I grow some that are not fragrant because they are great bushes. I am taken away by some of the fragrance. Like Jackie mentioned, Jude. Jude impresses me and I grow mostly roses that are fragrant, I'm into smells.

Carla

True what budford and Randy said...I fell in love with Comtes De Champagne from looking at Susan's rose gallery. Later I found out that CdC don't have much scent - but I'm still going to get it because that rose looks so ADORABLE!

No souless roses. Ever.

well I don't think a rose doesn't have soul if it doesn't have fragrance, because to a rose defoliated from blackspot is often more offensive to me than a scentless rose. I have some roses with little or no fragrance: Ballerina (I know it's often listed as fragrant, but I cannot detect any at all), Knockout, Rosette Delizzy. They are relelgated to the center of the garden, and the fragrant ones are next to the paths. I always expect a rose to be fragrant, however, and am disappointed when it's not. I always wish that rose fragrance was stronger, though. It's volatile and easily burns off in the heat of the day, not nearly as persistant as the perfume of Japanese honeysuckle (which is actually my all-time favorite scent, even if it is an invasive thug).

Jackie.....
The great thing about growing over 200 different roses is that they don't ALL have to have fragrance for me to love them. If I want to take a sniff of a fragrant rose, I have plenty of those I can bury my nose in. I have so many fragrant ones that the air is already perfumed of roses and the scentless ones just blend in. I don't hold it against a rose if it doesn't have scent....oftentimes it has other virtues that make up for lack of scent (like winter hardiness, vigor, repeat, etc.) The best example of this is "Quietness", perhaps my most favorite modern rose. I can't smell a thing, but she takes my breath away with her beauty and is my healthiest and most reliable rose. How could I not love her?
Just like people, roses are all different and special in their own way. They are all worth getting to know.

When people visit my garden, I direct them to the smelly ones so they can get their fragrance "fix", but I do point out the scentless ones and their special virtues. A beautiful rose is still a beautiful rose, regardless. I love fragrance, but ALL my roses make me happy.

Celeste

I have a fragrant corner at the entrance of my garden, with everything sweet smelling that I can imagine. The fragrance hits you at least ten feet away. Cleveland sage, lavender, daphne, regal lilies, brugmansia, allysum, and herbs all scent the air, but Cristata was the sweetest smell of all last spring. There are five more smelly roses in this corner, and I love it.

In general, I wouldn't plant a weak or disease-prone, or one that I didn't like, for its fragrance alone. I would plant one whose appearance and performance I loved, such as a red China rose, even if it wasn't fragrant to my nose. In general, I try to have roses that have it all.
Anita

Perhaps it's very much a personality characteristic. I'm an extremely visual person and a rose has to captivate me first by how it looks, not just the flower but the bush in general. After all when we fall in love with a rose online we're not able to smell it. But then, when it also has a scent, what a gift. I love the way every rose has a different perfume, it adds such excitement to the garden experience.

Melissa, your comments were very profound. What you said would have been beyond my power to put into words but I felt it very deeply. Thank you.

Ingrid

Scent is definitely important to me but there are other very important qualities. Eden is one of my absolute favorite roses, I have two and could be persuaded to get a third. My Eden blooms have a slight sweet scent but are certainly no fragrance powerhouses....I love them anyway.

My new interest in Tea roses is making me appreciate the other qualties rather than scent because I detect almost no scent from them (Clementina Carbonieri is the exception). I think that Baronne Henriette de Snoy is one of the most gorgeous roses in my garden and I can't smell it at all. Disappointing but the blooms still take my breath away.

Shelley

Jackie, like you and Ingrid, I am a very visually-oriented person (I am also a graphic artist).
I also have a crummy sense of smell -- and there are many roses I can't smell which send others into transports.
So while fragrance is nice, I am more drawn to a lovely bloom, in a pleasing color, on a plant with
real vigor and good disease resistance.

Jeri

Fragrance adds the final touch of magic. It is the icing on
the cake. I think we should all demand it from all rose
hybridizers. Think of those florists roses that look great
and your instinct is to smell for scent, but nothing is there.

it's nice to have but not a requirement! My sense of smell has changed over the years some roses I liked years ago now smell terrible to me. Pat Austin and SDlm and all it's sports are my favorites bt I would love them if they had no fragrance,

I grow roses that I don't have to spray. I look for ones that make a good bush and bloom often.

