I am often asked what is my favorite rose. That’s like asking me which one of my children is my favorite!! I love all roses, but just as in raising children, some traits stand out for certain roses just as every child has endearing traits of his own. For some roses, the form stops me in my tracks. Most of these are favorite hybrid tea roses. If you look down on the rose from the top, the rose should make a perfect circle. Held on its side, it should be a perfect pyramid shape. The center should be a perfect spiral. The petals should recurve upon each other with perfect grace. I love these roses…they are perfection! But many of them are lacking a nice fragrance, so I grow other types of roses that are known for the perfume that I, as a rosarian, desire in my garden.

Fragrant roses

There are many types of roses on the market that are fragrant. First come the Old Garden Roses, or OGR’s. These have been center stage in my gardens for the last couple of weeks. Many of them have short stems, so I like to pick a bunch and float them in an antique compote in the middle of my dining room table so they can perfume the first floor of my home. I love Star Roses’ Romantica Collection for it’s fragrance. These look like OGR’s but continue to bloom all summer long. One of my favorites is ‘Colette,’ a beautiful peach climber with sweet-smelling 4″ blooms that come in large clusters. Most lavender roses also have wonderful fragrances. But, I think, for reliable fragrance in roses, I most always turn to David Austin English Roses.

David Austin, one of the great rosarians of the world, began introducing his hybrids to the world in the 1970’s. He was in love with the old garden roses, but most of them have one large flush in June, set hips, and retire from blooming for the rest of the summer. His mission was to create roses that looked and smelled like the OGR’s, but would bloom all summer in traditional and modern colors.

Varieties

His roses are divided into four groups: English Old Rose Hybrids, The Leander Group, English Musk Roses, and Alba Rose Hybrids. These roses come in all different heights and widths and are absolutely stunning while in bloom. I love the fragrance of the Old Rose group the best: this is the heavy, damask fragrance that sends me swooning. Many of David Austin’s roses have a light tea fragrance, and many more he describes as ‘myrrh,’ but to my nose it smells like anisette. His new roses are still being introduced each year and these varieties show really good disease resistance, as well…excellent news for fragrant roses which usually have problems with black spot.

Do I have a favorite David Austin rose? Maybe not, but one of his roses in my garden bears my favorite rose fragrance! This rose is ‘Sharifa Asma,’ named for an Egyptian princess. I think her beautiful old rose fragrance is the most incredibly wonderful scent I have ever experienced! Even the falling petals still carry the wonderful damask-like perfume. When I walked outside this morning the whole front yard smelled like roses thanks to her.

A huge thanks to all the hybridizers out there that are breeding fragrance back into more disease resistant roses, and a special thanks to David Austin Roses for bringing such beauty and perfume to our gardens.