The primary reason why people grow roses is normally not for fragrance alone, but it is definitely a nice benefit. Sadly, a lot of the world’s most stunning modern roses have little or no fragrance, but they're beautiful to admire. But, now far more folks believe that fragrance is an necessary characteristic in selecting a rose plant for their garden.

So, what are your chances? Approximately 25% of all roses have little or no fragrance, 20% have an intense fragrance. The other 55% fall somewhere in the middle. It is hard to beat a rose that is both stunning and fragrant.

Have you ever wondered what makes a rose fragrant? It turns out the fragrance of a rose is the result of a series of chemical reactions, both within the rose, as well as the atmosphere around the rose.

As someone who is chemically challenged, I knew it would be complicated. Lots of chemical groups are responsible for floral fragrance, including alcohols, aldehydes, carbonic acid, essental oils and resins, fatty acids, and phenols. Citronellol and phenylethyl are also associated as being responsible for certain scents too.

The good news is that rose breeders have been focusing on fragrance lately. So, you will discover a decent number of fragrant roses to select from nowadays.

Another hard to quantify factor is everybody tends to smell an aroma a bit differently when they bury their nose in a rose.

There are some characteristics that have been discovered in specific roses that have a bearing on how fragrant a rose is.

Obviously, as with anything else, you may discover some exceptions to this rule.

Here are some guidelines:

1 .Darker roses are generally more fragrant than lighter colored ones.

2. Heavily petaled roses have a stronger or significantly more intense scent than those with fewer petals.

3. Red and pink varieties are closely associated to the classic rose scent.

4. The aromas of yellow and white roses are often compared to the fragrance of nasturtiums and violets, along with other flowery and lemony scents.

5. Orange roses are often associated to a fruity scent.(Possibly the power of suggestion in the color maybe?)

Other components that effect fragrance strength have to do with environmental components that you'll be able to control to some degree, including:

6. Make sure you plant them in a great soil

7. Make particular the PH is right

8. The quantity of moisture within the soil is crucial. Roses are most fragrant and sweetest when plants have adequate water.

9. Temperature, humidity, wind conditions, and time of day also influence fragrance strength.

Scent is much more pronounced on warm, sunny days, and is substantially reduced on a cloudy day or when it is cold. Roses tend to emit a lot more fragrance later in the day than they do early in the morning.

After a rose is cut it is fragrance stays with the petals, but the scent is strongest when the room is warm and the air is more humid than dry.

These days there is an award for everything. In the rose world, they have roses that have won the prestigious Gamble Fragrance Award:

In no particular order, they are:

Crimson Glory, red hybrid tea 1961; Tiffany, pink and yellow blend hybrid tea 1962; Chrysler Imperial, red hybrid tea 1965; Sutter’s Gold, orange-yellow hybrid tea 1966; Granada, red multicolored hybrid tea 1968; Fragrant Cloud, orange-red hybrid tea 1970; Papa Meilland, red hybrid tea 1974; Sunsprite, yellow floribunda 1979; Double Delight, red and white bicolored hybrid tea 1986; and Fragrant Hour, orange-pink hybrid tea 1997.

I have personally grown Fragrant Cloud, Double Delight and they actually are truly fragrant.

There is a new rose family with the unfortunate name of "Knock Out" roses making lots of waves so I'm trying them this fall. I'll let you know how that turns out.