the master of modern femininity                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    the perfumed garden
                                            The MOST
                                                                                                                                                                                        If you love perfume, we’ve a hunch you love all things fragrant – 
                                                                                                                                                                                        including garden plants. So this month, we asked Country Living 
                         fragrant                                                                                                                                                          Gardens Editor Stephanie Donaldson to advise on the most 
                                      roses                                                                                                                                                             heavenly-scented roses for our gardens…
                                                                                                                                                                                             nce in a while someone will                   set about taking the best qualities of old roses and 
                                     ON eArTh                                                                                                                                                confess that they don’t like roses – an       crossed them with modern roses to breed for fine 
                                                                                                                                                                                             unimaginable admission for those              fragrance as well as vigour, disease-resistance and a 
                                                                                                                                                                                             of us for whom the rose represents            long flowering season. So central to the company is 
                                                                                                                                                                            o
                                                                                                                                                                                             the very essence of beauty, with its          the development of the most fragrant rose varieties 
                                                                                                                                                                            silken petals and glorious fragrance. But it’s rather like     that it employs a fragrance expert, Robert Calkin, to 
                                                                                                                                                                            someone claiming not to like perfumes: in reality, it’s        work alongside David Austin as it’s ‘nose’. The roses 
                                                                                                                                                                            probably more a matter of finding the right one – or           they breed are known as ‘English Roses’ and they are 
                                                                                                                                                                            two, or three, or four.                                        the perfect plant for the modern garden.
                                                                                                                                                                               We may think of roses as                                                                So how do you go about 
                                                                                                                                                                            quintessentially English, but                                                           selecting a rose for your own 
                                                                                                                                                                            they have actually made their                                                           garden? It’s not just in the 
                                                                                                                                                                            way to us from distant parts                                                            perfume halls of department 
                                                                                                                                                                            of the world - initially from the      Roses feature one                                stores that people’s response 
                                                                                                                                                                            Mediterranean and Middle                                “                               to a particular scent is 
                                                                                                                                                                            East where Damask roses                 of five dominant                                subjective. While colour, shape 
                                                                                                                                                                            (from Damascus) have been                                                               and size are all important, 
                                                                                                                                                                            grown for their perfume since           notes – Old rose,                               there is no point in growing a 
                                                                                                                                                                            ancient times, and latterly                                                             rose if its fragrance does not 
                                                                                                                                                                            from China where the native                                                             appeal to you. Roses feature 
                                                                                                                                                                            roses brought the useful                  musk, tea rose,                               one of five dominant notes – 
                                                                                                                                                                            quality of repeat flowering to                                                          ‘Old rose’, ‘musk’, ‘tea rose’, 
                                                                                                                                                                            the mix. Until that time, nearly         myrrh and fruit                                ‘myrrh’ and ‘fruit’ – sometimes 
                                                                                                                                                                            all cultivated roses flowered                                                           distinct and sometimes in 
                                                                                                                                                                            their socks off for a month in                                                          more subtle combinations. 
                                                                                                                                                                            June, with possibly a modest                                                               At a David Austin event, 
                                                                                                                                                                            return in the autumn, but                                                               which I attended with other 
                                                                                                                                                                            added nothing to the garden for the rest of the year.          garden writers, we were given the opportunity to 
                                                                                                                                                                               But the prospect of summer-long flowering got               smell the most fragrant English Roses and I was 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   ”
                                                                                                                                                                            the rose breeders of England and France very excited           astonished by the diversity of fragrance and our 
                                                                                                                                                                            - and by the middle of the 19th Century, they were             individual responses to them. 
                                                                                                                                                                            cross-breeding every rose they could lay their hands              Myrrh-scented ‘Wollerton Old Hall’ had several 
                                                                                                                                                                            on, with the result that there are now over 6,000              enraptured, but to me it smelt of antiseptic – actually 
                                                                                                                                                                            varieties listed around the world…                             old-fashioned Germolene ointment - so I now know to 
                                                                                                                                                                               But as in everything, quantity does not mean                avoid roses where myrrh notes are dominant. On the 
                                                                                                                                                                            quality - and there were (and still are) many roses            other hand I love the fresh, light quality of tea rose, so 
                                                                                                                                                                            that may be of interest to ‘collectors’, but are poor          that is the note I now look for when choosing a rose.  
                                                                                                                                                                            performers in the garden. And somehow, in the race                Gertrude Stein may have declared that ‘a rose is a 
                                                                                                                                                                            for novelty, the rose’s most treasured quality – its           rose is a rose’ but there’s a world of difference to be 
                                                                                                                                                                            fragrance – got overlooked in the pursuit of upright,          discovered if you get out there and take time to smell 
                                                                                                                                                                            vigorous plants with showy, brightly-coloured flowers.         the roses…
                                                                                                                                                                            And thus the largely scentless hybrid tea rose, 
                                                                                                                                                                            beloved of public park planting schemes, was born...           NB If you love rose fragrances, don’t miss our rose-
                                                                                                                                                                               Fortunately an English rose breeder came along              scented Perfume Society event at Roullier White on 
                                                                                                                                                                            with a different vision. In the 1950s David Austin             23rd July 2015 – see EVENTS on p.35. 
