Meet Your Perfect Rose to Plant Now, With a Scent to Match Your Favorite Perfume & Fill Your Garden With a Fragrance You Adore
Roses have all sorts of different scents from sweet honey to spicy cloves, with fruity as well as floral notes, so use your favorite perfume to guide you to the exact right variety that will fragrance your backyard with an aroma you love.
Imagine if your garden smelled like your favorite perfume… but wait, you can make that happen this summer with a rose that matches a scent you adore! Roses offer a wide spectrum of fragrances past the classic floral old-fashioned rose scent. There are varieties with fresh citrus and grapefruit aromas, sweet honeysuckle and raspberry fragrances, spicy clove and even licorice and anise scents. So, to help you narrow down the perfect rose with an aroma you adore, I've matched varieties to much-loved perfumes with similar scent profiles.
Roses are among the most highly fragranced flowers so, if you're thinking about adding scent to your garden, they're an effective as well as beautiful solution. Many modern cultivars are repeat flowers, bringing aromatic blooms to your backyard from late summer into early fall.
All these rose varieties are strongly fragranced so they'll add drifts of perfume all around your newly scented garden. Which is the perfect rose for you?
Article continues belowChanel No 5
The rose used to make the classic Chanel No 5 perfume is Rosa centifolia, which translates as the hundred-petalled rose. Princesse Charlene de Monaco, however, is a far better choice for your garden. The scent of this hybrid tea rose is equally opulent and powdery yet fresh with champagne and citrus notes, just like the iconic perfume, and it flowers in waves all the way from late spring to late fall. And yes, those romantic blooms do have a hundred-plus shell pink petals.
This upright shrub grows to 6 feet high and 3 feet wide and is suitable for zones 5–10.
Tom Ford Bitter Peach
If you’re a fan of the unisex fragrance Tom Ford Bitter Peach, then your backyard needs a Golden Zest Shrub Rose. The highly fragrant rose has intense notes of citrus to match Bitter Peach’s Sicilian blood orange, and the scent of apricots and peaches to parallel the perfume’s peche de vigne core. And where the cult fragrance has cardamon, this rose cultivar brings anise for that same spicy sparkle.
Blooming in waves from late spring to late fall for a long season of garden scent, Golden Zest grows to 4 feet tall and wide in zones 6–9, and each of those golden flowers is packed with over a hundred petals.
Clinique Happy
This Pure Perfume Shrub Rose smells of freshly cut grapefruit, which is core to the wonderful Clinique Happy fragrance. The scent of grapefruit is widely recognized for its energizing, mood-boosting abilities, and this shrub rose will bring intense, intoxicating waves of it to your garden. Its flowers will invoke happiness, too, for this is a repeat-blooming shrub, with pointed buds bursting open into ruffles of old-fashioned roses all summer long.
It grows to 5 feet high and 3 feet wide and its rounded, well-branched habit make it a great choice for a hedge as well as a standout border plant, and is suitable for zones 6–9.
Yves Saint Laurent Opium
Like No Other Floribunda Rose is one of a kind, just like the iconic perfume that it matches. Yves Saint Laurent Opium has a bewitching spiced scent, mirrored by Like No Other’s warm, fruity blend of myrrh and anise. And, just like the perfume’s rich fragrance is saved from being overpowering with an injection of mandarin, so this rose has citrus notes to balance.
The flowers of Like No Other are as luxurious as its fragrance, each 3-inch bloom a ruffle of beautiful petals. This Floribunda rose grows to 3–4 feet high and wide, and is suitable for zones 5–9.
Lolita Lempicka
If you’re a dedicated wearer of Lolita Lempicka, find a place in your backyard for the John F. Kennedy Hybrid Tea Rose which shares its enticing licorice scent. This rose has a cult following, just like the perfume, on account of its distinctive, strong yet refreshing, exotic fragrance.
Greenish buds open to 5–6-inch wide blooms from late spring to late fall, the dark foliage a lovely foil for the pure white flowers. This hybrid tea rose grows to 3–5 feet high and 3–4 feet wide and is suitable for zones 7–10.
Jo Malone London Red Roses
The tightly-packed petals of this David Austin Gertrude Jekyll English Shrub Rose are highly fragrant, with a quintessential rose perfume that’s rich and velvety, lightened with layers of fresh lemon, sweet raspberry and a touch of spice. This shrub rose shares the deep, velvety, voluptuous yet fresh scent profile of Jo Malone Red Roses which is a blend of seven rose varieties with hints of citrus and honeyed beeswax.
A prolific bloomer and named the world’s favorite rose last year after a global vote by rose lovers from 40 countries, Gertrude Jekyll grows to 5 feet high and 3½ feet wide and grows well in zones 4–11.
Aerin Mediterranean Honeysuckle
If you’re a fan of fresh and fruity Aerin Mediterranean Honeysuckle, then you’ll adore the scent of this Martha Stewart Hybrid Tea Rose. It matches the sweet honeysuckle fragrance of the perfume, and also its spicy bergamot notes. And while the zesty freshness of Aerin’s signature scent is brought by grapefruit and mandarin oil, the citrusy lemon verbena fragrance of this beautiful rose has a very similar character.
A modern introduction with excellent disease resistance, Martha Stewart is a continual bloomer, flowering from late spring into fall. And, as you’d expect from a rose named after a lifestyle influencer, this hybrid tea rose is exceptionally good in a vase or bouquet. It grows to 2½–3 feet high and 2–3 feet wide and does well in zones 5–11.
Estée Lauder Cinnabar
The enduring classic, Estée Lauder Cinnabar, finds its match with a modern introduction, the exquisite Mauvelous Floribunda Shrub Rose. This rose is notable for its distinct lemony fragrance well-spiced with cloves, and shares the sensual richness of Cinnabar. Just like the vintage perfume, the scent makes a bold statement.
