Pernetiana success point to new or better color being even more important than scent. We are more visual than olfactive.
Habit of putting our nose on flowers is a persistant fashion born about a century ago when gardening was all shifted at scented plants mostly long forgotten as is i.e. Reseda.
Another point is that strong perfume you can experience from a distance is rare and not consistant. The more so with a few flowers and a not by the path smaller decorative shrub. Not to say that as many do I would not appreciate it a lot.
The Harkness rose nursery did bred a group of scented Ground Cover roses that met limited public favor, even in England.
Lastly Knock Out success points to many people wanting a colorfull desease resistant bush even without perfume and flower shape.
My opinion is that desease resistance is a strong requirement for more and more people that dislike spraying or appreciate reducing spraied area.
Which among scent or color is second? None is indifferent and both are important but I agree with Paul that plant architecture is decisive.
KO being outstanding for the later feature with a naturally nice shaped plant.
Another usefull quality for a bush would be a decorative foliage.
As Paul we should not fear to dare being impertinent and over ambitious.
Pierre Rutten
Ehm, Id prefer the best of all worlds and/or variety. Catering to a single aspect seems so limited. However, I would agree that the jumbo HT is quite out dated in contrast with modern times. It is needless except for exhibitors which are a vast minority of gardeners.
Chris,
I guess it depends. I personally dislike a rose that doesn’t have a pleasent fragrance. Most of the roses I own have a fragrance. Save Queen Elizabeth, Cesar Chavez, Livin Easy and a few minis.
It’s just a pure delight to smell a fragrant rose, so why concentrate only what pleases the eyes when the nose is equally important?
Some other points on scent:
My wife loves good scents, but she (and her one sister as well) are ‘super’ tasters/smellers, i.e. highly able to detect scents. They both cannot tolerate highly scented roses as cut flowers as for them the scent overpowers the home.
I am, on the otherhand, am almost scent handicapped. I used to make wine and sometimes help judge contests. I realized that if I could get a bouquet from a wine that my nose almost immediately desensitized and I could no longer smell it. I don’t lose highly scented roses as easily but I have to be right on top of it to get the scent.
Plus, though I am a gardener, I have active nasal allergies. Volatile scents can trigger an allergy attack.
Love lilacs, but I avoid them in bloom by at least 10 feet.
So not everyone appreciates scent in the same way or with the same reaction.
Chris
Dear Jimmiegeorge
I don’t know where you are located, but I assure you, gardenning ,home renovations and home building are booming in Canada. Gardenning is one of the largest hobbies for the baby boomers.
What isn’t doing so well is the rose societies. Most of them in this country are shrinking and going under. The generation who loved the rose shows are disappearing. I’m 40 and the youngest member of our local rose society. My impression is that people just don’t have time for show roses anymore.
In terms of hardiness and disease resistance, I think Van Fleet, Brownell and Buck knew what they were doing. If you can identify a need (or niche) you can make a success in your own small way.
Mark Disero, Brantford Ontario, zone 5
Link: www.canadablooms.com/
They really dont. Rose shows are extremely taxing on time and energy. Im young and they took a lot out of me when I did them. Im not sure how some of the older folks did it. I’d be like, “Okay you guys forge on ahead without me, Im taking a nap on the show table.” hehe
I didn’t know florist roses have fragrance Chris. To me… they have that odd “floral refrigerator” scent that’s not part of the true rose.
Although Angel Face has one of the fragrance that is so good but so overwhelming that it tantalizes you. There’s so much your nose can take…
For today’s small lots, patios and balconies, how are roses going to compete with so many other types of flowers (many that are fragrant)the consumer can choose from unless they are fragrant? The exceptions to some extent are sprawly groundcovers and Climbers, because they have less competition from other types of flowers.
I think Enrique put it well when he said it is pure delight to smell a fragrant rose. In this respect, professional rose breeders have often short changed gardeners and rosarians. Millions have people have had a disappointing experience smelling a rose and finding it is not fragrant. If possible, let’s not continue this fraudulent activity in breeding programs.