Fragrant Roses – Which Roses are Highly Fragrant?

When selecting fragrant roses, there are a few considerations you should take into account. There are over 300 aromatic compounds that determine rose fragrance. These elements are then further affected by environmental factors like temperature and humidity, as well as personal conditions.

Choose the right Rose

Though fragrance might be your first priority when it comes to picking out roses, you should always consider the type of rose you’re looking at. There are a number of rose classes, each of which have different characteristics, flowering styles and mature sizes. Within each class there may also be variations of bloom shape and size, as well as petal count, not to mention color. Keep these elements in mind when shopping.

Major Categories of Fragrant Roses

When you’re out looking for fragrant roses, you’ll encounter a wide array of descriptors and notes to describe rose fragrances. Some descriptions harken back to centuries of tradition, while others are marketing creations designed to appeal to our modern sensibilities. You don’t have to become a Sommelier of the garden to grow fragrant roses, but a cursory knowledge of these basic terms can help you find the perfect smelling rose.

• Old Rose: A complex combination of floral notes including citrus, beeswax and patchouli, with scents of Hyacinth and Carnation flowers. This lends roses their classic “perfume” smell.
• Tea: The scene of Tea, particularly freshly picked Black Tea, provides another layer of complexity that is described as crisp and earthy, with hints of Nasturtium, Orris (Iris) Root and Violets, with a faint tar-like component.
• Myrrh: This compound is not in reference to the resin Myrrh from Biblical stories, but to a namesake herb called Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata). This adds an herbal, grassy and peppery scent to rose fragrance, with notes of licorice, fennel and green apple.
• Fruit: Sweet, fruity notes that recall both Fruit Blossoms and the fruits that follow. These include in various configurations: Apples and Pears, Bramble Berries, Melons, Grapes and Stone Fruits. It should be noted that many of these fruits are relatives of roses in the larger Rose Family – Rosaceae.
• Musk: A unique smell that comes from a rose flower’s stamens rather than its petals. Traditionally, musk refers to the organic compounds extracted from glands of the Siberian Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus), which were long-used components of perfumery. Mostly artificially produced now, rose musk scent is described as spicy and woodsy, with strong notes of clove spice and lingering elements of dried orange rind, nutmeg, cut grass and honey.

Not all roses are fragrant

Roses as a class of plant have been selectively bred and hybridized by humans for thousands of years. Everyone from the ancient Mesopotamians and the Egyptians to the Romans and Chinese Empires grew and bred roses for a variety of purposes. With the advent of modern hybrids in the late 1800s, rose quality, vigor and disease resistance grew, and they gained the ability to bloom over and over again. But a downside of this new era of roses also led to a loss in fragrance, owing to the fact that fragrance is determined by recessive genes.

Highly Fragrant Roses

The good news is that over a quarter of today’s roses are at least moderately fragrant, while many are rated as highly fragrant.