Scentless Roses are Silly

I wanted to say “stupid” in the title, but I decided to lighten the tone a little, just because, somebody, somewhere, would probably take offense at me calling their boring non-fragrant roses “stupid.”  Oh!  They can read this too?  Well shit, cats out of the bag folks.  I think scentless roses are stupid!

Generally speaking I don’t care for the fragrance of a lot of flowers (especially paper-whites, those things make me nauseous).  I find a lot of them simply too fragrant and kind of cloying.  However, I have long had a fondness for the smell of roses.  In fact, I might be so bold to say that I think the scent of roses is about one of the most appealing smells that can be encountered.

So imagine my dismay when, not too long ago, I was informed that some are scentless.  I was even further shocked to learn that this is not a flaw in design, but in fact a product of intention.  I literally and verbally said “What the fuck?”

Sure, roses can offer more than just their delightful smell.  They can be really beautiful plants and add a lot to landscaping.  And probably there are some folks who don’t like the smell of roses (fyi, they’re wrong, roses smell great, because . . .  science or something).  But, it just seems weird to me to breed varieties that don’t have even some slight degree of a scent.

For our part Eliza and I actively choose to only grow scented roses.  Eliza has grown a lot and a wide variety of roses over they years, and they represent one of the few ornamental species we’re actively incorporating into our yard.  Why, well a big part of it is because we both want to enjoy their wonderful fragrances.

I’m gonna say it again, scentless roses are stupid.

~ by Nathaniel on May 3, 2013.