Both my Rosa banksia lutescens and 'Golden Wings' began blooming today. When I smelled them, they had nearly the identical smell. This species also seems to note really fade, like most yellows from Asia. It makes me wonder if the yellow banksias derive their yellow color from more Scotch-like species, such as R. hugo, etc.
I think it is a bit of a coincidence- the odor comes from a lack of odor carotenes, like in the average, fading roses. King has an article about it on his site, I will search for the link, but if I remember correctly it wasn't transferred well to the new website- you need to use WebArchive
Its a little odd to be, because they are deinitely fragrant, and the fragrance does not seem heat or humidity sensitive. And fade in yellows is often the degradation of oils and other chemicals. So I do find these two unique.
Mine does self-set seed. It blooms before everything else, and it manages to set about 20 tiny hips per year. Which is very low, considering it probably has 500-1000 tiny little flowers every May. However, the seed set is definitely not 0%
Hip and seed set are seasonally dependent here. Some years there are virtually none. Others, it's like a multiflora or something, setting hips with virtually every flower.
We had a rare snow storm this season, in Zone 8B. This rose has never had cane damager before, but about 4 of the 20 canes died back. So, this rose is probably hardy to Zone 7A. But I would not chance anything colder than that.
