Stop and smell the roses with our tasting guide to the various scents
After tropical orchids, the rose as a species has the widest variety of scents to enjoy. Like lavender, the smell of roses has a calming effect on the mind, but the scent of a rose also has the ability to lift the spirits, so why wouldn’t you want a deep sniff?
Whatever your preferences, there’s a rose for you. Here’s a brief introduction to the many and various scents of the rose.
What you need to know first is that only a few roses actually smell of roses. Confused? Your nose will be. For the most part, it’s the red and pink roses that smell of the scent we tend to call ‘rose’. Others smell of fruits, violets, tea and a plethora of other things.
Secondly, if you’re looking for a rose to give your nostrils a real treat, look for darker-coloured roses - the deeper the red or pink the stronger the smell - and go for roses with lots of petals.
Scent experts recognise five main scents of rose. David Austin, unsurprisingly, has a lot to say on the subject. Here’s a quick rundown:
Old Rose
This is the traditional ‘rose’ scent. Albas, Damasks and Gallicas tend to have this scent. Also worth a sniff are some of David Austin’s English roses, such as Gertrude Jekyll and Rosa Desdemona. They’ll give you that English country garden scent and have quite a heady, high summer aroma.
Fruit
Roses can smell of many types of fruit, but most common are lemon scents. You’ll also hear roses being described as smelling of apple, mango and blackcurrant. They smell, as you’d expect, of a fresher type of sweetness than the old rose scents, and some border on being quite zesty. Rosa Zephirine Drouhin is a climber with a strong fruity scent that is lovely scrambling over a pergola. Other varieties that will give off a fruity niff are Lady Emma Hamilton and Jude the Obscure.
Musk
Often also described as a ‘cloves’ scent, musk-scented roses smell warm and their scent tends to ‘waft’ easily on the breeze, so you don’t have to stick your nose too far inside to get a musky hit. Unlike other roses, where the scent comes from petals, musk roses’ scent comes from their stamen. For a rich, musky scent try tall rambling roses with lots of small flowers such as Rambling Rector.
Myrrh
Not to be confused with the stuff one of the Wise Men brought, myrrh type roses don’t smell of myrrh itself, but of more of sweet anise (the name comes from the Latin for Sweet Cicely - myrrhis odorata). Myrrh scented roses are a bit Marmite - you either love them or you don’t - and have notes of liquorice. It’s quite a complex smell. Sceptr’d Isle and Gentle Hermione are both good bets.
Tea
Put all thoughts of PG Tips out of your mind. Tea roses have a rich, fresh black tea aroma. It’s a more ‘grown-up’ smell than some of the ‘old rose’ and ‘fruit’ rose scents, to our nose. They often have notes of violets and smell quite earthy in a pretty way. Lady Hillingdon and Lady of Shallott are both heavily scented tea roses - you can almost picture the women themselves sipping China tea underneath an arbour of peachy tea roses.
Many rose varieties will smell of two or more of these types, so you can mix and match your favourites. And, of course, there’s much more to it than that. Some have chocolate notes, or honeysuckle. Some burst with citrus or undertones of smoke. Take time to stop and smell the roses and you’ll find yourself on an olfactory journey that never ends.
If you’ve been inspired to plant your own rose garden or just add a rose to your garden, read our feature Coming Up Roses in our June ‘Flower’ issue, in which Kendra Wilson advises on modern ways to feature roses in your outdoor space.
The June issue is in shops and available from our online store now.
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