These flowers will set your patio apart, too, its deep mauve petals a lighter tone on their reverse. With long stems, this repeat-bloomer will provide plenty of long-lasting roses for vases so you can enjoy its fabulous fragrance indoors, too. Growing to 4 feet high and 3 feet wide, it’s suitable for zones 5–9.
Jo Malone London Myrrh & Tonka Cologne Intense
Adore the sensuous scent of myrrh and tonka? Then this divine David Austin Nye Bevan Shrub Rose is for you. It has a warm, slightly spicy, uplifting fragrance with hints of almond and aniseed that float in the air, matching the rich tones of Jo Malone London Myrrh & Tonka Cologne Intense perfectly.
Growing to 3½ feet high and wide, this compact shrub rose has beautiful soft yellow blooms that fade to cream, its scalloped petals as unusual yet inviting as its welcoming scent. This summer bloomer is suitable for zones 5–11.
Dior Miss Dior
Full of fruity character and sweet with honey undertones, the classic rose scent of the Don Juan Climbing Rose is a perfect match to Dior Miss Dior. Powerful yet warm, feminine but fresh, the fragrance of both plant and perfume are complex, but the result is effortlessly elegant.
With deep red blooms, Don Juan is capable of growing to 8–10 feet high, but this versatile climbing rose cultivar can also be grown as a shrub or trained into a tree. It flowers from spring into fall and is suitable for zones 5–9.
Marc Jacobs Honey
Living up to its name, Flavorette Honey-Apricot Rose brings a sweet fruity-floral scent to your garden. Just as Marc Jacobs Honey uses peach and pear notes to lighten its sugary honeyed scent to a joyful, sunny fragrance, so this rose has the aroma of ripe apricots.
Flavorette Honey-Apricot Rose brings an extra benefit besides its divine scent: its peachy petals are edible, with a lightly fruity flavour. With a mounding, upright habit, this shrub rose grows to 3–4 feet high and is suitable for zones 4–8.
Bath & Body Works Sweet Pea
Not a perfume, but included in our edit because the distinctive floral fragrance of this Bath & Body Works body-care range makes it such a favorite with gardeners. The Sugar Plum Hybrid Tea Rose shares its distinctive sweet pea scent, and it works beautifully in a backyard.
The lavender blooms have the same fresh yet nostalgic nature as its fragrance, so it looks equally at home in a sharp modern plot as a relaxed cottagecore yard. Growing to 4–5 feet high and 3 feet wide, this repeat blooming hybrid tea rose is suitable for zones 5–10.
Parfums de Marly Delina
Just as Parfums de Marly Delina is sweet and sensual, this Madame Alfred Carriere Noisette Rose is floral and fruity. Both share the sweetness of lychee notes, and where Delina brings rhubarb, Madame Alfred Carriere offers raspberry. Delina is known as a mysterious fragrance, and its matching rose has the same tantalizing tendencies, its scent sometimes strong and bold, sometimes light and delicate, depending on the weather.
A climbing rose capable of reaching 8–25 feet high, this graceful cultivar is a sun lover and grows well in zones 6–10.
Mugler Angel Nova
The berry-bomb perfume of Mugler Angel Nova is modern, vibrant and versatile, just like its match, the Moondance Floribunda Rose. The fragrance of both depends on a blend of raspberry and rose scent for their light, bright nature. Moondance’s sprays of creamy white blooms are just as delightful and, borne on long 15-inch stems, are as effortlessly elegant in a vase or bouquet as a backyard border.
Growing to 4–5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, this upright Floribunda is suitable for zones 5–9.
Estée Lauder Youth-Dew
An intense and spicy perfume, Estée Lauder’s Youth-Dew is a match with the wonderful America Climbing Rose. This fragrant climber carries the same intoxicating aroma of cloves, those spicy notes beautifully balanced with sweet rose, for a scent that lingers long after twilight.
You’ll enjoy plenty of fragrance, too, as this vigorous repeat-blooming climbing rose is capable of growing to 10–12 feet high and 6–8 feet wide. It’s suitable for zones 6–9.
Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa '68
The fruitness of Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa '68 is mirrored by Simply Magnifiscent Grandiflora Rose, whose fragrance can fill a garden. Its aroma is as delectable as the name suggests, with sweet florals adding to the heady mix, and will you just look at those lavender-pink blooms!
Suitable for zones 4–9, Simply Magnifiscent grows to 4 feet high and wide and blooms in flushes from late spring to mid fall.
L’Occitane Citrus Verbena
Verbena has an uplifting scent profile and, paired with citrusy lemon notes, offers a refreshing alternative to more traditional old-rose florals. Both L’Occitane Citrus Verbena and Pinkerbelle Hybrid Tea Rose share this zesty verbena scent so if you love one, you’ll adore the other.
Pinkerbelle’s blooms are as fabulous as their scent is refreshing, with ivory petals blushed with pink and edged in magenta from late spring to mid fall. This disease-resistant hybrid tea rose cultivar has an upright habit, growing to 5 feet high and 3 feet wide, and is suitable for zones 5–9.
Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose
If you’re a fan of old-fashioned rose fragrances such as Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose, then you probably prefer your roses to smell of roses! If so, this Reminiscent Pink Rose deserves a spot in your garden. It brings all the romance and nostalgia of this classical fragrance alongside all the benefits of modern rose breeding like disease resistance and low maintenance.
Abundant pink blooms packed with ruffled petals repeat-flower all summer, with no deadheading required, and the strength of its old-rose fragrance belies its compact 3–4-feet height. It grows well in zones 4–9.
