Roses have long been treasured for their classic looks and their famously sensuous fragrance in equal measure. As some of the most reliably beautiful flowers to grace any garden, it’s no wonder they’ve remained popular for hundreds of years. The variety of color and scent combinations available today is astounding, and can be intimidating to the beginning gardener or anyone not particularly well-versed in rose growing.
To help everyone jump into the scintillating world of fragrant rose gardening, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best examples available for your garden. Ranging from hearty bushes to sprawling wall-climbers, these roses are guaranteed to add a splash of visual fireworks to any garden. The best part is that each of these gorgeous breeds is equally adept at filling your yard with the utmost in sumptuous scents. For each flower, we have shared a description of the visual and olfactory components, detailing just what makes it an important rose to consider for your own garden.
Just Joey – This is a hybrid tea rose with the rich color of apricot and glowing orange. The ‘Just Joey’ amends its visual appeal with a sensuous fragrance that’s made it a garden favorite. These grow to about 4 feet tall and wide.
Autumn Damask – The Autumn Damask is a venerable rose, having been grown since the 1500s. With an intense combination of beautiful pink flowers and memorable fragrance, it remains popular today. The 5 foot tall and wide plant is a favorite of the perfume industry.
Double Delight – As a highly distinctive hybrid tea rose, Double Delight bears white flowers with bold, cherry-hued edges that deepen as the flower ages. The accompanying fragrance is dramatic and beautiful. The plant will grow up to 5 feet tall and wide.
Gertrude Jekyll – The Gertrude Jekyll is an English rose, which are known to be fragrant. This beautiful, strong, and easily grown plant is disease resistant and bursting with wonderful pink flowers. Size reaches 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
America – The America is an interesting climbing rose, allowing you to add visual pizazz to walls, fences, and other vertical structures. It features heartily scented coral-pink blooms all summer long, and with its disease resistant nature, so you can expect good looks through the end of the season. America can climb 16 feet tall and 6 feet wide.
Madame Alfred Carriere – This beauty is another old fashioned classic, a climbing rose born in 1879. These feature pink-blushed white flowers carrying a firmly spicy-sweet scent. The plant will yield a continuous supply of blooms throughout the season, perfect for covering a wall or pergola with its relative lack of thorns. It will grow up to 16 feet tall and 9 feet wide.
Madame Isaac Pereire – This rose is widely considered one of the most fragrant in history. Growing deeply petal-filled, raspberry flowers in both spring and summer, the large plant grows up to 7 feet tall and 5 feet wide.
Mister Lincoln – The Mister Lincoln is an award-winning rose born in 1965. Remaining popular today, the plant offers deeply colored velvety roses bursting with strong fragrance. The strong plant will grow to 7 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
New Dawn – Here’s another variety of climbing rose, with a fragrance as memorable as those found on bushy breeds. New Dawn features large soft-pink flowers throughout the season. This rose needs abundant room to grow, as it can reach 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide.
Fragrant Cloud – This breed is very similar to the America rose, being a parent plant. As a fellow award winner, Fragrant Cloud gives off an alluring fragrance from sizable red blooms. The hybrid plant grows up to 5 feet tall and wide.
Madame Plantier – The Madame Plantier was first bred in 1835, and remains popular to this day. Viewing the lush white flowers and smelling the particularly sweet fragrance will convince anyone why this rose has stood the test of time. The plant grows 6 feet tall and wide.
Louis Odier – An older breed, beginning in 1851, the venerable Louis Odier is valued for its strength as a cut flower, landscape usage, steady summertime bloom production, and vibrantly sweet fragrance. This rose will grow up to 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
Heritage Rose – The Heritage is another English breed, bearing densely petaled light pink blooms with a fragrance of sweet lemons. It’s easy to grow with fewer than normal thorns and offers solid disease resistance, growing up to 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
Radiant Perfume – This grandiflora rose’s makes it clear as day: the large golden-yellow blooms conjure an alluring citrus scent. These long-stemmed flowers are perfect for cutting, allowing you to bring the sunny beauty indoors. The plant grows up to 5 feet tall and wide.
Honey Perfume – This spectacular rose opens beautifully fragrant, apricot-yellow bloom clusters at 4 inches apiece. The plant is both compact, at 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide, and resistant to powdery mildew and rose rust.
