I recently discovered that two of the four rose cultivars that I recently chose and planted for their strong fragrance are not at all fragrant to me! To be specific, Beverly and Savannah seem wonderfully fragrant to me; however, I cannot detect any fragrance at all in Wedding Bells; and Dark Desire seems only slightly fragrant (and not very pleasant) to me.
Beverly:
Savannah:
Wedding Bells:
Dark Desire:
The phenomenon of individual differences in the perception of fragrance in roses is new to me. So I recently visited the Historic Rose Garden at Hershey Gardens in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on a mini-research mission to smell the roses there.
Here are some cultivars that seemed pleasingly fragrant to me:
Sunsprite:
Eternal Flame:
Good As Gold (wonderful lemon fragrance):
Elle:
Melody Parfumee (beyond peak; my apologies):
These cultivars were fragrant to me, but I did not find their fragrance to be very pleasant:
Dolly Parton:
Crimson Glory:
Chrysler Imperial:
Most of the other roses seemed to me to lack any fragrance at all.
Rose fragrance as perceived by different people has become an intriguing subject to me, and I would love to know about the insights and experiences of others on the topic of fragrance in roses.
I would also like to find a fragrant yellow rose that is healthy, strong and resistant to disease without chemical intervention. Any suggestions would be welcome.
