“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”
Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, scene 2, Shakespeare
Whilst Juliet is concerned with the name of her lover, Romeo, we are concerned here with not so much with the name of the rose, as with its scent.
Fragrance is the predominant reason we grow this popular garden shrub and climber. As however beautiful the flower or foliage, without a perfume to entice us near, the rose is just another flower.
Perfume from Roses
Scented roses have an ancient history, and the richest scent tends to be found amongst these older rose species and cultivars. Damask roses, the most strongly scented roses, have been grown in the China, India, Persia (Iran) and Turkey since antiquity. Damasks, Rosa damascena, are one of the two major species of rose used to make attar of roses, rose absolute or rose oil. The other species used is Rosa centifolia, the Cabbage Rose.
Did you know it takes many pounds / kilos of rose petals to make one ounce / gram of rose oil? Upwards of 1500 petals are required, ranging to many thousands of petals. Which is why it is cheaper to enjoy your rose scent on the flower itself in your garden!
The type of rose oil produced depends on the method of extraction. Attar of roses, also known as rose otto, is produced by steam distillation. The Rose Valley in Bulgaria is one of the major producers of attar of roses, possibly as much as 85%. This area south of the Balkans has been producing rose oil for centuries.
Rose absolute is produced by a method of solvent extraction. Despite the less poetical name for the process, this latter gives a rose oil which is truer to the scent of the original flower.
Rose Categories
In my ‘how to’ blog on pruning roses, I listed the different types of rose, as you need to know this for pruning purposes. Here we have a slightly different list, for the various groups or categories of rose. This will help when we describe our scented roses.
Species roses
These are more or less as nature intended.
Old roses
Any rose which existed prior to the 1860s, when modern roses were introduced.
They may be sub divided into:
- Gallica roses
- Damask roses
- Alba roses
- Moss roses
Modern roses
These may be sub divided into
- Hybrid teas
- Floribundas
- English roses – which are grouped into four types
- English old rose hybrids
- Leander group
- English musk roses
- Alba rose hybrids
Climbers, ramblers, patio roses and ground cover roses tend to fall into one of the above categories, for the purposes of rose species and cultivar discussion.
Scented Roses – White and Cream Flowers
Rosa ‘Commonwealth Glory’ – a modern hybrid tea rose. It is pleasantly fragrant and a good rose for the cutting garden.
Rosa ‘Sombreuil’ – blooms are white with a medium-strong tea scent. This is a climbing tea also known as Rosa ‘Colonial White’ from 1850. Repeat flowering
Rosa ‘Madame Alfred Carriere’ – I couldn’t not include this late 19th century climbing beauty. Repeat flowering, strong fragrance and good for a north facing situation. Build that pergola now!
Scented Roses – Pink Flowers
Rosa ‘Mary Rose’ – a modern rose, an English old rose hybrid, loose petalled rose pink flowers that have a delicious old rose, honey and almond blossom fragrance, repeat flowering.
Rosa ‘The Generous Gardener’ – a modern rose, an English musk hybrid climber, repeat flowering, the large cup shaped flowers are strongly fragrant.
Rosa canina – the dog rose is native to the British Isles. A climber, with single sweet scented pale pink flowers followed by red rosehips in the autumn. Good for wildlife gardens and hedging.
Scented Roses – Red Flowers
Rosa ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ – a modern rose, an English old rose hybrid, climbing rose, crimson red flowers with a rich old rose fragrance, repeat flowering from early in the season
Rosa ‘Loving memory’ – a modern rose, hybrid tea, it has large flowers light fragrance on straight stems, repeat flowering from late spring to the first frost, good for the cutting garden. This rose was one of those appropriately named plants I included in the Memory Garden planting design we created for a local hospice. (See link below)
Rosa ‘Etoile de Hollande’ – an early modern rose, the climbing sport of an older hybrid tea rose. It has deep crimson flowers and a strong fragrance, which flower early and then again in late summer.
Scented Roses – Purple Flowers
Rosa ‘black Baccara’ – a modern hybrid tea rose, its deep maroon almost black buds and young flowers are dramatic. The colour lightens as the petals age. It’s richly fragrant and repeat flowering
Rosa ‘Rhapsody in blue’ – a modern shrub rose, not quite blue, the petals are purple fading to mauve. A repeat flowering and sweetly scented rose, very pretty. The unusual colour can be complemented with Lavender or Nepeta grown nearby.
Rosa ‘Tuscany Superb’ – an old damask rose dating from 1837. A tall rose which means the blooms are at nose height for most people and it has that rich old rose fragrance. The downside is it only flowers once, so that, combined with its size makes it more suitable for larger gardens.
Scented Roses – Orange and Yellow Flowers
Rosa ‘Wonderful You’ – modern rose, hybrid tea, with burnt orange classically shaped flowers and bronze foliage, lightly fragrant.
Rosa ‘Lady of Shalott’ – one of the roses on my list for this new garden, I’ve used it in quite a few designs and without fail clients have loved it. Darker buds open to orange petals with golden underneath giving it a bronze look in certain lights. The fragrance is a medium tea rose. Can be grown as a shrub or small climber.
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Rosa ‘Gardener’s Glory’ – I had to include this one! A strongly fragrant climber, repeat flowering.
Scented Roses – Bi-coloured Flowers
Perhaps bi-coloured and striped might be a better description. Some of the flowers have subtle colouring others are more vibrant. Perhaps not an idea to mix too many of them in one border…
Rosa ‘Nostalgia’ – hybrid tea, cream flowers edged with cherry red, so it may be referred to as a bi-coloured flower. The fragrance is light-medium, but the flowers are so pretty and plentiful it earns a place even in a small border. Repeat flowering
Rosa ‘Purple Tiger’ – A floribunda bush rose with beetroot-purple, lavender and white on each of the petals. Can be a bit fussy, I‘ve found mine prefers some shade from the afternoon sun. Although usually described as having a light fragrance, I’d personally say it was definitely medium strength.
Rosa ‘Eyes for You’ – a floribunda rose with lilac blooms and a definite purple Persica blotch in the centre. Strongly fragrant and a good choice for those who would like subtlety in their colour mix. Also found as Rosa ‘Blue eyes’
and finally
The scented roses suggested above should give you some design inspiration for planting roses in your own garden. If you’d like some assistance with your rose garden planning and design, do please get intouch.
I have tried to give a selection of the different types, but as there are so many roses, we’ll have to revisit this delicious deciduous shrub another time. Now all we really need is scratch and sniff internet…
For further gardening advice and inspiration, ideas for edible gardens and more, check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below and our monthly Tipsheet . You could come and find us on Instagram – @plewsgd Pinterest and Facebook too.
And on that note, you can have a peek at my
And on that note, you can have a peek at my (new, overgrown) garden at Spitfires and Slow Worms on Instagram & Facebook
If you’d like some personal help, we offer a mix of practical sessions and theory in our bespoke Gardening Lessons and Courses. There’s a blog link below plus a pdf download with more info
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Plews Gardening Lessons Information
