ALL ABOUT ROSES
"What's in a name?
That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
To begin a discussion of fragrance there are a few basics that should be addressed. Whether or not you smell a particular fragrance in a rose depends in some measure on your own personal olfactory system and how sensitive it is.
The Eco-culture in which you grow your roses is also responsible in a large degree to the amount of fragrance produced by them. There are also some additional factors regarding fragrance that should be taken into account.
The amount of sunshine, duration and intensity is an important factor. Temperature, humidity and wind conditions also affect the development of scent. Another aspect to fragrance is that it is affected by disease. Mildew, will cause a loss of scent in roses.
Whether a rose produces a fragrance is due in large part to its genetic ability to produce fragrance.
Since the gene for fragrance is recessive, unless both parents have the gene, you may find the off-spring to be only slightly fragrant or have no fragrance at all. A cross of two fragrant varieties could be expected to produce a preponderance of fragrant seedlings; possibly all of them would be unless the two parents were chosen with widely different types of fragrance.
The genetic background of most miniature roses would seem to limit the number of cultivars that are fragrant due in no small part to most ancestry being traced back to the completely scentless ‘Rouletii'.
When miniatures were first introduced, the main thrust of the hybridizing effort was to produce small roses with unique color. Ffragrance really wasn't a major consideration. ‘Cinderella' was one of the first miniatures that exhibited fragrance that it inherited from its parent, ‘Cecile Brunner', but she has been very stingy in passing this trait on to any of her progeny.
In 1975 Ralph Moore introduced a mossy miniature rose, ‘Dresden Doll' that rewarded him with the fragrance that he had been searching for.
In 1985 Moore introduced a rose with an open rosette form and purplish color that he named ‘Sweet Chariot'. This was another scented triumph that carried the genetic makeup to produce an old rose fragrance.
Many of today's fragrant miniatures come in shades of lavender or purple. Japan introduced ‘Lavender Crystal' in 1985. Its unique coloration, full rosette form and penetrating fragrance will endear it to many rosarians.
In 1986 Betty Jacobs of Four Seasons Rose Nursery introduced a greyish-white mini with pointed buds, an elegant high center and long stems. ‘Winter Magic' (Rise' n' Shine x Blue Nile) soon found its way onto the Court of Honor at many rose shows. The foliage is glossy which imparts a certain degree of resistance to fungal diseases.
Moore introduced ‘Café Ole' in 1990 which was a sport of ‘Winter Magic' and while the coloration was an odd, brownish parchment color that faded to a creamy gray, it also carried the same intense fragrance as its parent. In 1994 Moore crossed the color barrier and introduced ‘Apricot Twist' a soft apricot with long, pointed buds and a long lasting flower.
In 1985, Nor' East Miniature Roses, under the direction of Harm Saville, accepted the challenge of introducing a miniature rose with exceptional fragrance. They called their first introduction, ‘Sachet' - a mauve that had a lovely Damask fragrance. ‘Sunny Day' - a deep yellow would follow in 1986. In 1995 they began their fragrance series with the introduction of ‘Scentsational' - a mauve, rosette form mini. This would be the foundation for the fragrance dynasty for Nor' East. 1996 saw the introduction of ‘Seattle Scentsation' and in 1998, ‘Overnight Scentsation' (MinFl) demanded world-wide media attention when it was taken on board the Space shuttle Columbia STS-95 that included Senator John Glenn. Experiments were carried out in zero gravity to further study how plants create fragrances. Nor' East continues to introduce fragrant minis and mini-floras in a fascinating color range from white to apricot to medium yellow to deep yellows. In 2002 a fragrant apricot Mini-Flora, ‘Peach Delight' was introduced and in 2003 they introduced a medium red HT formed mini they named ‘Red Scentsation'. 2004 saw the introduction of ‘Norwich Sweetheart' which is very fragrant and has a magenta flower with classic HT form.
