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| Hi there-
I planted a zepherine drouhin (hoped I spelled it right!) rose after reading about its wonderful fragrance. This is its second year, some canes are 6 feet, lots of blooms but no fragrance. I thought it was just me, but when my daughter visited she said she could only detect a slight scent. It had a nice first flush, the roses blooming now are about three weeks after the first bloom. Any ideas? Has this happened to anyone else? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Teakettle, try cutting a few starting to open buds, recut them under water and open them in the house to see if you can detect scent inside. 99.9% of the time, there is nothing wrong with the rose. It's either your weather is too hot/dry/windy or cold/damp/wet/windy for the oils and alcohols to either express themselves or causing them to evaporate so you can't smell them. The alternative is your nose is fouled up for whatever reason. Allergies, sinus problems, genetics, some mediations can all mess with your sniffer, preventing you from detecting the scent. Properly opening some of them in the house will help you determine what the issue is, but I seriously doubt it's the fault of the rose. Kim |
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- Posted by teakettle2 9 (My Page) on Thu, May 17, 12 at 8:54
| Thank you Kim. I will do that this morning. The weather has been weird this year. Zooming to 95 then back down to 70's. And by the way (if you are the "right" Kim) I purchased two bands of Annie Laurie McDowell this year and they are doing so well in their pots right now. I am just thrilled with them. Thank you for this gift. Sue |
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| A similar thing happened to me, but with a different rose, Abe Darby. We got our first bloom this past week. I have allergy rhinitis, and could not smell anything. But DW raves about how pleasant and strong the fragrance is. Just this morning, I cut another one for her to take to work. This one is about half the size of our first bloom, and I did detect a faint fruity/lemony smell. She told me that this smaller bloom smells FAR less than the first one. Go figure. Also, I saw my very first Zeffy this morning: a tiny bloom on my second-year band. Cannot detect any smell either, and will ask DW to have a sniff... |
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| Hi Sue, yes ma'am, Annie Laurie McDowell is one of my "babies", thank you! How neat you get to enjoy her, too. Because scent is comprised of oils and alcohols and they oxidize and evaporate so readily, you often have to "trap" them to be able to detect them. Gene Boerner, who was responsible for virtually creating the modern floribunda class of roses, frequently put blooms of seedlings under this hat where the heat and humidity trapped there would help them express and he could smell them. You can easily do the same by cupping a bloom between your hands, heating them with your body temperature and increasing the humidity. The wisteria out in the front walled garden, is in full flower and can be overpowering. But, with the weather, the only times you can actually smell it is early in the morning and later in the evening when the humidity rises and the temperatures are lower so it doesn't all evaporate quickly. I commiserate with the allergic rhinitis issues. Mine have been so whacked much of this year, I haven't been able to smell or even taste fresh onions, and I LOVE them! How could I expect to detect much fragrance from a flower? Fortunately, I have a few well trained noses around me to poll. They help a lot! |
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| Oh, that's gorgeous, Kim! Annie Laurie McDowell sounds like exactly what I want (I looked her up on HMF). Thanks for pointing me that way, Sue. What venders stock this rose? I hope ARE or Chamblees since that's where I usually shop. But I'll go elsewhere. Lou |
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| Thank you Lou! She's one of my favorite "daughters"! Burlington definitely has her. Long Ago Roses will have her possibly late this year, perhaps next. Burlington also has her sister, Super Jane. In intense heat/sun, she'll probably have longer lasting flowers in less than full sun as there are MANY petals and they are soft and highly scented. I cut much bud wood from the enormous plant in Valencia, Ca, the one pictured on HMF, recently and found TWO, whole prickles on the plant! Twenty years of fondling and studying this rose and I finally find TWO prickles! Think I should amend the "thornless" description? :) Kim |
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- Posted by teakettle2 9 (My Page) on Fri, May 18, 12 at 0:37
| Well thank you for your good advice. I have my buds sitting on the window sill. What a great image of a man with roses under his hat...you gotta love that! Lou - I got my Annie Lauries from Burlington. Arrived in great shape - I got two in case one didnt make it and they are both flourishing. Super Jane sounds interesting - sigh - I need more room! Thank you again. |
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| You're welcome, Sue! For fun, browse the list at the link below. They're Gene Boerner's roses on HMF. I know there are many you know and probably have in your garden. One of the first is Aloha, a rose which has popped up in several threads here recently. If putting blooms under his hat was good enough for him... Kim |
Here is a link that might be useful: Gene Boerner
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