@slumgullion in southern OR I can understand the clove scent. These all age, morph, as the various oils and alcohols evaporate and oxidize. Early in the day they will smell of one type, then evolve through other elements as the earlier elements evaporate and let the next element express itself. If you really want to smell SGMC, harvest a bunch of anthers from buds and let them dry inside your house on a sheet of paper! It will drive you out of the house! I am married to a saint (a saint, I tell you!) but I DO receive the occasional "MORE???" comment and "would you PLEASE use that one up, QUICKLY!?". Multiflora is nothing like that. And myrrh is black licorice or anise, even fennel root, though stronger than fennel root. Austin has always claimed that was obtained from the Ayshire Roses and that only his roses possessed it in modern roses. Smell Herb Swim's 1956 floribunda, Moonsprite. It not only LOOKS like an early Austin, it SMELLS like one. A nice, fairly strong myrrh scent. https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.4378.0

I'm sure you are able to smell the apple foliage scent now because of when you are checking for it. Not all of the foliage expresses it nor at all times. It's another of the fresh, soft new growth tips expressions. Rarely will you perceive it from mature foliage and rarely when it's hot and dry outdoors. Catch new growth tips on a warm humid morning when you expect the flowers to be highly scented and they should be deliciously scented.

Yes - I know what you mean, that scent that is in a lot of Austin roses - which I've labeled in my mind as "myrrh", apparently accurately (whew) - I don't like it. At all. To the point where it's one of the reasons I completely avoid Austin roses. (I also hate licorice, dislike anise, and am not in love with fennel. So there you go, at least I'm consistent!)

My SGMC is still pretty young, less than a dozen flowers at the moment...when she gets bigger I'll start experimenting with bringing her inside and see what happens to my nose, LOLOLOLOL.

@slumgullion in southern OR totally understood. I can't stand the taste of anise, though if the myrrh scent contains enough other "sweeter" scents, I can enjoy them. If you ever have the chance to smell a fairly tight bud of Cressida, pull it apart and smell it. It's SO concentrated myrrh, it smells as bitter as a burned raisin tastes. It has to sit out in the air, warmth and sun to allow enough of the oils and alcohols to evaporate before it sufficiently weakens and becomes "sweet". Picking off the flower buds will quickly force the smaller plants to push new growth. It's been through watching how the plants responded to my continual pollen collection that I found regular proof that aborting blooms causes faster growth to maturity. If you want a bigger plant, faster, don't let it bloom.

Roseseek/Kim-

Your descriptions definitely reveal your expertise and love of roses. Your presence and input is greatly appreciated! I am truly a novice relative to this area of rose discernment, but am motivated to take baby steps towards improving my understanding of all things roses. You sir, are a GW treasure!!

I picked the flower bud off my poor little Bill Warriner who is trying to survive being transplanted back into a pot....

And I'll definitely disbud ALM when she gets started....

In general though, I have too many roses (and other plants) to give them a lot of individual attention. I hardly ever even have time to deadhead....

I heartily second what Lynn said!

Thank you, much appreciated. We all enjoy sharing our rose obsession/passion with each other and we all learn from one another. If you get in the habit of doing these chores while walking through the roses, you can accomplish a good deal with little effort. I take the dogs out back to patrol their "Queendom" (three Toy Fox Terrors, grandma, daughter and grand daughter) while collecting roses for pollen and snap off spent blooms I've missed and those I wish to abort to push the plants. @slumgullion in southern OR yes ma'am, I KNOW what you are saying. I'm not showing you the areas of shoulder high grass I've yet to pull nor the bind weed eating one area of the yard. Nothing is ever perfect and I do understand just being able to keep the blamed things watered. I've spent much of the past year in that state!

