I'm an odd man/women out when it comes to fragrance. Since JB's are most attracted to my fragrant roses. I can live without lovely smell as I would rather have the gorgeous flowers. Gosh my poor Easter Basket is even quite fragrant in bud it never stands a chance during beetle season.

Fragrance is very important to me. I do battle with the Japanese beetles. In hot, humid weather Sombrieul wafts for me.

Jude the Obscure is my favorite scent and if you like yellow....

"One thing about roses is the first thing that just about everyone does from toddlers to octogenarians, is to put their noses into a rose bloom to see if it is fragrant. If it isn't, you see a frown or puzzled expression on their faces. If it is fragrant, you see a smile."

That describes me every time I go anywhere there are flowers. I've been known to just hang out in the Oriental Lily section of a store or nursery and have a horrible problem keeping my nose Out of flowers. More than once I've been asked why my face has strange orange marks on it only to realize I'm covered in pollen...again. :)

I'm all about fragrance and seem drawn to roses anywhere on the pink or plum spectrum, though for fragrance will move out of that color zone and am learning that while seeing a picture of a certain rose may not draw me because the color isn't ideal, once seen in person I might change my mind.

Sonic, that is EXACTLY me to the bone..ha I just spent 1 hour yesterday smelling just about every rose in that garden center and wished that half of the ones that were still in bud would just open before I left. I even go as far as to go there specifically for a Rose bush just to walk out with a few perennials in which I had no idea that were so fragrant and another petunia basket also fragrant..Have you ever smelled 'dianthus' of which are gaining popularity? Amazing!

Moses, I really appreciate your thoughts and good stories..You are really something else here and I have grown to like you very much in a short period of time. I will look into the ones you mentioned obviously and decide another spot in my almost 'no vacancy' postage size lot yard. I am running out of sunny spots although there is always the potted method in which I could line up anther few dozen and then just bury the whole pot and all for the winter...Ok don't laugh Moses. but I just bought the Marie Daly rose online to grow in a pot near my porch door..lol You are quite the enabler!

Totoro, I never seem to have a problem with them thank God. Maybe because I don't have much grass for them to lay eggs into and live on the outskirts of the city. My poor brother lives just about 30 miles of me in a forested area and lost all his roses a few years back along with many ornamental trees in which they left all the weeds and wild trees alone. Go figure.

Patty, you are just too funny.lol

I gravitate towards pink - any type of pink is just gorgeous!! I have a few non-smellers...but most are fragrant, and I will never buy another non-fragrant rose again. Unfortunately I, also, have no wafters.

Carol

I thought I preferred pink roses, David Austin types and not interested in yellow or orange or lavender. But wait, I have 2 Julia Child, a Summer Daydream, Walking on Sunshine and Golden Celebration. So maybe I like yellow. But wait, I picked up Lady of Shalott, so pretty. But I also like fragrance so I got a Fragrant Cloud this year and Sheila's Perfume. But wait, I also bought Melody Perfume. I don't know if I'll like lavender or not. The closest I come to red is 2 Double Delights.

But wait......

I love purple and lavender. Fragrance is a bonus. I'm trying to grow a mix of fragrant and non fragrant disease resistant roses.

I love pinks the most then lavenders , then apricots ! Whites are next . I do prefer fragrance but health is very important to me . My darlows enigma is a wafter and I love it so much ! I knew it had opened before I saw the blooms. Renea is another that surrounds my pergola with its sweet scent . I planted Beverly and heard it's wonderful for fragrance .

I love the entire rainbow. I have every colour I can get my hands on. This year alone I have planted many different colours; solids & blends. For the first time ever I planted pale pink. All the photos of big fat pink blooms on this forum convinced me to give them a go. I have never really been a pink person. But I fear I'm missing out by not trying.

Fragrance is nice, but it's last in my rose priorities. I want hardiness, vigor & blooms to be first. I did discover last year that Benjamin Britten smells amazing, like fruit. Now that I'm more aware of the fragrance factor I will put in the effort to smell each rose.

I tend to be drawn more to bi-color roses rather than solids but I don't seem to have a favorite color. Any color combo will do.

I buy what ever rose attracts my attention whether it has fragrance or not. Don't get me wrong, I love a rose with good fragrance but I would never rule out any beautiful rose just because it wasn't fragrant.

I'd say I would prefer a rose with a big scent. That said, I like multicolor roses, and I would not pass up a unique color combination on a great plant. Gemini and Love&Peace are examples of great garden performers with striking color, big blooms, all around excellent roses that are lacking scent, I grow them and think they are great. But they fall just short of being an absolute favorite like Double Delight, which offers all those qualities plus a huge wonderful scent.

Mikerno, I do the same thing. Figure if I walk around for a while something will magically open up while I'm meandering and passing the time. And I'll go just for a rose or to see if any new roses came in and if no roses jump in my cart then perennials are more than happy to. Especially if they happen to be on the clearance cart... I can't walk anywhere near that section without getting mobbed by plants that just want some TLC. I always buy a small basket of petunias every spring, just because, and I have done Dianthus before, though not very successfully where I used to live, so I may try again in my new location. Lavenders and fragrant herbs are my other weakness...especially lemon thyme and lemon verbena. Pineapple sage and cat mint (not nip) are also interesting. At my old farm I had most of my roses under planted with herbs. Very intoxicating.

Hi Mike! I don't have tons of room either so I have to be choosy as well. I laughed to myself when I read you prefer fragrant ones. My husband recently said that if a rose doesn't smell good then what's the point hahaha! It took me many years to come that conclusion. And yes, the more powerful the better!

I don't care for Red roses either and didn't like yellow until this year. Boy do they glow and scream Happy! I'm most drawn to white and apricot.

As for wafting- Sharifa Asma and sugar Moon are the only ones I remember that can do that. I could smell them 5 ft away on warm afternoons. I planted Sharifa under my kitchen window :) I got Madame Anisette and Summer romance this year that I hope can waft. Summer romance is just starting to open. So far the scent is powerful and yummy even at this early stage! My husband giggled when he smelled it yesterday. It made him happy :D

I'm with Seil and Ben - nothing makes my heart go pitter patter or my wallet go "poof" faster than a picotee, mutable or striped rose, the more high contrast the better. After that I'm drawn to the "oddball" colors of russet, parchment or lavender (or best all three together, like Distant Drums or Koko Loko). Dark dark burgundy flowers also zing something in my soul.

As for wafting, even without my poor nose nothing really wafts very far in my dry climate. We don't get wafting of hyacinths and lilacs in the spring even though I have 100's of the former and 3 well established bushes of the latter. Peonies you have to get up close to smell, and the same for lilies. I'll get a vague "pleasant smell" from an area with over 10 Stargazer lilies blooming, but even my son with the hypersensitive nose doesn't gag at the smell. It just dissipates too fast. I never knew Darlow's Enigma or Marie Pavie were supposed to have any scent at all, and even my daughter with a good nose shrugs when presented with a bouquet of those. I like fragrance when I can get it, but I look far more often than I smell, as far as roses go.

Cynthia

Love the deep reds and dark fuchsias but anything blushed, stripped or bi color are my favs.

But I love white and pale pinks . I guess the only colors I dont like are mauves and lavenders.

Red and I mostly grow unscented or low scented... I get an average of 2 JB's per season so it must be working...

I prefer roses black & blue, like my steak. It's gotta smell good too... sell the sizzle!

Don't care much for pastels -- too bland and they show their age far too easily. I prefer rich, vibrant colors.

I'm picky when it comes to fragrance and typically can't handle strong fragrances. It's like being near someone who has on too much perfume or cologne -- gives me a headache.