In order of priority for me:

1. Disease resistant
2. Copious rebloom
3. Good bush form (no stick legs)
4. Must fit color needed for space in question
5. Must fit size requirements or limits
6. Fragrance

With all those qualifiers, I have many roses in the garden with no fragrance. It really is hard to get everything in a rose.

I did buy a Double Delight off the discount table and for some reason it has been healthy even without spray. THAT was a rose I purchased for fragrance but I planted it expecting to SP it later. For the main gardens.I follow my protocol and priority list. I do love to have the fragrance but as a rule I just don't select roses because of it.

I donÂt think anyone should follow someone elseÂs protocol. You follow your needs and personal reasons for growing and loving roses. I want a colorful, lush garden that doesn't require me to work with chemicals....and I have one. To each his own!!
Making the simple complicated is commonplace;
making the complicated simple,
awesomely simple, that's creativity.
- Charles Mingus

I agree that Eden is too beautiful to live without!

I think I forget how important fragrance is to me until
I smell something beautiful like Mme. Alfred Carrie.
Then I fall in love all over again.

I consider a scentless rose to be incomplete, no matter how lovely it appears. An unperfumed rose seems unnatural to me. Since there are so many rose choices with both 'beauty' and scent, I decided I want it all.

I have other flowers for color. Dahlias, cannas, datura, etc are bright and have great form and texture. It's the roses' scent that makes them special.

I'll never plant a numb rose again. I won't dig up a scentless rose I already have, but I won't plant a new one.

Well I'm happy to see that I'm in fact NOT alone!

Ronda I think my list is in the same order as yours.

John if I could have both that would be great, but visual will always come first. It's like with my new this year Clementina Carbonieri. I fell in love with pictures of it and seeing those gorgeous, mouth-watering blooms as Dawn would say, made my socks roll up and down lol.
The fact that I stuck my nose in it and it had a nice perfume was just an added gift.

Ronda stated it so eloquently and I'm not trying to change anyone's preference or make a judgement on it. I just really wanted to know if there were other gardeners out there that felt as I do.

Thanks everyone for responding and Randy - nobody mugged us!!
: )

Jackie, I once thought fragrance was a must but then Brian introduced me to teas. I have yet to sense the illusive tea scent but the beauty and form of those roses are captivating. Its almost embarrassing how many roses I've removed to plant another tea but, what the heck, it's my garden. I just shovel pruned the most fragrant rose in my garden (Comte de Chambord). The fragrance was to die for but that bush was a holy terror after the heat hit it.
I'm just the opposite of John, I have other flowers in the garden for fragrance and roses for their beauty. I think Rhonda's priorities are very similar to mine except that I can't match colors (LOL). If fragrance was most important to me I'd plant nothing but Gold Flame Honeysuckle. Its fragrance never ceases and the plant blooms every month of the year here.

They smell? :-) Just kidding but Jackie, I'm with you. For one thing, I also have outrageous allergies. Those stargazer lilies can give me a sinus headache like nobody's business. I don't care that much about fragrance and I grow orchids too. Don't care about their fragrance, only appearance. I consider fragrance a bonus, like Randy does, but in no way a requirement.

I am very into color, repeat, size for location, disease resistance.

My dog doesn't smell too good all the time either. I love him to pieces.

LOL @ "numb rose"!!

"It's nice to have but not a requirement!"

Yes it IS!!!

Frankly, a rose must be able to perform. That means decent disease resistance, reliable repeat bloom, attractive growth habit, hardiness, beautiful flowers, and as the perfect finish - a pleasing sweet fragrance. Any rose that doesn't have all of these qualities gets rated on a sliding scale. If I can compensate by providing more care then I'm willing to do it. But those flowers had better be plentiful, better be beautiful, and dang well better be fragrant. Looking at a gloriously beautiful bloom and then smelling absolutely nothing leaves me profoundly disappointed. IMHO there are too many scented roses in this world to put up with anything less.

My out of zone roses are too short to worry about fragrance as the first priority as the gut gets in the way of bending down as it tends to bulge the eyes out ... but as was said, once you get everything else ... it sucks if it is scentless and you feel it has a sterile element.

When no fragrance, it is back to admiring it for its beautiful bloom, vigor, form, and foliage.

Add me to the visual group. Fragrance is nice addition, but not a requirement--except in one spot in my garden--what I call my Perfumed Path.

