SdlM has a very rich and strong fragrance which differs from the usual range found in Tea roses (perhaps 'Devoniensis' comes the closest). I find a yeasty undertone--sometimes even a bit of "beer" perhaps; think "bakery" plus "rose water," and you're in the ballpark.

Sounds delicious. Thanks for the response. Now I really want to try it!

I have grown both roses and to my nose, they smell nothing alike. Mrs. B.R. Cant has a light to moderate tea scent whereas SDLM has a very strong, complex scent that is sweet but reminds me also of beer. I no longer grow SDLM but I remember its smell fondly. I often paused to grab a bloom, which I would carry around the yard sniffing, as I tended to other plants. It's really wonderful! The funny thing is that I don't particularly like beer but I love this rose!

To me, SDLM smells like hyacinths.

:-)

~Christopher

As far as I know, everyone who can smell much at all can smell SdlM. It is a very complex and wonderful scent. 'Mystic Beauty' has a similar perfume.

I can't smell its sport 'Kronprizessin Viktoria', but some can. Maybe that one is "tea rose" (just guessing). The sport 'Souv. de St. Annes' has a powerful scent of cloves with other notes.

I am immune to "Tea scent". Can't smell anything which even remotely resembles "Tea." I can smell Malmaison and Souv. de St. Anne's. Both are sweet and strong. Both, also, have a sweet, peppery, almost cedar (though not as intense as Grandmother's Hat) scent to the peduncles, new growth and sepals. It sticks to my hands quite well when I groom either. Neither are very happy in my climate, so I don't personally recommend either to anyone in my type of conditions, but as for scents, they are quite good. Kim

Yep, the scent of SdlM is complex. When the flowers first open you get a whiff of something floral/rosy. Then the beer/yeast smell develops and overpowers everything else.

Like Kim said, the peduncles are strongly scented and it clings to the fingers. I prefer that scent to that of the flowers. :-)

As 'Mrs. B.R. Cant' has been mentioned, I don't want to neglect a chance to make a remark on its fragrance, which is distinctive and one of my favorites. To me, it has a sweet, earthy scent, an attractive aroma of a lot of leaf litter or humus, such as you'd smell while walking through the woods after a heavy rain. Maybe non-gardeners wouldn't like such a scent; but to me the smell represents good soil and thriving plants.

I rushed out to sniff my new small SDLM when I saw this post! It's just started blooming and I never thought to sniff it as it is very tiny. The blooms on mine are only slightly bigger than a miniature rose but they have fresh "watery" rose scent. I don't know quite how to describe it. Didn't smell any yeast yet, but will wait a day. :)

Hmmm....If Mrs. BR Cant is going to remain scentless (to me), I wonder if I should remove it? Produces beautiful roses on a vigorous plant though! So many people love the scent of SdlM, whether hyacinths (cool! I hope that's what I smell) or beer (interesting), or watery (sleek!), or floral. Sounds like a description of a boutique whisky (i.e. "burnt rubber, hairspray, grass, toffee, and with water, cherry smarties and silage, but strangely delightful"). I wonder why HelpMeFind describes SdlM as "tea" scented? I'd prefer the white of Kronprincessin Viktoria, but if not scented, not worth it. I'm terribly interested in seeing what the foliage/peduncles smell like! Thanks for your input, all!

A number of years ago, I managed Limberlost Roses in Van Nuys, CA for the landscape company who purchased it from Bob Edberg. We received a load of budded Malmaison from "He who shall remain nameless". It didn't matter what they were labeled, there were Cl. Malmaison, Malmaison and Kronprincessin Viktoria. I had to wait for every plant to grow and flower to determine which was what. I had a few dozen of each type and smelled MANY of them. I didn't notice any difference between the scent of the pink and white variations. HMF is only going to report what is reported to them. Malmaison is reported as "strong Tea", though to my nose it is sweet and I can't smell Tea. KV is reported as "moderate", but it's the same to my nose as Malmaison.

If you have room for both, keep Mrs. Cant and add Viktoria. Grow what you like and does well for you to the limits of your room, energy and water. Kim

Rose scent is an odd thing. I could never detect any scent from Mrs. B.R. Cant until this year. The "tea" scent is very pleasing. I'm not sure if something about me has changed or whether its the maturity of the rose. Mine is 6 years now. Did it take that long for the plant to have a strong enough scent for me to detect? Is it something in the environment? I have no idea. Yesterday I picked an Eden bloom and realized that I could detect scent in that when I never had in the past. It smelled to me like a mild tea scent but sweeter. Eden is now 5 or 6 years old. Maybe I'm going crazy but I do think rose scent (or the detection of) can be quite variable.

This is very interesting! I bought SdlM as a band this year and anxiously waited for it to bloom. After everything I've read about it, I couldn't wait to smell it! My band finally bloomed and I couldn't believe the fragrance! I brought one of the blooms for my wife to smell and... she couldn't smell a thing! LOL I kept shoving the flower into her nose and nada - nothing! I was amazed. Normally our sniffers are pretty much in line with each other but she couldn't smell a thing with SdlM.

No worry. I'm keeping it anyway! LOL

That should give a pretty good idea how one is reported on HMF as "fragrant", while the next is not. Same flower, same time, different sniffers. It happens all the time. For years, I marveled how wonderfully scented Cardinal Hume was when visiting jiminshermanoaks' garden. He never smelled anything from any of the flowers. Same flower, same time, side by side, nada. Kim

It was surprising to me that so many people find Iceberg to be scentless, when I find it delightful. Not as strong as, say, Mister Lincoln, but strangely mouthwatering. No wonder people collect roses. You have to try each one for yourself, and then each one is different.

To me it smells like Double Delight - which I don't like - but less strong. I'm actually disappointed but hoping it'll smell better and stronger as the bush ages.

To me KPV has a very faint fragrance and it's not appealing. Often it's not there. I detect a chemical scent, medicinal, detergent, antiseptic. My husband says it's scentless.

noseometer--If you want a white, fragrant SdlM sport, try 'Mme. Cornelissen'. She is blush white, while KpV has a tinge of yellow. Mme C has charmingly eccentric form. I really like her.

Enjoyed your funny post.

I agree with Michael. I love the shape and color of Mme. Cornelissen, and I can detect fragrance in her blooms. I've always thought that in many ways this rose is more interesting than SdlM, although no one agreed when I wrote about this here quite some time ago. Growth- and bloom-wise, SdlM has been much the superior rose of the two, however.

Ingrid

Similar to Jeri, I can't smell anything from Tea roses except for Duchesse de Brabant.
To my nose, the Duchesse is perfection in scent. Fruity and puts a smile on my face every time.

SDLM does not smell like the Duchesse at all to me, but the scent is every bit as strong to me. To me, it's more of a powdery scent. Easily wafts in the air on a breezy day.

Randy