Some roses have more scent than others?

joseph brand

Hi,
My mother in law has an old rose bush which has very powerful smelling roses, which I love (even though I'm a man :P ).

I have 3 rose plants and none have a scent.

I was at a farm yesterday and there was a rose bush outside and I took a rose off it, just because the fragrance is over whelming. This plant seemed fairly old too.

Do I have to wait until they get older or do they stay the same, ie. scentless.

They still look great but if they had a descent scent I would be happier.

Thanks,

Kev.

lucylu

Sorry to say its the variety of Roses you have.

luckat

Modern (20th-century) roses tend to be scentless; 'old roses' to have heavy scent.

As far as I know, liking the smell of roses isn't a sex-tagged attribute

If you want a nice scent, you could get Albertine, Compassion (climbers), Rosarie de l'Haye, etc - if you're in Dublin, go to St Anne's Park, where there are millions of roses, or to Iveagh Gardens off Harcourt Street, where there is a garden of old roses in one part, and talk to the park-keepers.

I like scented plants generally - night-scented stock, honey spurge, old roses, mignonette - and my ideal is a garden where people stop as they pass, lift their noses in the air and go "Mmm".

old boy

cultivated furze has a really strong scent, tobacco plants have the same, cordaline when flowered also.

joseph brand

The rose climber I have is called 'Dublin Bay'. Its very big and very red. I'm still happy with it. Even though it's scentless.

Recently bought an Iceburg rose, it's white, my wife loves white roses. Brownie points for me


Thanks for replies.

Kev.

The Sweeper

When you're buying a rose, the label should have info on whether or not it has a scent.

Go read up on your tea roses and your hybrid-Ts and your carpet flowers... Roses are dangerous. They're addictive...

Ellechim

Look out for David Austin roses - they are bred to have the scent of the older roses but to be more disease resistant.

One that I totally love is Gertrude Jekyll, it has a wonderful scent.

I also have one in a pot, a patio rose called 'Sweet Dreams' it has small apricot flowers and it has a delicious scent.

As for scent, I really don't think you can beat paeonies, wonderful.

My neighbours have a very scented honeysuckle which I quite happily let trail into my garden, it's beside our patio and lovely to sit under the wafting flowers.

Yes, a smelly garden, I think it makes a huge difference.

I do want to get a jasmine - there is a house near me with a huge one and walking past it is wonderful........

Oh yes, and of course Lavender!

The list is endless. And for roses, they are completely addictive. I have just bought a Compassion. We smelt it in the National Garden centre down in kilquade, hoping it will do well.....

moceri

My favourite rose; with strong scent and beautiful colouring is "Blairi No.2" if you can track it down. Grows well in semi shade.

keiran110

Ellechim wrote: »

I do want to get a jasmine - there is a house near me with a huge one and walking past it is wonderful........

That just reminded me of a random piece of information if anybodys interested.

Its the essential oil in the plant that gives the unique smell (essential as in "essence", not as in "neccessary"). The oil is produced more at different times of day so therefore the plants smell stronger at different points in the day. This happens to be between 5 and 7am for jasmine.

So one of the reasons jasmine oil is so expensive is because you have to pay for the workers to get up so early to pick them!