This is my first year with roses, and I don't have a huge number yet for making comparisons. But so far, I'm really, really glad I bought this rose. We just put the second bloom into a vase with some other roses that are equally new, and it compares quite favorably in terms of attractive color as well as fragrance. I'd say its fragrance is relatively mild, but it's unmistakeable on this bloom--and stronger than the Grüss An Aachens and also the Fragrant Waves (that are advertised as having a moderate amount of fragrance). Less fragrant than Julia Child, but it has a nice old tea scent and looks good cut alongside all these roses.

We received the rose as a tiny, tiny ownroot plant in April (from Chamblees) and it regularly put on new growth, but the leaves were so close together for awhile that I wondered how long it was going to take the rose to get six inches high... but within about six weeks it made it that far and since then has added a noticeable bit more height, along with a lot more width. The plant is wonderfully healthy and the foliage is especially attractive. It grows wider than it is tall, and even out of bloom its foliage looks good in the landscape.

Highly recommended if you'd like having a party rose. I do.

[Edit, July 26, 2009: As it ages, its delightful fragrance has gotten stronger. It's stronger than Julia Child now, and my husband can smell it too now. I smelled it from inside a room as my husband was bringing a single bloom of it into the room. You might not say this flower always has moderate fragrance, but it currently seems stronger than what I'd call mild.]

[Edit, October 26, 2009: The description on the variety "None to mild fragrance" doesn't agree with the experience here in the first year for Cinco De Mayo. Its fragrance, while it does vary somewhat from time to time, would most often meet expectations if listed as "moderate", not mild, and for sure it's not "none" on any scale for fragrance.

The fragrance often reminds me of raspberries--a delightful fragrance. In any case it's usually noticeable at the first whiff, or even before the nose gets near the bloom. We've had a lot of rain this year and that most likely contributed to its fragrance, as compared, perhaps, to the developer's experience in growing it in Texas. Anyway, under ideal rainfall, it's moderately fragrant--more so than Julia Child, for example (though Julia Child has something more than mild fragrance thus far too).

It's hard to say enough good things about this beautiful, fragrant, and easy to grow rose.]