Noseometer: thank you for sharing those gorgeous photos of Scentuous. It’s one I REALLY want to add to the garden. I was especially excited about getting to experience it’s fragrance. It sounds like the perfect rose for me. While I LOVE the fragrance of Chrysler Imperial and Mr. Lincoln... their look just doesn’t fit the aesthetics of my garden.. so a rose that smells like those famous Hybrid Teas, but looks like an English style rose is exactly what I’ve been hoping for. How is your Scentuous doing for you in the garden after a year? 🌸 I am learning so much from reading this thread.

Does anyone on here have any roses they have grown from seed that are fragrant? It would be cool to see pictures if you have rose seedlings!

@Ann-SoCalZ10b SunStZ22 - I’ll have to get back to you later in the season. The first year it just grew weak twiggy growth, but this year it is growing some strong basals. It’s a grafted rose, but I planted it deep hoping it would go own root.

Noseometer: I forgot to ask... does it hold onto its blooms for a long time or do the blooms shatter quickly both on the plant and in a vase

@GardeningTeenager, Roseseek posted about one of his fragrant seedlings here: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6117276/ping-dong-yue-ji-x-1-72-1hugonis#n=29

@Ann-SoCalZ10b SunStZ22 - Scentuous doesn't hold onto its flowers for a very long time. According to my photo log, the flowers are lasting about 5-7 days right now, and then shatter. So about the same or a little longer than most of my Austins. I haven't tried cutting any because my plant is too small, so I don't know how long they last cut.

@slumgullion in southern OR

Dang, thats a nice rose! I love the coloring and I can imagine the fragrance is heavenly!

@GardeningTeenager Thanks!....Sorry but I'm not sure which one you're talking about LOLOLOL, I've posted about a number of different roses...but I'm glad you like it!

...If you're referring to Greenmantle then yes, like him a lot, he's doing well in a very shady place but at least he gets sun in the early spring before the tree leafs out. His color is very nice. I was expecting a much stronger apple smell but maybe it will continue to build over time, since I'm just noticing it for the first time this year (he's been in the ground for several years at this point)....I really love single roses.

Sorry, should have been more clear! Here is the rose you posted.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6117276/ping-dong-yue-ji-x-1-72-1hugonis#n=29

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6117276/ping-dong-yue-ji-x-1-72-1hugonis#n=29
That’s the rose I was talking about. Sorry I should have been more clear!

@roseseek

Hi roseseek, I was wondering if multiflora will cross breed with new varieties? I have a neighbor who has a multiflora she adores for the scent and I would like to hybridize a rose for her that carries the scent with a rebloom. I just need to know if multiflora will cross breed with a rebloomer. Then I have to go digging on Houzz to find how to actually sprout the seeds😑.

Thanks for clarifying! yes, I covet many of Roseseek's creations!

@GardeningTeenager absolutely! Polyanthas, Lawrencianas, hybrid musks and floribundas are the result of originally crossing Chinas with multiflora. Further crosses between their results with HT's and other China X multiflora crosses led to the latter developments. Mignonette and Paquerette are considered the "originals". If I were trying to reinvent that wheel, I would start with something like The Gift, which is already a bit smaller growing and repeat flowering multiflora instead of going back to the invasive, acreage eating, once blooming species. Germinating multiflora seeds is like germinating weeds. That's what makes it such a terrible choice for "habitat". Birds LOVE those tiny red hips. Their digestive tacts remove the nutrient rich flesh, helping to reduce the seed coats to encourage germination and then encapsulate the seeds in that wonderful guano so when the seeds are spread, they are perfectly set to germinate.

@roseseek

Ok, I might try that! Also what is your best method for germinating rose seeds?

