Dear Peachiemomo...it has been my experience that the fragrance of many new roses is exceptionally faint. The aroma multiplies in the second and subsequent years.
Last year I planted Gertrude Jeckyl. This is supposed to be an extremely fragrant rose. Last year almost nothing. This year oh my.
If I have a new rose bush and am curious as to the fragrance, I pick one, put it in a vase and put it into a small bathroom with the door closed. Come back a few hours later and you should smell something. Pick the flower in the am.
Happy sniffing.
Jeannie

was the lavender HT 'Barbra Streisand'?

Here is a link that might be useful: Barbra Streisand

does the initial spring flush have stronger fragrance than repeat flushes the rest of the year?

does the initial spring flush have stronger fragrance than repeat flushes the rest of the year?

It's mostly the weather...when it is cooler you can often get a stronger frangrance. Higher heat can make the fragrance evaporate quickly.

Try doing the sniffing around 9 in the morning--just as it starts to warm up, but before it gets too warm. I usually get the strongest fragrance from roses at that time. Then go out at noon and sniff again, you may find nothing at all.

Speaking of "fickle"--at night, I can go outside and the air is absolutely filled with the fragrance of 'Sombreuil', which has little or no fragrance to my nose during the day.

Blue Moon is lavender and has very strong fragrance, with a hint of citrus. It's usually healthy and with strong growth for a HT. It's a very good rose where I live, but the colour can be a bit difficult in the garden.

Unfailingly stong scent; Souvenir du Dr Jamain, Blache de Vibert, Coral Dawn, Blue Parfume. If you have a heated green house or live in a place with no frost in winter, Niphetos can compete with just about any rose when it comes to fragrance.

I have noticed that the strength of the fragrance varies although I hadn't pinned down the most fragrant times yet. It's good to hear they get more potent as they get established, maybe that is why the single rose that was here when I got the place has the strongest scent out of all of my roses. It is a deep red HT that turns a little purple as it ages, I'm thinking maybe Oklahoma or Mr. Lincoln.

'Blue Moon' looks more like the lavender rose I mentioned than 'Barbara Streisand.' I remember the friend who had it in her garden said that it was hard to keep it purple because the color would change with the soil Ph.

Thanks for all the responses!

Purple smelly? Angel Face. Can disinfect a room!

I like my smelly roses..... on my night stand. Ummmmm.

Beth

There's a pretty good correlation between color class and fragrance in roses. As you've noticed, lavenders are the most fragrant overall. Yellows tend to be scentless. Unfortunate for you since you dislike lavenders and like yellows! But you've hit on a good solution, interplanting with other fragrant flowers. Have you tried 'Peace'? not entirely yellow, but mostly so, and usually fragrant.

I have not tried 'Peace' yet, but it is on my long list. Of the yellows I have now 'Sunsprite,' 'Molineux,' and 'Autumn Sunset' are the most fragrant. But I am hopeful that all of my roses will be stronger scented once they have a few years to get established. I just got some baby bands of 'Buff Beauty' and 'Bishop Darlington' and I have high hopes for them in the future. Not exactly yellow but I love all of the warm colors.

Peachymomo, I have Blue Girl (Kolner Karneval) in my front yard, and it is absolutely wonderful. Strong lemony-cold cream scent, long stems, fat blooms, and a silvery-lilac color that never fades to pink. Its leaves are fat ovals instead of the pointed "football" shape I see on most of my other HTs, and the foliage color is a bit more olive-green. I think it makes a difference because its leaves have the least amount of japanese beetle damage right now, and it also is least affected by blackspot.

I also have Hot Cocoa, which I SWEAR has a hint of cinnamon in it. I know it could be the color of the bloom tricking my mind into thinking it's smelling cinnamon, but I held one up to my husband's nose with his eyes shut, and he swears to the hint of cinnamon as well.

Here's Blue Girl and Hot Cocoa. Enjoy!

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uh, very pretty flowers, flaurabunda, but I'm very concerned lately of where this post is going and how crucial strong fragrances are to aimeekitty. Hot Cocoa is always rated as little or no scent, but it is a verrrry pretty beautiful flower. And Peace can also have very little scent sometimes, depending on which strain of Peace you get. There are many who say that it has no scent. In the Kansas nurseries it did have scent, but it is a light, pleasant scent, not the strong scent that Aimeekitty is looking for. I hate for her to be disappointed AGAIN! and it's really best to go for roses that are famous for being scented.

Aimeekitty, if it's not famous for its fragrance, don't get it. Tons of modern day hybrid teas have pathetic fragrances so it's trying to get the famous ones that are crucial, like Marchesa Boccella, Comte de Chambord (all pinks which Aimee likes). Also remember, people, Aimeekitty doesn't like lavenders, so don't recommend lavenders. She is really looking for roses she likes....It's almost like me trying to recommend Folklore to her, which is beautifully scented because it's got pale orange-pink tones, and she already says she doesn't like orange. So I say as hard as it is to resist recommending our favorite scented roses, we should try to pay real close attention to what she is asking for instead of getting sidetracked.

Aimeekitty, you say you love yellows. I saw Lana's absolutely unbelievable Versigny which does have yellow-apricot-pink tones. That rose she says the fragrance is divine!!!! And if she says it is divine it is!!!!! I asked her about it because I wanted a rose that smelled as wonderful and looked as beautiful as Folklore. And she had both roses which is how I ended up with Lana's Folklore for 2010 and Versigny will follow his footseps in 2011. To me Versigny would be the perfect rose for you because it definitely has the yellow tones in it and because of that divine fragrance as Lana says!

Lana's beautiful Versigny

She says it isn't exactly the most vigorous of roses, but in your climate, I can see it easily flourishing.

Now I'm confused. I don't see Aimeekitty here. First post was by Peachymomo about a Lavendar HT that she couldn't recall, and some others had suggested Blue Moon, Barabra Streisand, etc.

Was simply offering up another example to maybe help her recall which rose it was, and some tidbits about unusual aromas on a couple of my roses. Maybe I misunderstood---sorry!

no, i'm confused too, flaurabunda. think wires have got crossed.

When I picked my roses, I made note of four factors; size, color, scent, disease resistance and vase life. Oh, is that five? Oops.

Missing one; they make the cut. Two iffy, three no way. In my new 16 rose garden, 6 were chosen for their high degree of fragrance. As has been said, the two purples (Intrigue or Lavaglut for the initiated, and Angel Face), Aromatherapy and April in Paris for the pinks and Just Joey because I just love her.

There are others that are rumored to have scent, but when planning I don't take it for granted. Although Mr Lincoln can knock your socks off at ten paces, I have found most reds to be lacking in the scent department, but I tend towards florist roses like Fire and Ice and Black Magic. Divine.

No form though, and it is a no go. And they must have at least medium disease resistance.

For my second, but very small garden.

Beth