Like redsox, I'm somewhat allergic to some smells, which probably explains why fragrance isn't usually first on my list of requirements.

Kate

Patrick,

I hear what you are saying...but...if you do not wish to spray that alone culls a LOT of the fragrant roses.

Teas are the best for me at attaining all my priorities but some get too big and others ball too much.

Ever on the quest for the perfect rose,
Ronda

In his garden every man may be his own artist without apology
or explanation. Each within his green enclosure is a creator,
and no two shall reach the same conclusion; nor shall we, any
more than other creative workers, be ever wholly satisfied with
our accomplishment. Ever a season ahead of us floats the vision
of perfection and herein lies its perennial charm.
- Louise Beebe Wilder

"To each his own."

There is no accounting for the tastes and desires of any individual. The world should not hold anything against a gardener who does not yearn for fragrance in his/her roses, as long as he/she delights in their other qualities. Likewise, we should all lend a sympathetic and understanding ear to those whose every rose must be smelly.

I suspect that the majority of us fall somewhere in between - I grow Madame Isaac Pereire just for it's fragrance, but wouldn't dream of being without Eden, in spite of it's inability to even tickle my olfactory cells.

So, "Don't worry, be happy."

Fragrance is the most important factor in a rose for me, but it is not the only one that matters. There are a few roses that are so outstanding in beauty and disease resistance that I grow them even though they have no fragrance. Still, I am aware that the lack of scent is a defect. Well, who or what is perfect?

Funny you should mention Miss Kim lilacs. Roses are one of my favorite flower fragrances, but most beloved of all to me is the scent of lilacs.

Rosefolly

Patrick is rolling up his sleeves ... I think I feel a mugging coming on :-)

All kidding aside though, this has been a good thread.

Randy

Hi Jackie!!! Everybody too!

Suppose I too have to go with Rhonda's list. I have really been put to the test with it. But there is really something encouraging and uplifting with the scent of a rose though. Like that extra strength you need that gives you the endurance to to keep on. Growing roses is for the strong. Inside one's self more so than muscles. Muscles does help!.

I think there is magic in the scent of a rose.

Sometimes questions like this reminds me of North verses
South. War of the roses.

North. Shorter growing seasons..........
The size of those blooms and the brilliance of those colors. The holding power of the flower on the stems and vases. They are given this glorious wonder I think in place of roses all year. Plus peonies and lilacs. I can not even imagine them but in pictures or florist.

South. Roses almost all year....not all year scent though or sizable blooms. Even your strongest scented ones are gone by noon. You thank God for the ones that open at noon for that smell to be there that afternoon. Thank goodness for heat and fast repeat. Just ain't got that size.

But those northern kin got it!!!! Since they are kin I suppose you got to love their masters having all their extra rewards.

Then you got that heat on top of the humidity. Together they do mighty damage to your rose. Then you got either droughts or downfalls that do not quit. You get thankful for fast repeats, any kind of scent or rose.

Sometimes I wish this was zone 7..Maybe 7.5.....I could not live no colder if that cold. Probably 8....California style. Like there you can grow roses of all kinds. Get more picky about that fragrance. Really. If I could pick my roses. Of course it would be a fragrant. All Dolly size.

A couple of weeks ago I told Lane. This is just not working. I miss my Hts really bad. I miss it the way it was. I can not really understand it because ogrs were my first love. I always knew I would go back and retire on them. Just got into the Hts really strong. Those long stems, the staying strength of those exhibit roses. And lots do smell.. I do not miss the spraying so religiously. The work and I really do not and will not do it again. I was going to lay off it at 60. Its just a little earlier but these are just not giving me the rewards the fortuniana bushes did. I knew it was probably another one of those "in the head" adjustments I needed to work on but it was there anyway.

I still went on and did all the September things I know to do out of years of living this life time rose addiction of mine. I know how to make a rose bloom. Smell and strong down here getting ready for fall.. The fields finally dried out so we could order some mulch. Without the pines I went so long with out mulch and that store bought stuff just does not cut it around this place.
We also got some horse manure and rice hulls from the race tracks. Lane actually worked harder than me none stopped. Thank he finally missed my roses too.
And my fish. I am a firm believer that down here you gotta to deal with the fish and tea feedings to make a rose smell.

