People can and should, of course, like what they like without justifying it to anyone, but from of a "taking a poll" curiosity, why are there so many unscented roses for sale? Are most people more interested in the visual over the olfactory?

As a gardener I find we all like fragrant flowers. when I had a floral design shop, customers asked NOT to send fragrant flowers in many cases .. no roses , no gardenias, no baby's breathe ( smells like cat litter ) and my least favorite fragrance of all , lilies .

much of the fragrance has been lost to breeding for size and color

I would prefer scented roses, but roses don't seem to like me so I would be very happy with ANY rose that would grow for me!! 😏😏 lol

I personally prefer scented roses, but it seems like all of the low maintenance ones have no smell. If I COULD have a KO rose that smelled like Mr. Lincoln, I would.

Depends also what bloom size and shape, there are huge ramblers with lots of small blooms and there are "standard" size tea hybrid roses, I man some can go unscented easier than others, especially the more they are for visual value the easier it goes.
Also depends what scent one likes a rose to have, no everyone likes the "expected" rose fragrance.

I plant knock out roses since all the others die on me. I have found the sunny knock out, (yellow) to be very fragrant.

I don't care about fragrance, would rather not have it. I can't bring fragrant flowers into the house-they make me itch miserably. I love lilies, but the fragrance is over whelming to me, peonies, daffodils, surprise lilies--they all must stay outside.

My garden mostly is out the back yard not real close to the house, so color/form and performance are my interests, not fragrance.

Fragrance in roses is dependent on many genes, so it's very difficult to breed for it. Simply crossing 2 fragrant roses doesn't guarantee any of the seedlings has any fragrance at all. Even a selfing of 'Double Delight' doesn't guarantee it.

To me scent maybe the #1 factor in getting a rose. I like the old fashioned many peddled roses like the David Austins and doubt i'll buy an unscented rose. Don't have many roses, an Ebb Tide, Austin's Munson Wood and Gentle Hermoine and just one without scent forgot the name it's red with an old fashioned flower and trouble free. Just checked red rose is Traviata, a hybrid tea. Almost forgot my oldest rose, thinks it's Rose de Riech, a Portland rose, pink, great old rose smell, gets pretty big [about 6' tall].

14 years ago Weeks Roses had their hybridization program on our campus and we got to tour the greenhouse. Tom Carruth and Christian Bedard gave a great explanation of how they choose which varieties they use and how they choose the next generation. Genetics are tough to figure out when the parentages are so mixed and so many are unknown.

It's all about the allergies and some smells can set them off in a heart beat. This past week DH wanted some of the roses that were in the yard cut and brought inside. I can handle the fragrances outside but not in the house. I also notice he was having issues with the fragrances this past week. We will enjoy them outside!!

Even as a photographer - I'll take fragrance over visual any day....if they have both like my 'Outta the Blue' I had at my old house...even better!!

gingin said: I would prefer scented roses, but roses don't seem to like me so I would be very happy with ANY rose that would grow for me!! 😏😏 lol

Have you tried the Knock-out roses? They need lots of full sun, lots of good fertilizer, good drainage and frequent watering (this could be any rose huh?), but they are pretty tough. Mine were very demanding of all-day full sun.

No I haven't. Just curious...where on the fla/ga line are you if I may ask...years ago I lived in Havana.

I have noticed that Japanese beetles go for the most fragrant roses in my garden. Just an observation. When I go out to pick beetles I will check Munstead Wood first. When purchasing roses my top consideration is fragrance. Then number of blooms/repeat as Minnesota growing season is about 160 days. Then color along with disease resistance. There are many beautiful roses that are not very fragrant though. My Girl is not fragrant, hardly ever has Japanese Beetles, flowers almost constantly, isn't fussy and has not shown disease or infestions in 3 years. Red red. So that is a keeper for me.

Humans are first and foremost visual beings. We use our eyes first and other senses after. So it's natural that we're drawn to aesthetics before considering scent.

I personally, while also selecting a rose on looks first, will not buy one that doesn't have scent. For me a good rose is the culmination of both. Either feature has veto rights.

Compared with unscented flowers, i like scented flowers. Like roses.

Acacias are planted world wide as a base for perfumes.
when I lived in CA, people were convinced the same plants caused major allergies and never brought them indoors . or planted them

I had a floral shop and MOST people did not want anything fragrant .

Fascinating! There's so much we don't understand about plants.

I wouldn't grow a scentless rose. My motto about growing anything is, "No food, no fragrance, forget it."

That should read, "No food?" "No fragrance?" "Forget it!"