There are nearly 25 different scents that can be identified in roses, so the next time you enjoy your roses, I hope that you will remember some of the considerations that went into the breeding of a particularly aromatic rose and enjoy that extra bonus in your roses called fragrance.
The Eco-culture in which you grow your roses is also responsible in a large degree to the amount of fragrance produced by them. There are also some additional factors regarding fragrance that should be taken into account.
The amount of sunshine, duration and intensity is an important factor. Temperature, humidity and wind conditions also affect the development of scent. Another aspect to fragrance is that it is affected by disease. Mildew, will cause a loss of scent in roses.
Whether a rose produces a fragrance is due in large part to its genetic ability to produce fragrance.
Since the gene for fragrance is recessive, unless both parents have the gene, you may find the off-spring to be only slightly fragrant or have no fragrance at all. A cross of two fragrant varieties could be expected to produce a preponderance of fragrant seedlings; possibly all of them would be unless the two parents were chosen with widely different types of fragrance.
The genetic background of most miniature roses would seem to limit the number of cultivars that are fragrant due in no small part to most ancestry being traced back to the completely scentless ‘Rouletii'.
When miniatures were first introduced, the main thrust of the hybridizing effort was to produce small roses with unique color. Ffragrance really wasn't a major consideration. ‘Cinderella' was one of the first miniatures that exhibited fragrance that it inherited from its parent, ‘Cecile Brunner', but she has been very stingy in passing this trait on to any of her progeny.
In 1975 Ralph Moore introduced a mossy miniature rose, ‘Dresden Doll' that rewarded him with the fragrance that he had been searching for.
In 1985 Moore introduced a rose with an open rosette form and purplish color that he named ‘Sweet Chariot'. This was another scented triumph that carried the genetic makeup to produce an old rose fragrance.
Many of today's fragrant miniatures come in shades of lavender or purple. Japan introduced ‘Lavender Crystal' in 1985. Its unique coloration, full rosette form and penetrating fragrance will endear it to many rosarians.
In 1986 Betty Jacobs of Four Seasons Rose Nursery introduced a greyish-white mini with pointed buds, an elegant high center and long stems. ‘Winter Magic' (Rise' n' Shine x Blue Nile) soon found its way onto the Court of Honor at many rose shows. The foliage is glossy which imparts a certain degree of resistance to fungal diseases.
Moore introduced ‘Café Ole' in 1990 which was a sport of ‘Winter Magic' and while the coloration was an odd, brownish parchment color that faded to a creamy gray, it also carried the same intense fragrance as its parent. In 1994 Moore crossed the color barrier and introduced ‘Apricot Twist' a soft apricot with long, pointed buds and a long lasting flower.
In 1985, Nor' East Miniature Roses, under the direction of Harm Saville, accepted the challenge of introducing a miniature rose with exceptional fragrance. They called their first introduction, ‘Sachet' - a mauve that had a lovely Damask fragrance. ‘Sunny Day' - a deep yellow would follow in 1986. In 1995 they began their fragrance series with the introduction of ‘Scentsational' - a mauve, rosette form mini. This would be the foundation for the fragrance dynasty for Nor' East. 1996 saw the introduction of ‘Seattle Scentsation' and in 1998, ‘Overnight Scentsation' (MinFl) demanded world-wide media attention when it was taken on board the Space shuttle Columbia STS-95 that included Senator John Glenn. Experiments were carried out in zero gravity to further study how plants create fragrances. Nor' East continues to introduce fragrant minis and mini-floras in a fascinating color range from white to apricot to medium yellow to deep yellows. In 2002 a fragrant apricot Mini-Flora, ‘Peach Delight' was introduced and in 2003 they introduced a medium red HT formed mini they named ‘Red Scentsation'. 2004 saw the introduction of ‘Norwich Sweetheart' which is very fragrant and has a magenta flower with classic HT form.
There are nearly 25 different scents that can be identified in roses, so the next time you enjoy your roses, I hope that you will remember some of the considerations that went into the breeding of a particularly aromatic rose and enjoy that extra bonus in your roses called fragrance.