@GardeningTeenager the blamed things fall on the ground and germinate. Some people go to extreme lengths and expense and theirs germinate. Others simply toss them in a pot of dirt and they germinate. If you live somewhere you have REAL "winters" of any duration, you probably should try germinating them in the refrigerator. There are MANY demonstration videos and explanations around. @siel here has to germinate them that way and can share her method. I have been SO blessed to have lived where I didn't HAVE to do any of that. I did it, for far too long, but finally got "lazy" and just started planting them outdoors. "Winter" here means wearing shorts outside is only comfortable for a few hours daily. So, I do what I've explained on my blog, here. http://pushingtheroseenvelope.blogspot.com/2015/03/seedling-tables.html Will that work if you're in Manitoba? Nope. Will it work if you're in Phoenix? Likely not. Will it work in Miami? With all that RAIN and no real chill hours? Probably not, but it works in Zones 9b San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys; Zone 10a San Fernando Valley and Zone 9b Santa Maria Valley, California. Talk about "location, location, location"!

Ann - I love your Treasure Trail! And it was such a delight to see the moss on your moss roses!! Love!

Noseometer - I chuckled at your "click to embiggen" :) :) I love "listening to you talk" about fragrances!! I winced a bit when you mentioned that Bolero (which is on the way to me) has vanilla fragrance. I can't stand vanilla candles. Most people love vanilla fragrances...although I love vanilla in baking. :) :) Scentuous is so lovely!!! :)

Slum - I agree - I have never been able to smell anything in tea scented roses. And I am in total sympatico about rose vs. damask. It's all rose to me. :) We're both nose uneducated. :) :) Wow!! I love your picture of Greenmantle ...intense pink, sunlight, intense green!!!

Roseseek - now that was a tutorial on rose fragrances that I've never heard before. :) :) Skunkiness. Putrid :) :) Resin :) So cool!!! Thank you! I love how you call your wife a saint. That's so sweet!! I am learning so much....stinky pollen...who knew?? :)

@rosecanadian - I don't think that Bolero's fragrance is like that of vanilla scented candles at all. You'll see when it blooms for you. I've seen some people describe it as just waterlily, but I smell both marshmallow creme and waterlily. Vanilla scented candles have a heavy thick fragrance, perhaps due to the wax, but Bolero's is light. Let me know what you think of it when yours blooms. Mine is happily blooming right now (I haven't gotten around to pruning off the winter damage from the rosemary yet though).

Diane - just ordered Rouge Royale from RVR. Yet another one to trial in the pot ghetto, but we shall see! I expect to move 'Scentous' out of the pot ghetto and into the main garden so the pot ghetto won't be growing, right?

Rosecanadian-

I share your sentiments regarding vanilla. I do not have an appreciation for vanilla scented candles, lotions, oils, or much of anything vanilla other than desserts! I have grown my share of Bolero over the years (12 in one bed at a previous garden), and will be receiving a new plant any day now. I cannot describe the scent, however, like Noseometer, it does not at all remind me of the vanilla scented candles.

Y'all have WAY better noses than I do!

This reminds me of someone untrained in music who nonetheless enjoys it, but cannot always articulate just why (me again).

I can distinguish a few scents I find in roses - what I think of as damask, sometimes citrus, definitely pine, though usually from mossing, and always my favorite, clove. I've smelled pepper but from white freesias, not roses. I can barely smell anything at all from Teas, which was why I avoided planting them for so many years.

Rosefolly

I wonder about the fragrance of tea roses. Is it meant to smell of tea or did it just get it's name from another Avenue. Heathcliff Smells intensely tea To my nose with Heavy tobacco. There is also rose there in the open flower. It's the only rose I have that has this odor. I like it because it's so different. When I asked my helper to smell it he said no he doesn't get sent from it until I mentioned the tobacco and then he's like oh he just Didn't smell rose but could definitely pick up the tea And tobacco. This would be T. that has not yet been brewed. Definitely what 1 might have termed a masculine scent at one point.

Lynn does your Don bloom year round? Mine has just not performed except in spring. He is (was) big and healthy with enough sun. Other bushes at his feet bloom always. I lost most of his top growth and that going over the arch due to February freeze, but he has put on new canes that are already to the top of arch. I am hopeful these new canes coming from graft will be better performers.

