I have a few roses that I have smelled in person and passed them up...oddly enough they seem to be very popular choices with everyone else...but all the roses I have purchased online I have been very happy with their fragrance. There are some really interesting threads on this forum about how different soils and fertilizers can affect certain fragrances too so if you end up with one you don't enjoy, you can always experiment with it. HelpMeFind has a lot of very helpful information that you can read up on roses that you may be interested in too.

i go by what the description online is, I think that most online places mentioned on this forum are pretty close to being spot on. Of course there is also the people here that can help you. At the end of the day it’s really up to you if you like a fragrance or not, what I mean is that not everyone likes the same fragrance, I personally like most fragrance but really like the old rose fragrance.

I think it really depend on how important is scent to you. If it becomes your top priority being able to smell the blooms would definitely be a huge advantage. I don’t have scent in my list of priorities since living in a blackspot area my primary goal is blackspot resistance. If the rose turns up to have a great fragrance I take it as a lovely bonus. Finding roses that are super blackspot resistance is very difficult at my local stores unless I get lucky enough to find Korde’s or want some knockouts. I end up ordering 95% of all my roses online. I have a feeling you being in Mississippi will also end up being a bit difficult to find roses locally that are super fragrant and disease resistant enough to not spray. You do have KnM in your state so depending on how far you are from them that would be a wonderful resource for local roses.

I love a scented rose. Unfortunately, so do the Japanese beetles, lol. So, though I very much enjoy the roses that do have scent, I don't make it a priority. But my main consideration is that local nurseries and the big box stores just don't (can't!) carry the variety that you can find online. The BEST local nursery here carries 20-ish Austin varieties, but almost nothing else...no Delbard roses, no Meilland roses, no Kordes roses (well...maybe one or two Veranda series, lol). That's the widest selection or roses anywhere within 100 miles of me. I would be severely limiting the roses I could grow if I stuck with what I first sniffed in person!

I think out of over 200 varieties I grow, I may have ever seen only FIVE of them in person at a local shop. And there's only TWO of them that I actually bought locally: Zaide, and Kashmir (by the way, Kashmir is the most disease-free modern rose that I have...but zero scent, lol). Admittedly, I grow a lot of antique and heritage roses, but at least 1/3 of my garden is modern or recent intros.

John

I much prefer buying roses in person, especially later in the season when I could actually see, touch, and smell the blooms. However our local nurseries dont have a big selection (mostly Weeks, some DAs), and they sell out fast. So for older roses and the Kordes I have to go online. TBH with the extent of research that I do here before purchasing I haven’t had many miss’s. Mostly hits ;)

sunny: For warm climate, buying OWN-ROOTS on-line gives a smaller-bush but equal blooms compared to a LARGER BUSH grafted on Dr.Huey or Fortuniana offered in stores. I joined Facebook Fragrant Rose Lovers group with 1,600 international members and folks in Pakistan (up to 112 F heat plus rainy season) are switching to own-roots for SMALLER & rounder & better looking bush which consume less water plus healthier.

I grow a few varieties both as own-roots bought on-line versus grafted-on-Dr.Huey bought cheap at local stores. My own-root Pink Peace has better scent than Pink Peace grafted. A poster in HMF from high-rain Hawaii with 100+ varieties stated the same: own-root smells better than the same version grafted. She posted on Roman Holiday rose. I bought Pink Peace TWICE as grafted and both cannot measure up to own-root in health, continuous blooming and scent. I grew Angel face both as own-root (on-line) and grafted. I grew Heirloom both as own-root and grafted. The key to scent is WATER, the wetter the soil, more potassium & trace elements available and the better scent. Dried-out roses don't have much scent. Smaller own-root in a wet pot or wet soil is the gateway to best scent. That's from my experience with 130 fragrant varieties bought on-line versus seeing the same grafted-varieties at 2 rose-parks or in pots at local stores.

I cannot detect any scent from fragrant grafted Austin roses like Gertrude Jekyll at Chicago Botanical Garden, but the light scent Austins like The Dark Lady is intensely fragrant in wet pots from Roses Unlimited-on-line. My friend in CA returned the Dark-Lady (grafted-on-Dr.Huey) to store since she could not detect any scent, but own-root The Dark lady with a bloom from Roses Unlimited-pot was impressive in old-rose scent.

@strawchicago z5 well I bought all of my spring roses from local nurseries. I believe all were Star or Weeks. I have no idea what rootstock these were on. I would not say that the plants were cheap either. The stores were local garden centers, not Lowe’s or Walmart. How could I know which rootstock each has? I no longer have the pots or tags.

@Minshen (8b/9a Victoria BC) ive been doing a lot of research too! I can wait to be able to plant again. And yes, being able to see, touch and smell is so important. I bought one rose last year that had zero blooms (touch of class) but only bc I had seen it in person previously. And since I’m aiming for no-spray, this might be my last season with it. We shall see. Your online success is encouraging.

@fig_insanity Z7b E TN wow at all of your rose varieties! Do you try to order most from a single site to cut down on shipping fees? Which sites are your favorite? Is the best time to buy in January? I wasn’t sure when “sold out” finally changes to “in stock”.

@dianela7analabama yes I actually took a trip to K&M last fall and that’s what started my whole love of roses. It is a great resource and only a two-three hour drive. I love their large variety, but they do sell out quickly. I’m planning on another fall field trip this year to their nursery.

Sunny: below is an excerpt from Star rose website: "There are several classifications of roses that are available from Star® Roses and Plants. 1. Two-year, budded rose plants. These are the most common for garden roses, and are budded onto Dr. Huey rootstock. 2. One-year, own root rose plants ... initially the list consisted of only landscape shrub roses and miniature types like Sunblaze®, but is now being broadened to include many other popular rose varieties. One-year own root varieties include Knock Out® varieties, Drift® Roses, Floribundas like Bolero™ and Grandifloras like Mother of Pearl®

https://www.starrosesandplants.com/sites/default/files/2020%20Rose%20Grower%20Guide.pdf

Weeks roses use Dr.Huey rootstock. "The most commonly used rootstock is the Climber Dr. Huey. Tom Carruth, Director of Research & Marketing at Weeks Roses says, “We use Dr. Huey predominately."

K and M nursery uses Fortuniana rootstock, below link shows planting instructions from K & M: https://www.kandmroses.com/fortuniana-rootstock