Fragrant roses never seem to go out of favour. It has always part of the rose’s allure and we instinctively bend down to smell a rose for its perfume.
Each rose has its own distinct scent, as recognisable as a famous brand of perfume. All fragrance is an assemblage of natural olfactory notes, like lavender, citronella, peach, lilac, cedar, jasmine and so on.
The most volatile notes – those that we smell first – belong to two families, the citrus and the aromatic. These are the ‘head’ notes, which can be described as the ‘spirit’ of the perfume.
Then come the notes of flowers, fruit, spices and greenery (grass, ivy, leaves). These are the perfume’s heart, its personality. Finally, there are the deepest notes that form the base of the perfume.
Did you know?
The fragrance of a rose is strongest on warm days. Blooms picked when the outer petals have fully opened will exude perfume for many days at an evenly warm room temperature.
However, on cold days, even strongly perfumed roses may lose all trace of their perfume, although extreme heat can also cause the fragrance to escape faster than it is made.
To test for fragrance, pick a semi-open bloom and keep it in your pocket for half an hour. You will soon know whether it is a fragrant variety or not.
Try this
Identifying a rose perfume can be as much of an art as identifying the delicate bouquet of wine. Begin with a brief sniff, no more than a few seconds long, lest the hypersensitive nasal olfactory cells become anaesthetized. Then let your memory go to work. Explore your personal collection of scents for a similar fragrance.
How to make the most of perfumed roses
Many of the best roses for cutting are not fragrant. These are selected for long vase life, which requires thick petals that do not release fragrance. But if you want fragrance you can include two or three fragrant roses within a vase and the effect will be fragrant. Replace them as they fade.
Likewise, when making a mixed bed of roses, plant the fragrant ones to the front so that their perfume can be easily appreciated.
The newest perfumed roses
‘Henri Delbard’ is named after the founder of Delbard roses in France and is described as one of the finest roses they have ever bred. The huge blooms intensify in colour as they open and the strong notes of citrus, rose and mango delight the senses. This extremely healthy and vigorous shrub rose carries its blooms on strong stems.
Another Delbard rose, ‘Whirlwind’ epitomises the distinctive striped blooms that have made a name for Delbard across the world This leafy climbing rose produces clusters of large blooms on arching stems. Each rose bloom is different and exudes a noticeable perfume. It flowers all season long and is all you need to bring a sense of rosy abundance into the garden. Train it over an archway or weave the stems onto a trellis.
Ballet lovers the world over have loved the Sugar Plum Fairy in the ‘Nutcracker’, and this new, yet old fashioned rose with its ruffled, airy blooms evoke something of the magic of that wonderful ballet. The blooms of ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’ are a typical Damascena shape and exude a strong damask fragrance. This shrublike floribunda will make a statement planted on its own, in a large container, or as a border for beds and shrubs.
While on a ballet theme ‘Odette’ (from ‘Swan Lake’) was bred by Ludwig Taschner and is a strong performer despite its delicate beauty. This multi-petalled rose opens into an old-fashioned rosette type bloom with an intense but soft salmon-pink centre. The pickable blooms exude a layered, spicy scent. The plant grows into a vigorous shrub rose with arching stems weighed down by the buds and blooms at each end.
The strong fragrance and deep pink shades of this voluptuous rose should ensure its place in the fragrant rose garden. The ‘Natalie Douglas’ rose is named after a breast cancer survivor diagnosed at the early age of 27. Like its namesake, this rose is a strong grower, reaching to head height and producing an abundance of long-stemmed pickable roses.
‘Pandora’ has been described as a much improved version of ‘Peach Melba’ with the same beautiful colour combination of deep apricot, cream and salmon pink, and with a fruity fragrance. The long lasting blooms have the classical star-shaped hybrid tea bloom and are carried mostly on candelabra type stems. The neat bush grows to shoulder height and is disease resistant.
Click here for more on fragrant roses, or view displays of roses at the Rose Festival at Ludwig’s Rose Farm, north of Pretoria from 4 -13 October. Entrance is free, and activities include tours, gin and craft lager tastings, kids play area and refreshments from the Rose Kitchen. Directions: take N1 north, Wallmansthal offramp and follow the signs.
Article and images supplied by Alice Coetzee.
For more on gardening, visit Get It Magazine.