Anyway. To make already long story short. Low and behold
in just two weeks I got a whiff of a sweet smell. Bent down. I just never knew that Miss Caroline smelt so good. Went around sniffing. It was everywhere. Young bushes still young and not ARE style. But smell does give a rose grower a burst of zeal. Just two weeks ago I had a buzzard circle my garden from the smell. No mood at all for that siphon pump of fish and junk. I think the mulch and cooling the soil was a missed wonder.

But as I passed the none smellers. All roses have a clean smell to me though. Pure or something. They just looked so beautiful that I did not need them to smell.

Cindi,
You have been missed!
Alida

Randy lol and Cindi I'm so happy to hear from you! You have been missed for sure!

Just to reiterate one more time - I'm not anti-scent lol. I wasn't trying to get a them vs us thing. Just wanted to know if there were visual people among us and I'm happy to know who they are.

One of the finest rose scents in my garden is from Intrigue. There she still sits, her one cane standing tall and proud with four buds on it right now lol. I can't even imagine a garden full of Intrigues lol.

This is a great thread. But how about a twist...What about all of those "perfect" roses with an unpleasant fragrance?

Of course, our perception of any given fragrance is subjective, but I have sniffed quite a few duds in the rose world in my lifetime. The cultivar that first comes to mind is the uniquely beautiful found alba hybrid "Belle Amour." It had everything in my garden: health, vigor, nice shrub shape, pretty color and an exceptionally strong, heady "myrrh" fragrance. But that strong, heady "myrrh" fragrance made my gut wretch. After several years, it eventually reached a point where I started to despise this rose despite its obviously worthy garden value and I ripped it out and replaced it with something that was easier on my nose.

I had a similar experience with the modern shrub 'Lyda Rose' and several of the hybrid musks. 'Lyda Rose' was a perfect garden plant with very little disease and was constantly covered in flowers. It was shade tolerant to boot. But its fragrance was exactly like that of Rosa multiflora to my nose, a species that was naturalized with amazing abundance around my house at that time. Although I found the fragrance to be pleasant, it just didn't satisfy me enough and I eventually gave the plant away.

I would not plant any of the DA roses advertised with a "myrrh" scent no matter how perfect the plants were.

Beautiful fragrance has always been my top priority has a rose grower. But that said, there is one scentless cultivar that I used to grow that I would would definitely grow again if I ever have a garden plot again--the fabulous and sexy cold-hardy climber 'William Baffin'. If it were endowed with a stronger fragrance, then it would be unstoppable! (But if it had a "myrrh" fragrance, would I still like it? I don't even know the answer to that question...)

Cheers,
Ispahan

A rose with fragrance is like a dog that can go and fetch you a beer (or in my case diet cola) out of the refrigerator.

You adore the dog anyway, whether it can fetch the beer or not, but wow, what a great added bonus!

I can't help it. Without scent, I am disappointed in a rose. Sure, there are a few that I grow for their effect in the landscape - like the fairy roses and hardy climbers - that I never think about having a scent or not. But I must admit that at a garden tour or nursery when seeing a drop-dead gorgeous bloom, the first thing I do is take a deep breath. If it is fragrant, I feel like melting I'm so in love with that rose. If there is no scent, I find myself frowning a bit and moving on.

Cindi(!) aptly stated "smell does give a rose grower a burst of zeal." So true. I think the fragrance of my roses encourages me to take better care of them. I know I can't pass by Gertrude Jeckyll without taking a deep whiff and checking to see that all is well with her. The most fragrant are the stars to me...the rest are just background.

Finally, remember that the phrase is "Stop and *Smell* the Roses." Fragrance and roses are simply synonymous in my mind.

Hoovb, you nailed it! Perfectly.
Now ... I need to work on training my dog. But I love her no matter what.

Randy

I love fragrant roses. One of my greatest pleasures is cutting roses for my patients and watching them stick their noses in and take a big whiff, and then smile. "This is what a rose is supposed to smell like," they tell me after inhaling Oklahoma, or Chrysler Imperial.

I tend to wander through the garden a lot, and lately I find myself gazing at Maman Cochet. I can't smell her at all, and yet, I find her form and beauty unsurpassed.

I'm a waffler, I guess. I can appreciate both.

ehann, I used to grow Maman Cochet too. I couldn't smell her either, but her blooms were like no other, just beautiful.

Randy

Jackie, you mentioned the rose Intrigue which does smell wonderful and I find the flowers quite beautiful too. However, she and Tamora had foliage that I found to be ugly and for me it ruined the look of that part of the garden. It started to really bother me and I finally took them out and what a relief. As someone said earlier, you just have to do what makes you happy. Our homes and gardens are just about the only places left where we can make choices that please just us.

