I was considering buying this, because a healthy large-flowered mauve is honestly rare. Big Purple was used 5 times, but I am not seeing any reason its an improvement over it or Neptune. I consider Neptune a pretty amazing hybrid tea (see my photos on HMF of the blooms... they are unreal..). So, I dont know. Maybe someone that has grown it by next year can chime in and tell us if there is any improvement.
I think this is a very different variety from Neptune. Neptune is a huge flowered traditional upright HT best one to a stem, disbudded as needed. Perfume Factory is more a medium sized magenta/purple that should be left to bloom in clusters. PF is really more a compact bushy grandiflora or a large floribunda . I think a more direct competitor would be Melody Parfumee or Barbra Streisand as far as color , bloom and growth habit. Fragrance lives up to it’s name, consistently drenched in fruity rose scent. So far I’m impressed by generous bloom flushes and dense compact habit. Color does fade significantly as the bloom ages.
I actually bought two. Its a good rose. VERY mutable colors. I have seen between 3 to 5 different color tone mixes in this rose, depending on seasonal factors. It has nice foliage, the blooms are big enough, it smells good, and the vigor is better than most mauve roses. All in all, it has turned out nice.
Bloom size seems somewhat variable. We got this one this year, and the blooms were average HT size. At a local nursery, they were about 3.5". They may be quite weather dependent. Color also seems to be weather dependent. The larger blooms were much more rich in their variance, with lavenders, purples, and magentas in one bloom, while the smaller ones at the local nursery were more mostly just dark magenta.
