It is second nature to stop and smell a rose when we are up close and inhale its alluring scent. Many people do as they walk past our garden, and there are plenty of roses growing with exceptional perfume.
“Something with inner beauty will live forever, like the scent of a rose.”
Alex Flynn
Rose fragrance comes from the petals, and a more elusive element wafts in the air from the stamens, often smelling more beautiful from afar than up close. Garden roses generally have a gorgeous scent, but we may be surprised that the fragrance is, at times, difficult to pinpoint.
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.”
Maud Hart Lovelace
The elusive nature of rose fragrance is due in part to the time of day, the weather, the amount of sunlight, the stage of the bloom, the rose variety, and our individual sensitivity to aromas and perfumes. All these factors influence the strength and style of the scent as we bend to inhale or catch a pleasant scent wafting in the breeze at varied times of day.
“This rose is an extra. Its smell and its colour are an embellishment of life”,
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
A warm, sun-filled day with moist soil is the best for releasing the fragrant chemicals in the rose petals. The fragrance of roses is made from oil-based compounds of alcohols and sugars in the petals and other scents in the stamens.
“Beauty without virtue is like a rose without scent.”
Did you know there are over 400 compounds that create the scent of a rose. Days of high humidity will prolong the fragrance and reduce the rate that the compounds evaporate to create the full fragrance. Like the aroma or nose of certain wines, rose fragrance is complex.
“The world is a rose, smell it, and pass it to your friends.”
Persian Proverb
Roses radiate their perfume to attract pollinators, so it is often strongest first thing each morning and then around midday, whilst a few are more pronounced at dusk or in the evening.
“You are only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry and be sure to smell the flowers along the way.”
Walter Hagen
There are five main scents in roses -old rose, musk, tea, myrrh and fruits.
Old Rose
Old rose scent is rich, complex and warm. Old rose scent has depth and layers of complexity- citrus peel, dried fruits, cucumber, berry jam, black pepper, beeswax and patchouli. This is the classic rose fragrance found in old-fashioned roses like Gallica roses, and their descendant rose the Damasks, Centifolias, and Albas. The roses called Rugosas from China and Japan also have interesitng scents like cinnamon, cloves, almond, honey and watercress.
Mme. Isaac Pereire, Fantin Latour, Ispahan and Reine des Violettes roses.
Musk
Musk scent comes from the stamens in roses and is the only fragrance created this way so to catch the full strength inhale deep into the bloom. Musk is spicy and sweet at thesame time, with notes of clove, cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg and also hints of almond and nougat, sea salt and honeycomb. These scents will combine with the perfume of the petals to create exceptional fragrance.
Wedding Day, Buff Beauty, Penelope, Ballerina roses.
Myrrh
Myrrh is an unusual scent but is nothing to do with Myrrh from Christmas Carols. It is a sweet aniseed scent in Old Garden Roses that comes from the Latin name for the herb Sweet Cicely- Myrrhis odorata. It is classically light and delicate, full of air and hints of aniseed, green banana and fennel, liquorice root and a touch of star anise.
The Generous Gardener, Wollerton Old Hall roses,Constance Spry and Boscobel roses.
Tea
Tea scent is an earthy, fragrance that is often described as smelling like a freshly opened packet of China tea or dried black tea leaves with fruity notes and hints of violet and apricot. David Austen roses describe Tea scent as powdery and found in
Emily Bronte, Lady of Shalott, Summer Song, Graham Thomas, Crepuscule, and Apricot Nectar roses.
Fruity
Fruit scent is often found in Noisette roses and Bourbon roses. The fragrance can be any fruit you may think of from citrus, to berries and the more exotic fruits like grape, lychee, and guava Roses with either Rugosa. chinensis or wichurana in their background are most likely to have a fruity fragrance.
Olivia Rose Austin, The Poets Wife, Tranquility, Peace, Princesse Charlene de Monaco®, Just Joey,Angel face, Pope John Paul 11, and Earth Angel roses.
I hadn’t given much attention to planting roses for specific perfume qualities when designing the garden. My choices were based more on colour, colour schemes, plant hardiness, the names, and the history of each rose. It was an oversight on my part because the perfume in roses is so evocative and a significant element in the beauty of a rose garden
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
William Shakespeare
After reflecting on the roses that are growing in the garden there are many with perfume
Mme. Alfred Carrière Clg a Noisette rose with intense yet delicate perfume.
Belle Parfume, with an appealing strong, seductive fragrance.
Blackberry Nip, has a powerful delicious old-fashioned scent.
