I am growing Prima Ballerina for the first time this year and looking forward to experiencing its scent.
Although the UK Rose Locator website only gave her a 5-6 (out of 10) for fragrance,
the eminent Jack L. Harkness wrote in his book 'Roses' that he would have given her a 10 along with 'Papa Meilland' and 'Lady Penzance'. His rating for 'Fragrant Cloud' was only 9 so I've got my hopes up.
You see, there was a similar rose to PB which used to grow in my neighbour's garden on a wooden south-facing shed in South Norfolk, England. It was 5 feet tall and produced deep coloured pink (tinged with orange) long, slender buds which opened into perfect shell-like blooms with rolled, reflexed petals - never flattening out, not filled or cabbage-like and not wavy or ruffled and did not fade or change colour until petal drop off after about 8 days in water. Every bloom looked uniformly 'identical' and was 4 inches tall by a little under 4 inches wide so a tall 'oval' shape. They were sometimes in a small group, the 1-3 light green tiny prickled slim peduncles meeting together at 8 inch intervals along a thick diagonal large-prickled branch. It was quite an old plant. A typical hybrid tea and the foliage was fairly matte green - not glossy or bronzed.
That rose only smelt quite good and fruity when I put my nose in it and sniffed but after leaving 2 blooms in a vase of water overnight - the next sunny morning it was SENSATIONAL !!! an AMAZING extremely sweet, warm fruitiness of strawberry mousse with a hint of lime. The exotic perfume filled the ground floor of our house - what a lovely greeting to start the day! It was better in a vase than 'Fragrant Cloud'- more smooth scented yet more penetrating and purer like that of the 'Special Anniversary' rose by the late Ted Smith.
I've been hoping PB can be just as good as that mystery rose - anyone know who has grown PB?