Austin-

Don Juan (?) - I have not grown Don Juan here in Texas... In my desert garden, it definitely bloomed year round, including when the temperature soared to 113+ degrees. My Don Juan was grafted onto Dr. Huey...

Noseometer - I have no idea what waterlily smells like. LOL Marshmallows...yes, I know that one. :) I probably won't have blooms until August??? My Bolero is a half grade rose. But, maybe it'll be sooner...hopefully. :) :) Thanks for letting me borrow your nose for this. :) I have Pope John Paul II, which is my only other white rose...and I like the look of your Bolero (gorgeous!!!!) MUCH better!!

Lynn - oh good! From one vanilla scent hater to another...Thank you! :)

Rosefolly - so well said!! That sums it up very nicely. And, I'm with you...I can't smell Tea scented fragrances.

Vaporvac - yeah, I think they're supposed to smell like tea...I just get nothing. Tea fragrance doesn't seem like much of an upgrade from nothing. LOL

You can add me to the vanilla hater list. Unless its baked good..

Rekha - my daughter LOVES vanilla candles...when she lived here, I could smell it all over the house. Blech. LOL

Here’s a few pics of my oldest Bolero... it’s around 7-8 years old. It’s fragrance wafts even in the hot dry conditions of Coastal Southern California. It DEFINITELY does NOT smell like vanilla scented candles. I can’t stand fake vanilla fragrances... that smell heavy and artificial.
🌸
Bolero smells of sweet tropical fruit... lychee fruit to be precise... combined with expensive floral rose perfume that’s perfectly balanced. It’s a fragrance I wish I could bottle and wear as a perfume. The fragrance strong without being heavy.
🌸
The plant measures about 4ft tall by 5-6 feet wide. My secret to getting it to this size is to NEVER prune it.
🌸
In case you want to see some videos of it... you can see them here...

https://www.instagram.com/tv/COYyWBtHSfP/?utm_medium=copy_link

Ann!!!! !!! !!! Glorious!!! Oh, I can't wait for mine to bloom!!!! Soooo beautiful!!!! GASP!!!!

Grand dame, very large flower and classic rose fragrance. When she blooms, she hogs all the limelight

Beverly strong fragrance that wafts. Perfect bush form, easy care rose, very healthy and vigorous, long stemmed rose perfect for cutting.. I give her a 10 out of 10..she is perfect and flawless..blooms don't ball in rain even those those large buds are petal packed, did I say healthy -no blackspot at all and my garden is no spray

Madame anisette..the name says it all..she makes me want to have tea with biscotti..she is at 9ft tall and 5ft . Super, super vigorous, healthy, loaded with buds every year..so love

That’s incredibly gorgeous, Ann! You can see her parent Sharifa Asma in those flowers. I wish I could smell them and compare with mine. I love that litchi fragrance, and I don’t think I have any roses with that fragrance now.

Ah, Grande Dame! Beautiful flower, and such a rich fragrance.

I want to tell everyone about this new rose Sweet Delight.

If you took the ripest of every most tropical fruit (perhaps mango, papaya, guava and fruits you didn’t know existed) in your mouth at the same time, that’s what this rose smells like! It is intense, exotic, unique and , aromatic, delicious, almost beyond description. I’m thinking I would put it above every single fruit scented Austin I’ve ever smelled (and I live near a huge Austin-sponsored display garden, so I’ve smelled them all, many times).

It is one of the Michel Adams / NIRP roses that was offered by Palatine for the first time this year. Palatine notes the blooms “ reveal a strong rose perfume which has been recognized with numerous awards from rose trials.“ I looked it up on HMF, and it seems most of the HMF pics are very different from my bloom, so I wonder if it’s even the same rose , since breeders sometimes recycle names. I did find someone else posted pics very recently that matched mine, and this is what the person wrote:

These were my exact thoughts, if fragrance is a priority, this rich and unique scented rose is a must!

