Did you smell the fragrance right when you pulled the rose out of the box? An old time rose breeder used to take a bloom that seemed to lack scent and put it under his hat. The closeness, warmth, and humidity would bring forth the scent. I have a large Climbing American Beauty and don't remember much of a fragrance. My nose doesn't always catch every rose scent though and climate can make a difference.

Scent is oddly variable, and so are noses. I who usually have a good rose nose, seem not to smell much this year, to my dismay. And yet my sense of smell in general doesn't seem much changed.
I used to grow 'The Dark Lady'. It didn't seem all that fragrant out in the garden, but a bloom brought indoors scented the whole room.

The oils and alcohols which generate the scent require the right temperatures and humidity to express and for you to be able to perceive them. If it's too hot, too dry, too cold, too wet or too windy, they may all evaporate too quickly; not evaporate at all or blow away before you can smell them.

Gene Boerner, the famed J&P breeder is the one previously mentioned who put the blooms under his hat where it was warm and humid enough for them to express, be trapped for him to smell them. For years, I was told Brown Velvet had a very interesting scent. I could never smell it in my arid, hot garden. Once cut and opened indoors, it did smell great. There are very few roses which smell great in any weather, any time of year. I'm not surprised you could smell the rose fresh from the box. The air was humid and probably a bit warm, with all the aromatics trapped and concentrated in a small space (like under Boerner's hat). Open them indoors where it's generally warmer, more humid with stiller air and see the difference. Kim

Certain roses that are practically scentless most of the time can be very fragrant on occasion. When I first saw 'Sophy's Rose,' it was very fragrant. When I asked about it here, everybody said "no, it's not." I planted it anyway and haven't been able to smell a thing in three or four years. I had a similar experience with 'Red Masterpiece,' but it would be very fragrant a few days out of the season each year.

Temperature was what I was thinking, but now I am adding humidity after reading the posts. I took cuttings of Old Blush when it started blooming about ValentineâÂÂs Day at our local historical house / museum where the local Rose Society maintains the OGRâÂÂs. I smelled the blooms there, detected absolutely no scent and suspected that the cold weather was the reason. I cut some of them, brought them inside to take pictures, cut off the roses and prepared the stems for planting. Of course I did not want to throw the roses out so I left them in the warm house, sitting on my desk under the hot light next to the warm computer. Somewhat later the same roses that had had absolutely no scent outside in the cold started exuding a lovely light fragrance. Good luck!

Something else I've noticed is that some rose blossoms are more fragrant when newly opened and some require aging, like a fine wine.

I've only grown a few roses that, to my nose, seem to be fragrant under almost every condition. One such rose is the hybrid tea Mr. Lincoln. Some of the Bourbons like Madame Isaac Pereire and hybrid perpetuals like Yolande d'Aragon also seem to be blessed with the gift of eternal scent. Noses vary, of course, and mine can smell a microscopic natural gas leak from a mile away.

Yes, some scents are combinations of the various elements, each of which has a different evaporation point. Many age differently, from one scent to another. It's a documented fact that some begin as something like a lemon or citrus scent, evolve through a second type and finish as another, such as Orris.

You have to keep in mind the individual genetics of the particular "nose"; the mitigating factors governing that nose's ability to perceive the scent (age, allergies, medical conditions, drugs, etc.); ambient temperature and humidity as well as how still the air is; the genetics of the rose - which scent elements it possesses and expresses, to what intensity each is expressed, how each ages and how all of these elements interact and affect one another.

As has been stated, yes, there are some roses which seem to be heavily scented no matter what other factors are involved. In moderns in my old hot, arid garden, Jadis, Lemons Spice, Typhoo Tea, Sweet Afton, Touch of Venus, Fragrant Cloud, Geranium Red, Mr. Lincoln, Oklahoma and Double Delight could be counted on to blow your sinuses out of your head no matter the time of day; season of the year; humidity; heat; cold; wind; rain; etc. Most others could start as heavily scented and quickly lose their scents due to everything evaporating and blowing away, but those in particular, 'stunk' every time I stuck my nose in them, no matter what. Very few have that ability.

If you can usually smell the bloom and suddenly can't, and you aren't taking antihistamines or other drugs which may interfere with your sense of smell, cut the bloom and open it indoors. The higher humidity, higher warmth and stiller air will usually encourage whatever oils and alcohols remaining in the bloom to be expressed and you should then be able to perceive it. Kim

I'm glad I asked! This forum has such a great body of knowledge. I was worried that it was something about my soil.

