Most Fragrant Rose?

found this link which rates rose fragrance out of 10 .... this is the list of those that fall inbetween 8 and 10 (exceptional)

http://www.rosesuk.com/rose_locator/roses/exceptional_fragrance/

 

Good thread, as I am considering buying a few for our "new" area. However, if the zone does not work then I have to move on. Will look for zone 4 in a rose for my area. One thing I 've always done with my plant selections is the drift of the wind and where the location of of outdoor chairs are. Now the star magnolia is blooming out side the bedroom window, the breezes carries it to the bedroom.

So for me it will have to be best fragrance and the zone. I do want everything.

 

thanks wiseoldowl .... I will have a very close look at Ena Harkness ....

I have submitted my suggestions to the owners of the pub (there are 8 of them) .... and if they give the go-ahead, I will spend lots of time researching the roses before choosing

 

'Margaret Merrill' is a very strongly scented white floribunda rose - it's also hardy and easy to grow. I love scented plants and have grown a lot of roses in my time, but have never found one with a stronger or lovelier scent. Some people don't like it because the flowers, although they start out looking like hybrid tea roses, eventually open fully to reveal a boss of stamens. I quite like this and so do the bees, but each to his own. Woo's suggestion, Ena Harkness, is lovely - another of my favourites. The flowers have slightly 'weak necks', which can make them hang down slightly. It doesn't bother me; it all depends how formal you want things to look.

David Austin's 'Evelyn' has a wonderful pong; Crabtree and Evelyn based a range of products on it. It's one of the older Austin roses and is getting more difficult to find. I think this is partly because other roses have nicer, bushier habits and better disease resistance. I'm not particularly worried about these issues; all my roses, whether said to be disease resistant or not, need spraying and a spindly rose can soon be cured with the aid of a pair of sharp secateurs.

If you want something striking, Harkness does a modern shrub rose called 'Wellbeing' which has bright peachy-yellow flowers. I grew it for the first time last year and was quite impressed with it. It produces lots of nice, bushy leaves and isn't stingy with its flowers. Harkness has given it ten out of ten for fragrance, but I still don't think it matches 'Margaret Merrill'.

The other thing about scent is that some roses smell wonderful close up but don't waft their perfume around, whilst others smell stronger on the air than they do when you sniff them. 'Buff Beauty', an old shrub rose with clusters of small flowers, comes into the latter category. On a warm summer's day it will fill the garden with a lovely old rose fragrance.

 

PS I see Kevin has already mentioned the excellent Reverend Pemberton's 'hybrid musks'. (They don't actually have much to do with musk roses - I think he must have gone for a romantic-sounding name.) The rev's roses date from the twenties and thirties; he must have spent a lot more time on his plants than he ever did on the Almighty. Time well spent, in my opinion, as they are all wonderful. Kevin went for 'Felicia', whilst I chose 'Buff Beauty'; 'Cornelia', which has coppery pink flowers is equally lovely. They are all brilliant wafters of delicious scent. They do grow quite large, however; I grow 'Buff Beauty' in a fairly small space but I do have to keep chopping her about a bit.

 

Oooh ! Buff Beauty .... fell in llove with her clour at a friends house last year and got to know it whilst helping her prune it. As you say, she needs to be kept in check. We planted it by the front door last May and got a few flowers but am so looking forward to her as a more mature shrub this year. We sunk a 4" lenght of pipe by the side and I make sure I can hear it fill up as I water her. A little Morrison's clematis "Rhapsody" is destined to grow alongside . I remember as a kid loving blue and beige as a colour combination and it will be good if it comes off.
Jenny namaste

 

Back on the topic of fragrance, last year I planted 'Perdita', a lovely David Austin rose which has won a Henry Edland medal for fragrance and is always described as 'highly scented', regularly scoring 9/10. I waited for the first flower to open, sniffed and ... nothing. Nothing at all. Not a question of being a bit disappointing; there was no fragrance. Yet online reviews rave about it. I have terrible eyesight but nature has compensated by giving me an acute sense of smell. However, on this occasion it failed me completely. I'm sure the people who rave about this plant are telling the truth; it's just that we all sense things in different ways and clearly this one didn't do it for me. It's a common problem. The other day I bought some cut narcissi for the house. To me, they smelt wonderful. OH could detect nothing at all for a while. Then, the breakthrough: he said that the sitting room had begun to smell faintly of the pig sty. I believe he was referring to the flowers rather than me.

Scent is one of the most wonderful things about a garden but also the most infuriating.

 

Definitely Zepherine Drouhin. This is a thornless rose so should be placed near a public area. The scent is very strong and it is slow to climb, or does not have to if you want a bush.

The Classic Roses catalogue should help.

 

I've been given the go ahead to plant the garden at the pub and the Gertrude jekyl roses are definately on my list ... (am hoping to plant some other nice smelling shrubs aswell)

I have already started clearing the beds, and have added weed and feed to the lawn

I just have to double check the sun in that area as I have read that Gertrude jekyl roses need at least 6hrs of full sun? ... the pub building blocks out the morning sun, but it does get good sunlight from approx 12pm

 

Generally speaking, roses need as much sun as they can get - at least, in England - hence the 6 hour recommendation. David Austin exports to the hotter parts of the US and advises gardeners there to grow them in an area where they'll be shaded from more than four hours of sunshine!

Having said this, roses are great survivors and will generally cope with less than ideal conditions. I have roses growing in an east-facing bed which probably gets six hours of sun only at the height of summer. The plants are definitely slower growing and less prolific with their flowers than others I have in sunnier positions, but they're doing ok. Another important factor is air circulation. Roses like airy places and won't thrive in a dank corner. It's also best not to give them too much in the way of competition from other plants, especially while they are getting themselves established.

 

thanks ClaraLou .... I will have a close look over the weekend .... I don't want to plant them if they don't perform well (at their best) due to insufficient sunlight ....

I would then rather choose a different rose that is similar (David Austin has a section that recomends roses that do better in less direct sun)

I think the site is ok, but I need to check it properly .... I think that from 11am-12pm, the sun will be strong for that site ....

 

Thanks Clare. Will look these up. Have to lean toward hardy and vigorous so I know they can handle a harsh winter, and have to smell good.

 

Strangely, bearing in mind our heat and lack of rain, roses are very popular here with the Portuguese but not necessarily 'named' varieties. In the village/town 6kms from us there are some houses that I actually think 'compete' with their roses ... they have small front gardens and they are just choc-a-bloc and quite amazing!

I hate to say that for reasons unknown to me I lost my Rhapsody in Blue after several years here but my Oranges & Lemons and Sunseeker are incredible and I have just a month ago added a yellow climber and a small orange shrub rose to my collection. The first two are very scented, I don't know about the yellow climber and the small orange one is supposedly spicy ... I do hope so ...

 

Can we see photos of your lovely roses Victoria please.