Chartreuse de Parme, is highly fragrant, heady scent of fruits, citrus, lilac, rose and spices.
Dark Desire, a sensual fragrance of floral and fruit.
Desdemona, an intense myrrh fragrance.
Dusky Moon, a sweet briar rose fragrance that is intense and fruity.
Emily Brontë, a tea scent with old rose, lemon, and grapefruit.
Forget Me Not, has a strong fruit fragrance.
Francis Meilland® – Father of Peace, is fragrant with rich fruit and citrus.
Für Elise was Australian Rose of the Year 2023 with patchouli, berries, lime, spice, and classic rose fragrance.
Jubillee Celebration has hints of fresh lemon and raspberry.
Just Joey, intense spicy scent.
Kiss Me Kate Clg, a strong lemon and green apple fragrance.
Madame Delbard,has a strong and sweet perfume.
Mothers Love, a sweet rose fragrance.
Monseiur Tillier, a spicy herbal tea fragrance.
Nahema Clg, a strong sweet fruity perfume.
Parfum de Paris, heady scent of rose perfume, strong and sweet.
Penelope, is a hybrid musk rose with musk and fruitt scent.
Perfume Passion, a citrus, fruity, lemon fragrance.
Pope John Paul 11, is strong sweet citrus and considered one of the most fragrant roses of all time.
Princesse Charlene de Monaco™, is the winner of the Fragrance Award, Australian National Rose Trial Garden Awards, 2017.
Soeur Emmanuelle, a heady strong fragrance of Myrrh from morning until dusk.
Sub Zero, an intoxicating scent of peaches, pears and exotic fruits.
Summer Song, has a mixed scent of chrysanthemum leaves, ripe bananas and tea.
Sweet Intoxication will fill a room with cloves and spice scent.
The Golden Child, was awarded Rose of the Year in 2013 and has a delightful perfume.
The Lady of Shalott has a pleasant, warm tea fragrance, with hints of spiced apple and cloves.
Twilight Zone with a strong, spicy clove and citrus fragrance.
“You may break, you may shatter the vase, if you will, but the scent of the roses will hang round it still.”
Thomas Moore
Stopping to smell a rose, whether metaphorically or not, is a moment to savour, slow down and appreciate the surroundings, inspiring calmness and raising one’s spirits. The perfume of a rose can remind you of another time or place, sparking memories because scents are processed in the same part of the brain as our memories.
Gandhi
The fragrance always remains on the hand that gives the rose.
Two main roses are used in the ancient art of perfumery, Rosa centifolia from France, and Rosa Damascena, from Bulgaria, Morocco or Turkey. The hundreds of compounds in the oils extracted from these roses are used to create the rich and multi-facetted rose scent. Rose scents will range from citrus to lemongrass, mint, peach, plum, wine, clove and rose. The roses used for the base of perfume have stood the test of time due in part because the rose essence blends so perfectly with other florals, woods and citrus notes.
It takes about 4500kg of petals to produce 1kg of precious rose oil for perfume.
“If you enjoy the fragrance of a rose, you must accept the thorns which it bears.”
Issac Hayes
A perfumed rose that has eluded me so far is Rosa Double Delight. This is a standout rose for beauty and fragrance. Double Delight® has large, informal, old-fashioned blooms in a rich, creamy white with strawberry-red edges.
“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.”
John Burroughs
Double Delight is also heat tolerant. The hot weather defines the carmine red edges of the petals, and intensifies the highly fragrant blooms. It was bred by A Ellis and Herbert Swim in the USA in 1976.
Diana from Silkies Rose farm suggests
In humid, wet weather, Double Delight can sulk and the blooms refuse to open; the foliage is very susceptible to black-spot so this rose should be planted with lots of air circulation and few or no other plants around it.
Diana Sargeant
These Scentimental Roses have a strong, sweet spicy, and Damask rose fragrance. Scentimental rose is a Floribunda shrub with loads of beautiful, healthy foliage and old-fashioned double blooms that are cream, white and burgundy red. It is rarely out of flower and each rose is uniquely different, as if handpainted. Scentimental rose was bred by Tom Carruth, USA, in 1999.
According to Treloar Roses – the overall appearance of the Scentimental Rose is of a striped rose, some blooms appearing burgundy-red swirled creamy white, while others are creamy white splashed with burgundy-red…
Content Di Baker 2025
Title Quote by Michael Marriott
Images by Di Baker at Orange NSW
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The Dover Myer, Rose Garden Auckland New Zealand