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The Most Fragrant Roses for Your Garden

By: Lynn Coulter

Growing fragrant roses is like adding a perfume bar to your garden. Choose your favorite scent: citrus, honey, musk, cloves or even licorice.

Photo: Courtesy of David Austin Roses

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English Rose 'Lady Emma Hamilton'

'Lady Emma Hamilton' has a strong, fruity-scent that may remind you of citrus, pears and grapes. The blooms are tangerine-colored with yellow-orange outer petals.

Photo: Courtesy of David Austin Roses

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English Rose 'Munstead Wood'

Repeat-bloomer 'Munstead Wood' has a scent described by Robert Calkin, a David Austin Roses fragrance expert, as "warm and fruity with blackberry, blueberry and damson". The velvety flowers have dark crimson centers and lighter outer petals.

Photo: Courtesy of Jackson and Perkins

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Rose 'Honey Perfume'

Apricot and yellow 'Honey Perfume' is a floribunda rose with an intoxicating, spicy-and-sweet scent. As the flowers age, they turn a rich cream color. Along with winning many international awards, this rose was named an All-America Rose Selection.

Photo: Courtesy of David Austin Roses

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English Rose 'Boscobel'

Also called old roses, English roses are often extremely fragrant. Salmon-pink 'Boscobel' has a wonderful scent like myrrh, with notes of pears, elderberries and almonds.

Photo: Courtesy of David Austin Roses

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English Rose 'Claire Austin'

Like 'Boscobel', this English rose has a strong myrrh fragrance, with hints of vanilla, heliotrope and meadowsweet (a perennial herb in the rose family). 'Claire Austin' bears pale lemon buds that unfurl to cream.

Photo: Courtesy of David Austin Roses

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English Rose 'The Generous Gardener'

Plant 'The Generous Gardener' for a lush, old-fashioned rose fragrance. Its soft pink petals also smell of musk and myrrh. This English rose has excellent disease resistance and can be used as a climber or medium-tall shrub.

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Rose 'Double Delight'

Award-winning 'Double Delight' has it all: bi-colored blooms of cream and cherry red, a compact growth habit that makes it easy to grow in containers or as a flowering hedge, and a delicious, spicy scent.

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Floribunda Rose 'Scentimental'

Peppermint stick blooms of red and white make 'Scentimental' a garden standout. This floribunda has a strong fragrance that's both sweet and spicy.

Photo: Courtesy of Jackson & Perkins

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Climbing Rose 'America'

A spicy clove perfume fills the air when 'America' opens its pink and salmon-coral blooms. This disease-resistant climber can reach 10 to 12 feet tall, so support it on an arbor, fence, wall or trellis.

Photo: Courtesy of Antique Rose Emporium

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Rose 'Buff Beauty'

Musk-scented 'Buff Beauty' blooms vigorously in spring and fall. This apricot-colored rose be grown as a low, spreading shrub or a climber with vining canes.

Photo: Courtesy of David Austin Roses

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English Rose 'Graham Thomas'

Voted the World's Favorite Rose by an international society of over 100,000 rose lovers, 'Graham Thomas' has a tea rose perfume with the scent of violets.

The Most Fragrant Roses for Your Garden

English Rose 'Lady Emma Hamilton'

English Rose 'Munstead Wood'

Rose 'Honey Perfume'

English Rose 'Boscobel'

English Rose 'Claire Austin'

English Rose 'The Generous Gardener'

Rose 'Double Delight'

Floribunda Rose 'Scentimental'

Climbing Rose 'America'

Rose 'Buff Beauty'

English Rose 'Graham Thomas'

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