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Perfume Delight (Rosa 'Perfume Delight'), whole plant
  • Perfume Delight — close-up of leaves and flowers
  • Perfume Delight — seasonal appearance
  • Perfume Delight in a garden setting

Perfume Delight

Rosa 'Perfume Delight'

Medium · Some experience

About Perfume Delight

Perfume Delight is a deep rose-pink hybrid tea rose famous for its strong old-rose fragrance, producing 5-inch classic-form blooms on a 4-foot upright bush. Winner of the 1974 All-America Rose Selections award, it remains a top fragrance rose in American gardens, combining modern form with the intense perfume of antique roses.

  • Fragrant
  • Cut-flower
WATER
Regular
Top inch dry
LIGHT
Full sun
6+ hrs direct
HARDY
Hardy to -20°F (-29°C)
USDA hardiness zones 5–9

How to care for Perfume Delight

Watering

  • Springevery 5 days
  • Summerevery 3 days
  • Fallevery 7 days
  • Winterevery 14 days

Soil · Rich & loamy

  • Top dressingBark mulch15%
  • Main mixRich loam + compost 3:170%
  • DrainageGravel15%

Use fully finished compost — fresh compost burns roots.

FERTILIZER

Balanced Feed 14-14-14

An even feed covers all three needs at once, keeping leaves, roots and blooms moving together with nothing pushed out of balance.

N33%P33%K33%
  • Nitrogen · Leaves
  • Phosphorus · Roots + Blooms
  • Potassium · Strength
  • Springevery 30 days
  • Summerevery 30 days
  • Fallevery 45 days
Get watering reminders for Perfume Delight — free on iPhoneDownload on the App Store

At a Glance

  • NativeNorth America
  • Height3–5 ft (0.9–1.5 m)
  • Spread2–3 ft (0.6–0.9 m)
  • Flower colorPink
  • Foliage colorGreen
  • SoilLoamy, Well-drained, Rich
  • LocationsYard

Bloom time

BLOOM CYCLE

Peak bloom

May–Sep

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

Deadhead for repeat bloom; prune late winter

Fragrance

STRONG FRAGRANCE

The flowers have an intense old-rose damask-spice scent.

Toxicity

Humans Slight

Unknown toxic principle

Slight

  • Stem
  • Contact

EXPOSURE Touching stems.

EFFECT Pricks from thorns.

NOTE Not toxic; thorns cause mechanical injury.

Safe

EXPOSURE No exposure route is reported.

EFFECT No toxic effect is reported.

NOTE Listed as non-toxic for dogs; avoid eating ornamental plants unless confirmed edible.

Safe

EXPOSURE No exposure route is reported.

EFFECT No toxic effect is reported.

NOTE Listed as non-toxic for cats; avoid eating ornamental plants unless confirmed edible.

Educational information, not medical or veterinary advice. If exposure is suspected, contact a doctor or veterinarian.

DISTRIBUTION

Perfume Delight · Native
  • Native
  • North America

History

Illustrated historical scene for Perfume Delight

Rosa 'Perfume Delight' is a medium pink hybrid tea rose bred by American hybridizers Herb Swim and O. L. Weeks, released by Armstrong Roses in 1973 from a complex cross involving 'Peace', 'Happiness', 'Chrysler Imperial', and 'El Capitan'. The large classic high-centered blooms open from pointed buds to velvety warm-pink flowers up to thirteen centimeters across, carried on long straight stems above dark green foliage. As its name suggests, the cultivar's strongest selling point is its fragrance, an intense old-rose damask-and-spice scent that won it the All-America Rose Selections award in 1974.

'Perfume Delight' has proved vigorous and disease-resistant in American gardens and remains a reliable cut flower and exhibition rose fifty years after introduction. Bred by Ollie Weeks in California and introduced by Weeks Roses in 1973, winning AARS in 1974.

Bred specifically to recapture the intense perfume of old-fashioned roses in a modern hybrid tea form, it remains a fragrance-garden favorite in American collections.

Symbolism & meaning

What It Symbolizes

Perfume Delight suggests sweet devotion, its intense classic rose perfume reminiscent of antique damask and centifolia varieties. Its old-rose heritage lives in its scent, an antique fragrance caught in modern hybrid tea form, evoking grandmothers' rose gardens. It is often read as a flower of remembered scent, a rose whose meaning is the particular kind of love that smells like the past, carrying old emotional landscapes forward into a new garden.

  • Sweet devotion — intense classic rose perfume
  • Old-rose heritage — antique fragrance in modern form

Where the Name Comes From

Named 'Perfume Delight' for its powerful old-rose fragrance that delights the senses.

Uses & Fun Facts

  • Powerful old-rose perfume from deep rose-pink blooms
  • Classic hybrid-tea form for fragrance bouquets
  • Upright bush for cottage and sensory gardens

Related plants

More Rosa plants

Plants with similar care

Frequently asked questions

How often should I water Perfume Delight?

In summer, water about every 3 days; in winter, about every 14 days. Adjust for heat, pot size and drainage.

How much light does Perfume Delight need?

Full sun: 6+ hrs direct. Watch the leaves — scorching or stretching means the light needs adjusting.

Is Perfume Delight toxic to cats or dogs?

Pets Safe (Dogs Safe · Cats Safe) Educational information, not medical or veterinary advice. If exposure is suspected, contact a doctor or veterinarian.

Is Perfume Delight easy to grow?

It is moderately demanding: a good choice once you have a little experience.

When does Perfume Delight bloom?

It typically blooms May–Sep in the Northern Hemisphere.

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