In fact, the day I rec'd the shipment was hot and humid, and the box had been sitting in the sun for some time. It was Mother's Day weekend and I decided to bring the blossoms to my grandmother's grave, so I packed them in a plastic container for the trip. Opening that container was like opening a bottle of perfume. So I perceived the flagrance under hot, humid, or enclosed conditions.

I'll have to plan to sit by American Beauty on hot humid days. There's shady spot nearby.

It is true, on very hot humid days (of which we have many here in Georgia) I can go out early in the morning and just take in the fragrance. My ZD when it was in bloom this spring, scented my entire backyard.

I remember once I had a cane on Barbara Streisand that was knocked off by wind. It was in bloom, so I took it in the house and stuck it in a vase (the only time I had a nice arrangement, courtesy of Mother Nature). When I came home later, the entire house was filled with her fragrance. It was amazing.

I regularly take shattered blooms of fragrant roses and put them in a bowl in my house. They continue to put out fragrance until they literally dry up to dust.

So many variables, temperature, sunlight, humidity, soil, etc. can effect a rose and change it's size, shape, color and scent. The next time it blooms it could smell heavenly again. You never know.

My Eden Rose (Pierre de Ronsard) had occasional branches with very sweetly scented flowers. It is usually scentless, annoyingly so, considering its beauty. I no longer have it due to rosette disease.

I have also read (in Wilson and Bell's The Fragrant Year) that flowers on new wood can be more scented than those on old, or vice versa, don't remember which.

My Eden Rose (Pierre de Ronsard) had occasional branches with very sweetly scented flowers. It is usually scentless, annoyingly so, considering its beauty. I no longer have it due to rosette disease.

I have also read (in Wilson and Bell's The Fragrant Year) that flowers on new wood can be more scented than those on old, or vice versa, don't remember which.

Perhaps this might more easily explain it. I'm sure all who wear colognes or perfumes have noticed sometimes when you put it on, you can smell it for hours. Other times, you can't smell it for very long before it seems as if you haven't applied any. Part of that is your olfactories. You get used to it and don't notice it. Much of the time, it's because the conditions are too hot and dry so the scent evaporates. If you and the air remain warm and moist, the scent lingers for many hours, but let it get too hot, too dry or too windy and the elements which create fragrance volatize, dissipate, evaporate until they are no longer perceptible. It is precisely the same issue with scented flowers. Some have such intense compounds in such highly concentrated amounts, it requires extreme conditions to cause them to all evaporate. Some have combinations which evaporate at different rates so they actually have different scents in different conditions. Some have a lot of the same compound so when it all dissipates, there appears to be nothing left. Some have no scent compounds or so little, it takes very little for them to appear unscented. Duplicate the still, warm, moist conditions under which they SHOULD provide scent and you should be able to perceive it, at least to the extent of your physical abilities. Kim

mmmm, roses smell sweeter in my still, sheltered, walled garden than they ever do at my windy allotment....

Mariannese, I have never seen those. I have a collection of rose bowls, which I have to hunt for also. They don't have lids, but have a grid to put the roses in so they don't nod. It would be a treat to find the rose glasses.

Mariannese

You have solved a much-discussed mystery! I have seen glass and crystal rose bowls like yours in antique shops but was always puzzled that something resembling a candy dish could be a rose bowl. The lid stumped me until now. My rose bowl (my grandmother's) resembles Floridarosez's.

Carol

Carol

These are very cool and would make a great collectible. I need some kind of rose related quest to keep me amused throughout our long winter; something to distract me from buying roses online (for which I have no room).

Mariannese,
Thank you for solving my concerns about these bowls. My husband inheritted a few and I couldn't fanthom why anyone would wish to have so many candy dishes..Silly me. Now I know.
Jeannie

Lucky you, Jeannie.

Mariannese, my girlfriend found your post online and we placed a rose with warm water into a glass apothecary jar with a lid from Michael's. It really worked. Thank your the tip. The science of smell is so interesting. Anyone, who is also interested in this topic might enjoy the novel "Emperor of Scent," which is a novel about the evolution of our understanding of how our noses detect scent. The novel specifically follows the scientists, who work for large perfume companies, and how they come up with fragrances. Also, good is Mandy Aftel's book, "Fragrant."

Fascinating!