That is a lovely photo of Mme Isaac Pereire. Thank-you for sharing it. I used to grow her in my garden in England. She got to about 8 feet, although I wouldn't have called her growth habit tidy. But when those blooms open, you forgive any drawback. She is so lush. My garden in England was about an 8 or 9 zone. Daisy

@fragrancenutter, how's your MIP doing now as far as repeat? My own-root plant is in it's second season in a container. It hasn't put on much new growth at all, but it did put out a very nice first flush this spring. It defoliated, and got ravaged by japanese beetles. Now starting to grow back its leaves. There have been no new canes though for some reason :-/

Please let me know if you'd be willing to trade cuttings of Madame Isaac Pereire. Check out my lists to see if I have something you want. Thanks! Tony

If you have several other very fragrant roses, are you sure it will matter if you sneak in one or two that aren't? I'm not a "fragrance fiend" (lol) myself,so I don't really know how those of you who care a lot about fragrance feel, but to me fragrance can be very elusive. Some years, for example, Paul's Himalayan Musk perfumes the entire area during it's all-too-brief blooming period, but last spring I didn't notice much of anything. Other roses seem to be fragrant only during certain times of the day,or lose their fragrance once cut, etc, etc, etc. Also. to me at least, there's the "too much of a good thing" factor. After wallowing in the inebriating perfume of ,say, Mme. Isaac Pereire and others like it, I truly treasure the light,citrus-y scent of Harlekin (HMF calls its' scent "strong wild rose",whatever that means. To me, it's very light,fresh, and lemony; I wouldn't use the word "strong".) There is such a thing as over-kill! And note that Nik specified "to my nose".Sensory perceptions can and do differ so much from person to person, so for all of these reasons personally I'd advise you to just be happy that you finally snagged an Ascot. After all,if in the long run you decide you don't like it, your plan DOES admit the possibility of making eliminations...