Ingrid

What Melissa said.

Many plants grow easily in my garden. Some of them are incredibly fragrant. Roses are harder to grow. They should smell good.

I have a friend who has lost her sense of smell. Occasionally a good thing ;) but mostly i think 'poor thing'.

Sometimes Cindi wanders in and makes everything all right again :)

I also go along with Ronda's points, but then I seem to be able to forgive one or two of them anything!

Best wishes,
Jon

Fortunately I can smell Tea Rose. To my nose it is freshest rose scent. Very dry and sharp. Something to be admired on a really hot sticky summer morning.

But I do agree with Ispahan. Myrrh reeks! It can be good when blended with something else but by itself is too harsh for my sensitive olfactory nerves. I'm very careful with myrrh scented roses and will never buy a David Austin myrrh scented rose without smelling it first. Case in point, FAIR BIANCA. Her blooms are some of the most perfectly shaped white roses that I've ever seen, but the fragrance is just like Noxzema face cream. It fits the pristine flowers with their chartreuse button eyes, which you'd expect to have some kind of exotic scent. Now on a pink rose? Oh no it would be completely off. Pink roses should to smell sweet and girly.

And that IS the other side of this discussion.

I really LIKE the way Fair Bianca smells.
It's fragrance is the only reason I'd try to grow it again. Well, that, and the fact that the blooms ARE among the most perfectly formed white roses ever. Right up there with Mme. Plantier and Mme. Hardy.
Cymbeline has a bit of it, but it is much less powerful.

Jeri

I just love roses and roses and roses. I am fine with a rose that has a fragrance. In fact, if it meets all the other standards for a healthy, repeat blooming rose, then it is kept on my list but if I was just growing for fragrance, I would plant ligustrium and get my ashtma nebulizer refilled.

jackie, I'm a former graphic designer/art director and yes I care first for the visual. Fragrance was a close second until I developed allergies, so I've been sort of forced to rediscover/re-explore the visual aspects of gardening.

Since my DH's allergies are worse than mine, I guess this isn't a bad thing!

Wish I could stick my nose in all the lovely roses I see, but not any more.

Hey Cindi!!

Jackie,I agree that everyones garden should please them and only them. Whether that be only fragrant roses, a mix of both, a riot of colors or a single color, once bloomers or only repeat blooming, whatever. As for me, I choose a riot of color and fragrance :-) That's what makes my heart sing.

Carol

Well, Carol, if your "don't sing, your feet won't dance." (;-

Jackie, You are my hero for being such a brave poster. I did the same thing when I said I hated the color of Pat Austin. I got clobbered, but spoke the truth (for me). I have thought that so many times but never said it. I couldn't care less about scent. I live in the land of jasmine and gardinias. I want roses for color and form and beauty. I could have written Ronda's list. I have the same requirements. I never even check to see if a rose is fragrant before ordering it. I'm about 75% visual and all the rest of the senses get the other 25%.

Nancy

Jackie,

Good for you!

Fragrance is very important. BUT, most of the time, I can't smell most of my roses. The Rugosa Rotesmeer is the only rose I grow which consistently provides me scent. I can also smell myrrh which is probably why I like it.

I can pick up a little wafting scent as I walk through the garden. It is light and pleasing. But, disappointing when you figure I have at least 30 very fragrant roses. On the other hand, the fragrance of the butterfly bushes is overwhelming.

And I love my "Miss Kim" too.

So fragrance is not necessary to allow me to love my roses.

Butterfly bushes have scent??

hmmm.....maybe my sniffer doesn't pick that up.

Ronda

Ronda,
When I sit on my patio, I am surrounded by Tiffany, Tamora, Folklore, Chrysler Imperial, Angel Face and Fragrant Cloud. Yet, it is the fragrance of the butterfly bush which wafts about.

It is odd that many roses provide little scent for me while I detect the fragrant viburnums, lilacs and even my Hyperion daylily to an extreme.

Well, no one ever called me "normal".

Well...I guess you will find me snuffin' up the butterfly bushes.
I want wafting fragrance in the garden--especially near the porch. I will have to look (sniff) into this!!

healthy mme alfred carrie growing into mimosa 10 feet over my head. confederate jasmine catching up. what happens?