There’s something about the way a sweet-smelling rose can stop you in your tracks, filling the air with fragrance and making even an ordinary day feel a little more romantic. If you’ve always dreamed of having a garden filled with blooms that delight your senses every time you step outside, you’ll need to plant a few of the roses on my list of the most fragrant roses for your garden.
With so many varieties to choose from, each with its own unique aroma and color, you’ll be delighted to add some magic to your rose flower garden with a few delightful-smelling roses.
The Different Types of Fragrant Roses
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Each variety of rose promises colorful and aromatic blooms, each with its own specific light, water, size, and zone requirements. The following are the most popular types of good-smelling roses (like nature’s own perfume).
- English roses are known for their strong scent and romantic appearance
- Hybrid tea roses offer a wide range of colors and scents that make them a popular choice for bouquets.
- Floribunda roses are hardy plants that bloom in clusters, making them perfect for adding color and fragrance to your garden.
- Shrub roses come in different shapes and sizes, from compact bushes to sprawling climbers
A Quick Guide to Rose Care
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Before jumping into rose recommendations, let’s first cover some basic care. To enjoy the beauty and fragrance of these different rose types, here are some tips:
- Plant them near patios or paths where you can appreciate their scent
- Follow their specific light, water, size, and zone requirements for optimal growth
- Consider using organic fertilizers or companion plants to enhance their health (here are the best companion plants for roses)
- Plant them in full sun (or at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight a day) to encourage maximum blooming
By planting some of the best scented roses on this list, your garden will be filled with fragrant blooms all season long. So go ahead – indulge your senses by exploring the world of the best fragrant roses!
Old-Fashioned English Roses
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Discover the vintage charm of Old Garden Roses, with their romantic beauty and captivating history.
These roses have been cultivated for centuries and are beloved for their sweet fragrance and beautiful blooms. Among the most fragrant roses are the English Roses, which are a type of Old Garden Roses that were developed by British rose breeder David Austin in the 1960s. They combine the best qualities of modern hybrid tea roses with the delightful fragrance, form, and charm of old-fashioned varieties.
Amazon sells lots of David Austin Roses, in many colors, and one of them is sure to be perfect for your garden.
English Roses come in a wide range of colors, from soft pinks to vibrant oranges, yellows, reds, and purples. They have a strong myrrh fragrance that is reminiscent of antique roses and can fill your garden with their heady aroma.
Many English Roses are also disease-resistant, making them an easy choice for novice gardeners or those who want low-maintenance plants in their yard.
Hybrid Tea Roses
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Hybrid Tea Roses, with their vibrant hues and delicate petals, will transport you to a world of elegance and refinement. These roses are known for their classic beauty, and they’re often sought after for special occasions such as weddings or anniversaries.
But beyond their appearance, hybrid tea roses also have an incredibly intense fragrance that sets them apart from other rose varieties. Many popular hybrids like Double Delight and Fragrant Cloud have a strong scent that can fill a room with ease.
So, add beauty and aroma to your garden by planting a few hybrid tea roses to your collection.
- Sweet Mademoiselle Rose – sweet fruity fragrance
- Pinkerbelle Rose – gorgeous white blooms with pink edging and strong verbena scent
Floribunda Roses
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These modern roses are hybrid crosses between polyantha and tea roses, resulting in clusters of blooms on each stem.
Floribunda roses are known for their hardiness and disease resistance, making them perfect for busy gardeners who want low-maintenance but high-reward plants. They thrive in full-sun locations with well-drained soil.
Floribunda roses come in a variety of scents ranging from sweet to spicy to fruity. Some popular, highly scented varieties include Honey Perfume, with its apricot-yellow blooms and spicy scent, and Fragrant Cloud, with its coral-red blooms that smell like pumpkin pie.
- Queen of Elegance Rose Tree – strong classic rose scent
- Julia Child Rose – a warm, golden yellow colored licorice-smelling rose.
Grandiflora Roses
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Get ready for grandeur with the glorious and graceful grandiflora roses, which boast large flowers and beautiful fragrances. These roses are a cross between hybrid tea roses and floribunda roses, making them a perfect combination of elegance and abundance.
These roses are some of the most fragrant ones you can find.
- Anna’s Promise Rose – citrus fragrance
- Happy Go Lucky Rose – sweet fragrance
Shrub Roses
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Shrub roses, like a cozy blanket on a chilly evening, offer warmth and comfort to any garden with their bushy growth habit and wide range of colors.
- Easy Elegance® High Voltage Rose – gorgeous bushy shrub with bright yellow flowers
- Alfred Sisley Shrub Rose – multi-colored (orange and cream) blooms
- Iceberg® Shrub Rose – white flowers
- Edith’s Darling Shrub Rose Bush – yellow blooming and very fragrant
Climbing Roses
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Add a touch of elegance to your garden with the stunning blooms of climbing roses and their ability to go up structures, creating stunning scenery.
Check out these 12 gorgeous garden arbors (they make the perfect support for climbing roses).
- Gertrude Jekyll has pink blooms and antique rose fragrance
- Madame Alfred Carriere boasts pink-blushed white flowers and a spicy-sweet scent.
- Mister Lincoln features velvety-red petals with a strong fragrance
- New Dawn can grow up to 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide, and will bless your garden with double pink flowers that fade into a soft pink bloom
Heirloom Roses
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If you’re a fan of vintage flowers, you’ll love exploring the world of heirloom roses and discovering their unique characteristics. Heirloom roses are classic old roses that have been around for decades or even centuries. They come in various types, including hybrid tea rose, shrub rose, climbing rose, and more.
One of the most notable features of heirloom roses is their scent. Here are some examples of heirloom roses that stand out for their fragrance and other qualities:
- Double Delight® Plant
- Parfuma® Summer Romance Rose Bush
- Madame Isaac Pereire
- Gertrude Jekyll
- Louise Odier
- Roseraie de l’Hay
With so many beautiful options to choose from, there’s no reason not to add an heirloom rose to your garden this year!
How to Use Fragrant Roses
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Now that you have some of the most richly fragrant roses in your garden, here are some ways to use them, other than to grace your landscape:
- Scented roses, especially those with long stems, make excellent cut flowers; so, make a bouquet of roses once in a while for your own enjoyment, or to gift to a friend who needs a pick-me-up
- Dry the rose petals to add to potpourri
- Make rose essential oil. I did this with my daughter last year, and it was a lot of fun. We used an essential oil distiller to make the rose oil (and lots of lavender oil too!)
- Make rose water (here’s how)
- Dry the entire rose to use in floral arrangements
Did You Find a Favorite Scented Rose?
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I hope that my list of beautiful-smelling roses has inspired you to add to your rose garden collection. There are so many classic-smelling roses, but there are also some modern roses with surprising fragrance.
Which fragrant rose are you planning to add to your garden this year?
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