All my roses haven't bloomed yet to go for fragrance test. I had only a few in my last garden and GJ and Jude the obscure were best of that small sample lot. JTO wasn't pretty in sun or rain but i loved the smell.
@newbie77 Perhaps you were a victim of your garden’s environment.. I wouldn’t call yourself a plant assassin! I think you’ve certainly made a very wise choice to settle on roses.. they are truly the best plants for any garden
@Jason-3 When you say you would like the strongest scented rose.. do you mean one that smells wonderful when you hold it to your nose or one that wafts? I find that some roses that are very strongly scented don’t waft - you HAVE to get close to experience the strong perfume. Some other types are strong AND it wafts in the air - that gives you a wonderful experience as to stroll around your garden.
To me, I have to agree with the one that has consistently come up with most of the members here and that is Gertrude Jekyll - and the scent disperses in the air nicely.
And rather controversially.. I would also highly recommend my yellow floribunda which is now believed to be ‘Sunsprite’ by Kordes. It’s the only other rose I have experienced that disperses its fragrance like GJ and it’s sweet with just a hint of citrus (whereas GJ is more old rose) Also, bees love them.. in fact it’s the one that I consistently see bees buzzing around every time i step onto my balcony..
Trouble is, it’s virtually impossible to get everything in one rose, beauty, health, strong fragrance, good repeat flowering and able to stand up to rain/heat, so there usually has to be a sacrifice somewhere to get a good wafty scent. The most fabulous fragrance (and it must have been intense given my dodgy sense of smell) I came across was in a hotel garden last year, ID’d by Marlorena as probably the Gallica rose ‘Duc de Guiche’. The sacrifice there is it’s once flowering. But so is GJ, effectively!
I am going to try some old roses next season, Mme. Isaac Pereire, Mme. Alfred Carriere, Blush Noisette...
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
i I was trying to gauge, what everyone's personal favourite was. I know it is too subjective to state what the strongest is. Possibly the strongest smelling rose I have is GJ like the majority of people. Although it is a little to fleeting imo
Just out of curiosity, for anyone that grows Gabriel Oak, how does the scent compare to GJ?
Many Gentle Hermione blooms were close to the ground due to the heavy winds blowing all the canes down, couldn’t really enjoy those ones so brought them in.
For me many floribunda and HT roses have the strongest fragrance, but it’s really hard to say which has the best, I’ve been thinking about it and find it impossible to choose! Nearly every rose I have has a strong fragrance because for me roses and fragrance go hand in hand. I have a couple exceptions because I enjoy other things about it, for example I have Ballerina, and I would get Mutabilis.
Not sure if I’ve shared before (as I’ve been posting so much I couldn’t sift through them all anymore) - the latest bloomer in my garden is Desdemona.. I’m truly loving this rose, it’s so incredibly vigorous and look at the number of buds! I’ve counted over 150 on just this one rose. Furthermore it’s only grown in a smallish container (fair bit less than 18x18in) and as I cleared up the fallen leaves from the recent gale I noticed there are two more new basal shoots popping up! It’s gonna be a monster!
And Port sunlight - with its partially open and semi-proliferated bloom
"it’s virtually impossible to get everything in one rose, beauty, health, strong fragrance, good repeat flowering"
That's it. We have to sacrifice something (it's a hard life! ) . Colour and scent come top of my things to choose in a rose.
In terms of scent, Ena Harkness and Guinee are the strongest for me. Ena droops and Guinee is supposed to have trouble with disease, but so far fine. I'm not getting any scent from my Etoile, but it's early days since it was planted.
...just catching up.. great photos everybody... Adrian your Desdemona is fantastic, it will soon be bursting out of that pot..
@Nollie ...just to say thanks for letting me know about Mme Hardy... much as I found the last time I saw it.. I was a bit disappointed in that aspect.. I think you have 3 don't you?.
Omori, your Gentle Hermione vase is just gorgeous, amazing what a few blooms can do..
...also nice to see Cumberland, don't see that one much..
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@Jason-3 When you say you would like the strongest scented rose.. do you mean one that smells wonderful when you hold it to your nose or one that wafts? I find that some roses that are very strongly scented don’t waft - you HAVE to get close to experience the strong perfume. Some other types are strong AND it wafts in the air - that gives you a wonderful experience as to stroll around your garden.
@celcius_kkw
i I was trying to gauge, what everyone's personal favourite was. I know it is too subjective to state what the strongest is. Possibly the strongest smelling rose I have is GJ like the majority of people. Although it is a little to fleeting imo
Just out of curiosity, for anyone that grows Gabriel Oak, how does the scent compare to GJ?
That Gabriel Oak better be good, I have paid extra delivery just for it as i somehow missed it in my first order!
@Nollie
...just to say thanks for letting me know about Mme Hardy... much as I found the last time I saw it.. I was a bit disappointed in that aspect.. I think you have 3 don't you?.
Omori, your Gentle Hermione vase is just gorgeous, amazing what a few blooms can do..
...also nice to see Cumberland, don't see that one much..