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4 of Our Favorite Fragrant Roses
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Susan Martin
Roses are undeniably beautiful but for a long time, fragrant cultivars fell out of favor. That’s because many of the most amazingly scented roses were also some of the worst offenders when it came to black spot and powdery mildew. They were too much work and required too many chemical treatments to keep them healthy, so many people simply stopped growing them.
Thankfully, fragrant roses are now back but even better — they also exhibit excellent disease resistance. Modern rose cultivars combine beauty with durability, blooming all summer long without the need for spraying to keep their foliage healthy. We are proud to carry roses from the Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Shrubs line because we know they are put through rigorous testing before they are introduced.
At Last® rose
It’s appropriate to start with this revolutionary rose because “at last”, breeders finally cracked the code and were able to develop a landscape rose that was both fragrant and disease resistant. Before At Last rose, these two traits were not found in a single cultivar. Thus, At Last became the first ever, fragrant landscape rose.
If you’re new to growing roses, this is the place to start. Not only is this rose amazingly beautiful with a classic rose scent, but it is also one of the most vigorous roses we’ve ever grown. The plants reach mature size within a few short years and don’t need much to burst forth with new growth each spring.
This is a very long blooming rose, and you can expect it to bloom in waves from late spring to frost. Its peachy colored, self-cleaning blossoms are fully petaled like a tea rose and its foliage is a glossy, deep emerald green. This is a gorgeous rose to cut for bouquets and since it blooms so prolifically, there will always be a fresh supply.
Grows 30 to 36” tall in zones 5-9 in full sun.
Flavorette™ Honey-Apricot rose
Rose petals and hips have long been used in creative cuisine and teas around the world, but that practice is just starting to catch on in North America. This new introduction is the first in a new series of culinary roses which was selected for both the flavor of its petals and for its reliable landscape performance.
Like its name indicates, its smoothly textured petals have a sweet and fruity honey-apricot flavor, which makes them suitable as a garnish for desserts, an ingredient for baked goods, or dropped into sweet cocktails. The blossoms are bowl-shaped and fully petaled like an heirloom rose, and the mounded plants exhibit great disease resistance. No deadheading is needed for a long season of bloom and rebloom in the summertime.
Grows 3 to 4’ tall in zones 4-8 in full sun.
Reminiscent® series of roses
Meet this new series of fragrant garden roses which was developed by rose lovers for rose lovers in Serbia, which gives a clue to their zone 4 hardiness. Inspired by Old English and French roses, this team of rose breeders sought to develop gorgeous, fully petaled roses with classic fragrance and strong disease resistance. The result is the new Reminiscent series of garden roses, which debuts with three colors: Reminiscent Coral, Reminiscent Crema and Reminiscent Pink.
You’ll find these richly colored blossoms have silky soft petals and a classic rose fragrance, produced in abundance as they bloom and rebloom throughout the summer. Choose Reminiscent Pink for its longest-stemmed flowers perfect for cutting, Reminiscent Crema for its dwarf habit that makes it work equally well in containers, and Reminiscent Coral for its glowing sunset coral hues.
- Hardy in zones 4-9, full sun.
- Reminiscent Coral: 2 to 4’ tall x 2’ wide
- Reminiscent Crema: 1.5 to 3’ tall x 2’ wide
- Reminiscent Pink: 3 to 4’ tall x 2’ wide
Rise Up® series of climbing roses
Customers have been asking us for climbing roses for years, and now we have them! The new Rise Up series of relatively short climbing roses from Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs live up to their high standards for disease resistance. Each cultivar in the series bears fragrant blossoms in unique colors.
Rise Up Amberness® bears fragrant, fully double, amber yellow blossoms which emerge from orange buds. They keep on coming all season until frost without having to remove the spent flowers. This rose’s 3 to 5’ tall canes can be tied to a trellis where they will scramble up, or they can be pruned down into a classic rose bush shape. Hardy in zones 4-9, full sun.
Rise Up Emberays™ is the newest color in the series and is bound to be one of the most popular. Glowing coral-orange and yellow, fragrant, bowl-shaped blossoms soften to pink and take on more of a classic rose shape as they age. The petals of the oldest blooms fall cleanly to the ground to make way for more flowers. This fascinating show continues all summer long as the plant reblooms without deadheading. The canes grow 3 to 5’ tall in zones 5-8 in full sun.
Rise Up Lilac Days® is the tallest climber in the series, with its canes reaching 5 to 8’ tall and 2 to 4’ wide. It is perfect for training up an arbor or across a white picket fence where its large clusters of fragrant, semi-double, 1.5” wide, lilac colored blossoms can be admired up close. You’ll enjoy this unique rose’s blossoms all summer and right up until frost. We’ve noticed this rose has fewer thorns than a typical rose, and its deep emerald green foliage stays attractive all season. Hardy in zones 4-9, full sun.
Rise Up® Ringo® – Bred by a well-known English rose breeder, you know this rose must be pretty remarkable if it was named after one of the beloved Beetles. It’s won awards in Poland and Australia, too. We’re proud to offer this short climbing rose with double, golden yellow flowers with a bright red eye right here in the U.S.A. where it has stood out in Michigan trials for several years. Selected for its vigorous growth and excellent foliage, this fragrant rose can be trained against a trellis or pruned into a classic rose shape. It grows 3 to 5’ tall and 2 to 3’ wide in zones 4-8 in full sun.
Want to see more roses? See what’s in stock now.
Need help caring for your roses? Read our rose care guide.
- Categories: Flowering Shrubs, Uncategorized
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