Note: I had been away for a few weeks and my blooms were rather battered by a rainstorm. I hope to get better pics, and will also note how well the fragrance holds up.

Ben- "I’m thinking I would put it above every single fruit scented Austin"

That means a lot!! The fruit scented Austin roses are among my favorites!! Sweet Delight will be added to my rose list...Hopefully, one day I will grow and sniff this rose, over time hoping to detect some if not all of the fruity essence you described!

This is the thread probably everyone was wishing and waiting for. I have been reading this thread since this morning and need a few weeks to digest all this information.

When I think of roses - old rose fragrance is classic. I am not too fond of citrus or fruity fragrances. Of the roses, I grow I have to say first in line is Maggie aka Kakinada red, just because she brings in sweet memories. Even though grandmother's hat stays fresh only a couple of days, the fragrance is wonderful. Others in my yard - Savannah, Sweet chariot, Renae, Bolero, Star of the Republic and Blush noisette. I do agree, Bolero is great for fragrance ( no hint of vanilla to my nose ), health and a stand out in any yard.

For the love of God, I cannot detect a fragrance in Dame de Coeur.

How would you describe Sombreuil's fragrance. I cannot quite put my thumb on it.

Roseseek aka Mr.Rupert's posts are so much fun to read. A good blend of humor and knowledge.

It is difficult for me to choose one rose over another- Call me sentimental - Maggie for memory overload & Star of the Republic ( A rose that honours my State and for me to not grow it - I consider that an abomination )

Different Faces of Maggie

Star of the Republic

I can't smell anything from my Beverly...and I've grown it in a pot for 4 years. I'll see how it does this year.

Ben - Oh, now I am soooo excited for my Sweet Delight to bloom!!! Wow!!! It's still a bareroot with not leaves. Yes, please! Show us a new, fresh bloom when you can. :)

Beautiful roses, everyone...especially Madame Anisette!!

@Lakshmi S thank you, please call me Kim. Have you tried cutting Dame de Coeur in partially opened bud and continued opening it indoors? Even if you cut a partially open flower and allow it to sit on your counter until it is partially wilted, it should release scent for you, unless its combination is simply one you are either physically or genetically incapable of perceiving. Most of us fit into that category concerning some scents and flavors. There are simply so many factors which determine whether or not the scent will express itself, last sufficiently to be perceived not to mention whether you will be capable of perceiving it. Until just a few, short years ago, natural raspberry tasted and smelled "green and wet" to me. I don't know what changed, but all of a sudden, I could taste and smell raspberry's sweetness. "Tea" still smells like clean Tupperware and Orthene.

Lakshmi, I can't wait for my star of the republic. Those are beautiful pictures you took and that really capture It's beauty. This roses outstanding for me here with very little black spot. It has long canes and I'm trying to train it along a fence. I also love Maggie. Mine is such a lovely rose and again is quite healthy which for some reason I find surprising in blackspot heaven.

Kim - that's how Dee-Lish smelled to me...green! I thought that was so strange.

Perilisa: WOW!!! 😍 your Madame Anisette is STUNNING! Will you please share more pics of her.

Ok... I have to add 2 more to this list... I just experienced smelling New Zealand and Betty White... and I have such a soft spot for deliciously fragrant roses... that they came home with me. Does anyone else grow these roses? And can you tell more more about them? The only blooms on these two were sad specimens... the plant look thirsty. But I decided to take my chance on them because they smelled so good!

I think I wrote in this thread but maybe another, that I have New Zealand, while I personally don't like the way it smells, it is a beautiful rose and it does great in the heat.
Carla in Sac

Carla great looking New Zealand bush!!

Carla: Thank you for sharing your photos of New Zealand. I love roses with a fruity fragrance... and I’m so excited to hear that it’s a rose that does great in the heat. I was a little worried about my impulse purchase... but Now you’ve gotten me excited.

After smelling my first Evelyn bloom, I want to chime in and join this party of fragrance. thanks all for the great information, ideas …