Yay!!!! Yours is SO PRETTY! How old is it and what is its growth habit? I know you're in CA, but not many have this lovely rose. Please share as many pics of this as you want. I personally can't see enough of this one. ; )

It’s gorgeous, Jeri! I’d also enjoy hearing and seeing more of it. You mention the scent. Is it a spicy/peppery scent like Cecile Brunner at all, or totally different? It’s a real beauty, and such a special rose. Lisa

The sense of smell is so individual -- but to me, this rose has a piercingly sweet fragrance.

My plant is still in a large pot, but the ones I've seen in the ground (much more mature than mine) have a bushy, upright habit:
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.315814

This is Captain Thomas's photo (hand-tinted):
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.315812

And this was taken a couple of years back, in the Sacramento City Cemetery:
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.257093

One thing I've observed is that this rose does NOT like to dry out. It wants to be watered well and often.

Thank you for that info! There's not much chance of her drying out here once she's in the ground, but as a pot pet it's a different story. Mine is already developing that growth habit even while potted. I've taken cuttings of mine hoping to have a back up in case she's not hardy in zone 6 once planted out, in which case I'll just overwinter her inside. I feel so lucky to have her, I didn't want to risk losing her. Besides her lovely fragrance, I'm enamored with her delicate shading which reminds me of Gruss an Aachen. So far she's a vigorous grower and bloomer AND she's remained fairly BS-free in my BS ridden garden which is exceptional as I'm a total loser with pots. Jeri, is this your very first flower? If she proves hardy it would be wonderful to see her more widely grown.

No. Not the first flower, but the first flower with enough of a stem for a vase.

I agree that it would be great to see her more widely grown. She's got a bunch of buds coming along out there, now, which will make a nice display if the heat and wind don't destroy them.

I got this one from Rose Petals this summer—one teeny bloom, but smelled amazing. I read that this is sometimes confused with Cécile Bruner; what are the chances that I have the real BA, and how might I know? Thank you! :-)

It had been replaced in commerce by 'Spray Cecile Brunner' (which is a sport of 'Mlle. Cecile Brunner."

This rose was found and collected in the gold rush country by Judy Dean and Premiere Rose Rustler, Fred Boutin -- Grown out and eventually identified by Fred as the original 'Bloomfield Abundance.'

If you obtained your plant from Rose Petals, you probably have this rose. They obtained it from the Historic Rose Garden in the Sacramento City Cemetery, Sacramento, CA.

You can check these references:

My plant is still in a large pot, but the ones I've seen in the ground (much more mature than mine) have a bushy, upright habit:
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.315814

This is Captain Thomas's own photo (hand-tinted):
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.315812

And this was taken a couple of years back, in the Sacramento City Cemetery:
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.257093

This is so exciting. What a gorgeous rose, so much more interesting than the impostor that we thought was the real thing all this time. It really is a very pretty rose with much larger flowers than the 'not real one'.

After looking at all the pictures of HMF of the true Bloomfield Abundance it's difficult to understand how this rose with much larger flowers ever came to be confused with the much smaller blooms of Cecile Brunner.

It's one of those funny things, Ingrid.

When the identity error on 'Sombreuil' was discovered, we all realized that we should have known instantly that a Wichurana climber could not be the original 1857 Tea.
Besides, that climber was probably created in, oh, the late 1940's through early 1950's.

Now, we look at this, and realize that, even in 1920, no one would have called "Spray Cecile Brunner" a Hybrid Tea Rose.
Besides that, it's pretty clear that the "False Bloomfield Abundance" was identical to 'Spray Cecile Brunner' which was introduced in 1941!

There are other errors like this!

'Pink Gruss an Aachen' in commerce as 'Irene Watts'.
'Barcelona' in commerce as 'Francis Dubreuil'.
Probably others I'm not aware of.

Humans are, after all, fallible.

How exciting! I’ll keep an eye on it and will probably be able to post some pics in the spring. It’s going into the ground this weekend! :-)