Fragrant Roses Can Be Controversial

Question:

Hi Pat

I am an amateur gardener living in Perth, Australia and I was wondering if you would be interested in being interviewed by me for my e-book and subscribers. I would do this by phone as a recording.  I like what you have on your website and feel that many could benefit from hearing you in an interview. My website is www.betterhouseandgarden.net. Though people from all over the world visit my site, most of them seem to come from California. I would like to know your opinion of my website. Roses are one of my major interests.

Cheers

Pete

Answer:

Dear Pete,

My first instinct was to say “yes, I’d love to do an interview for you,” My first impression prior to looking at your website was what a great name it has. It’s similar to the magazine name ” Better Homes and Gardens,” but when I began reading I saw that it didn’t sound as if it came from a magazine. One improvement I could suggest  would be that when providing a list of fragrant roses you base your choices on your personal experience and research instead of  perhaps relying on lists that are already out there. Conditions in Australia must be different from here and would be interesting to hear about.

For example if there is a Rose Society where you live you could  go to the meetings and pick up much there. Also, there might be Rose Nursery and ask them about fragrant roses, and also ask great local rose growers and visit rose gardens, so you can make your own list of really fragrant roses that are fragrant here in Southern California instead of a copy of the list you found on a list on the internet. Most people find ‘Just Joey’ to be truly fragrant and it’s disease resistant too. Ask folks what they think about that one. But here in San Diego County, Kniffings Nursery has said that ‘Dolly Parton’ is the best, most fragrant rose they carry. Go smell it in spring and see what you think. There are many others. I agree with you that ‘Abraham Lincoln’ is wonderfully fragrant, but it gets mildew, black spot, and rust; it’s a real trouble maker as is the deliciously fragrant ‘Double Delight’, though less so; it’s mostly prone to mildew. You need to tell folks these kinds of things. You need to get out there and learn things that most folks don’t know and then put that information onto your website, not just regurgitate stuff you find elsewhere on the internet.

I love fragrant roses too. You mention the climbing rose ‘Fourth of July’ but you fail to say it is a great, and very easy climbing rose with almost total disease-resistance. ‘Fourth of July’ thrives with little care and is almost never out of bloom, but it is not what I would call a really fragrant rose here. In a moist climate it is fragrant, not in a dry climate as you seem to be saying it is. In dry climates, such as ours in Southern California, it often seems that ‘Fourth of July’ has no fragrance whatsoever, whereas a florabunda rose such as ‘Angel Face’ can bowl you over with fragrance. You do not mention that one or ‘Outta the Blue’ another good fragrant rose that is also disease-resistant, though a little less fragrant than ‘Angel Face’, another lavender rose. Many lavender roses are fragrant. But Angel Face is not disease-resistant; it is prone to mildew and rust.

If you are going to have a really helpful website you need to give folks this kind of in-depth information. I also saw the list you relied on that you found on the internet but there are much better and more fragrant roses than those that are given on that list. To name another one that comes to mind is ‘The Prince’. This David Austin, English rose has simply delicious old-rose fragrance and it’s a wonderful deep red too, with many petals and an old-rose shape, but it opens up even close to the coast. Many English roses are very fragrant, such as ‘Gertude Jekyll’ I could go on and on.

Roses, however, are not my greatest area of expertise. Members of the San Diego Rose Society and Richard Streeper, in particular, are far better sources of information, though Richard does not seem to dwell much on fragrance. His main approach is prize winning roses.

Perhaps also I should point out that most rose experts today believe that, when pruning, one should make a straight cut above the bud, not slanted as you show on your site. A slanted cut could dry out the bud and kill it. Your information is out-dated. (The correct information about cutting straight across is in my book and this information is also quoted from my book as an authority on this subject, by Google on the Internet, but I did not get my information from another book. I got it from experts, such as our Farm Advisor, Vince Lazaneo.  (Others are mentioned in the Acknowledgements in the beginning of my book and there were even more, now lost in the mists of time.) When in doubt about something, ask Vince. He is a great source of the most up-to-date scientific information. He told me about the straight-across cut. I didn’t get that from a book.)”