           The scented LeTTer                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              The scented LeTTer   
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     the perfumed garden
                      While colour, shape and size are all important,  
                   there is no point in growing a rose if its fragrance 
            “
                                                    doesn’t appeal to you
           TOP 10 ENGLISH ROSES FOR SCENT                                                               ”
           While many old varieties of roses are deliciously fragrant,       beauty with an exceptionally long flowering season. 
           they don’t have the healthy reliability, neat habit               Peachy-pink buds open to reveal pure white blooms with 
           and long-flowering season of David Austin’s English               just a hint of pink on a strong healthy shrub with broad 
           Roses - so this list draws entirely from their catalogue,         open growth that combines well in a mixed border.
           which you’ll find online (or order a printed version) at 
           davidaustinroses.com.                                              9  Golden Celebration bears magnificent tea-scented 
                                                                             blooms that often develop a mouth-watering combination                       1                                            2                                                3
            1  Gertrude Jekyll has a powerful and beautifully rounded        of Sauternes wine and strawberry notes; it is one of the 
           old rose fragrance, described as strong, rich, complex            largest flowered varieties with cup-shaped rich golden 
           and beautifully balanced. Robust and free-flowering,              blooms on a nicely shaped arching shrub.
           the flowers are large and deep pink on a medium-sized 
           upright shrub that will climb to three metres when grown          10  Princess Alexandra of Kent has a delightful fresh tea 
           against a wall.                                                   fragrance that gradually changes to lemon and eventually 
                                                                             takes on hints of blackcurrants; the large deeply-cupped 
            2  Munstead Wood has a strong old rose scent with                flowers are a warm glowing pink on a well-rounded shrub.
           warm fruity notes of blackberry, blueberry and damson – 
           described by Robert Calkin as ‘a real red rose fragrance’. 
           The large flowers have petals of a very deep velvety              SMELLING ROSES ROUND THE WORLD
           crimson with paler undersides. A bushy shrub. 
                                                                             There’s a good reason why the UK is justifiably famous for 
            3  Lady Emma Hamilton’s strong, deliciously fruity               the quality of its roses: our damp, temperate, maritime 
           fragrance has hints of pear, grape and citrus fruits that         climate creates the perfect conditions for roses to thrive 
           complement its tangerine-orange and yellow colouring              and for the flowers to hold on to their fragrance for 
           perfectly. The chalice-shaped flowers are carried on a            longer.  In warmer climates, the volatile oils evaporate 
           broad, upright shrub with glossy broad foliage.                   as the temperature rises and the scent dissipates. In the 
                                                                             Middle East and Eastern Europe where roses are grown 
            4  Wollerton Old Hall is richly fragrant with a distinctive      and harvested for the production of attar of roses, the 
           English myrrh scent with a hint of grapefruit sometimes           workers start picking at dawn and stop as soon as the 
           evident; the flowers are a soft apricot eventually paling to      air warms. You will always experience the best floral 
           cream on an upright bushy shrub with few thorns.                  fragrances if you visit a rose garden early in the day -                     4                                            6                                                7
                                                                             especially in a hot climate. 
            5  Harlow Carr’s heady old rose scent sits perfectly with 
           its pure pink medium-sized flowers on an exceptionally            UK
           bushy, rounded shrub that flowers right to the ground; it         David Austin Roses – davidaustinroses.com
           is tough, healthy, free-flowering and is good in a border.        Mottisfont Abbey – nationaltrust.org.uk
           (See previous page for the photo.)                                Rosebie Morton – rosebiemorton.com
                                                                             Helmingham Hall – helminghamhall.com
            6  Port Sunlight’s rich, pure tea scent is complemented          Alnwick Garden – alnwickgardens.com
           by the deep apricot colouring of its medium-sized flowers 
           that pale a little toward the outside of the blooms; a            BELGIUM
           vigorous and rather upright shrub which is ideal for the          Castle Hex – hex.be
           back of a border - and very reliable.
                                                                             FRANCE
            7  The Generous Gardener is a compelling mixture of old          Roseraie de L’Hay – roserieduvaldumarne.com
           rose, musk and myrrh scent in an exquisite rose with large 
           cup-shaped flowers of palest pink; primarily a climber, it        ELSEWHERE
           will also make a large rounded shrub for the back of the          The website Lillysrosegarden.com lists rose gardens 
           border and can be planted in a large container.                   around the world; they can be found under the heading 
                                                                             ‘Famous Rose Gardens’ – but do some ‘digging’ before a 
         Descriptions courtesy of David Austin Roses8  Desdemona is an exquisite intensely myrrh-scented visit as some are more fabulous than others... 
          The scented LeTTer                                                                                                                              8                                            9                                                10                    The scented LeTTer   
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