know if that explanation is the right one, but I find it extremely plausible. Likewise I'm glad those of you who can smell Peace enjoy its fragrance! :-)

Serenasyh said on Mon, Apr 20, 09 at 13:15:

"but since Sutter's Gold is so hard to find, if RU can promise it will be in next year I can try to wait and place a pre-order perhaps... But if RU can't guarantee it will be in next year, I'll have to take the risk with Hortico."

I bought Sutter's Gold and Crimson Glory from Hortico this year. I thought they did a very nice job, the packaging was impeccable and the roses looked good. Here are pix from when I received the roses on March 11, 2009:

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These are good specimens that are currently doing well in 5-gallon pots. I tend to start the plants in 5-gallon pots to improve survivability before putting them in the garden, even though that necessitates some judicious root pruning to fit them in the pots.

I hope the Hortico plants are the correct varieties; they have a reputation for shipping a high percentage of incorrectly identified roses. I'd buy anywhere else before I bought from Hortico.

Hi, just wanted to be sure to thank everyone!!! for their time and thoughtfulness about alternate roses, vendors, etc. Curlydoc thanks very much for the extra effort and for your Hortico pics... If I was an experienced gardener, I'd rush out and get the Hortico, but am thinking that because I am a first-time gardener I really need to make sure I can do a decent job with my 2 tree roses, the 2 Lincolns and the 2 Special Occasion first so indeed 2010 I will be making a full blast to 3! Sutter's Gold roses to add to the collection for next year... Roses Unlimited says that indeed they can hold the order and since I have heard so many terrific things about them, I will go ahead and wait for the 3.

If Special Occasion does indeed flourish I will update everyone on what I think about the fragrance. According to Heirloom rose and a few other American growers it is "one of the most fragrant hybrid teas" but a bit too belatedly I found some U.K. sites that only listed it as moderate so we shall wait and see. It's a Fryer rose...

JUst buy Bellaroma. It looks just like peace, it's big and healthy, and has stong frangrance. Problem solved!

I've never grown Peace but I got Chicago peace from a former nursery that was quite fragrant. I had it for five years, would grow it again if I had the room.

There are at least 4 Peace Roses. Peace, Chicago Peace, and Pink Peace, Flaming Peace.

I had 3 When I lived in Miami Florida 1979 until 1990. Peace, Chicago Peace, and Pink Peace.
I never heard of Flaming Peace until today. I have found the first 3 in many catalogs. Only the Peace had a decent fragrance in Florida. I'm now in North Alabama and bought a Peace and it doesn't have much fragrance. I suspect that to get more desirable disease resistance they have bread out the fragrance. Just a guess.

Pictures: The last link shows 3 of them on 1 page.
Peace,
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/11277/

Pink Peace,
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/228869/

and Chicago Peace.
http://www.growquest.com/hybrid%20T%20chicago_peace.htm

Flaming Peace, http://www.rose-roses.com/catalog/hybridtea.html

Mine has a tropical fruity like fragrance, fairly sweet. I would classify the fragrance intensity between medium and strong.

Sometimes rose bushes have to reach a certain size before the flowers start becoming very fragrant. This seems to be more true with certain varieties.

The original Peace is the most beautiful, and is also one of the parents of another favorite of mine, Sterling Silver. It's interesting because Sterling Silver seems to have a completely different fragrance (more pure damask and freshly cut lemon).

"I think Peace is one of those roses that requires high humidity and a warm day to have a fragrance. In my garden it smelled very strong on some days and not at all on others. I noticed it was when the humidity was high and the gates were closed in the garden (it was near a gate sort of in a corner) and I could smell it very well"

Patricianat, I think you may be right. My bush is growing in a sheltered nook, a spot in the garden that seems to have higher humidity and is sheltered on all sides from air circulation, though we do live in a climate with very dry summers (and that's when I smelled it in bloom).