Roses and Perfume

Hey, hey, it’s spring!!!!  I have 17 rosebushes and a tree in my kitchen while I’m writing this.  Hopefully by the time you read this, most of them will  have taken up a new, dirty abode in my backyard.  I’m still worried about that many rosebushes for the space? Too much?  I don’t have a huge backyard.  Naw, you can never have too many roses.  They were supposed to be in the ground already, but a fairly nasty strain of intestinal bug has made it impossible for me to  go digging around without worrying about – well, you know.

Just as a pitch for my favorite iris and rosebush companies – Schreiner’s has some of the most beautiful monstrously big irises I’ve ever seen. They grow great, and I’m pleased as punch with them so far.  Roses, Heirloom roses is the place to go. Beautiful roses, ship perfectly, and the selection is just outstanding for antique varieties, which are the ones i love. They also rank them by fragrant factor.  I have all 9s and 10s.

Roses, iris, lavender and a white Wisteria tree are the new adds to my backyard this year.

Okay, digging around in my sample box, let me find something newish and interesting. Cale Mistero, this is available at First in Fragrance.  Top notes of rum, rhubarb and mint; middle notes of pimento, elemi, saffron and basmati rice; and base notes of oakwood, agarwood, labdanum and musk.  Holy smokes!!!  I’m glad I pulled this out of my little bag of sample tricks that have been neglected for a while. It smells a lot like Gypsy Water while it was in the sample vial.  It’s like smoky spice over rice and incense – comforting and hot – and some burnt notes in there, just a touch of Eau de Fier.  There is nothing not to love in this for those that like your scents in the more, um, interesting side of the line.  It does soften nicely in the drydown, and I wish it stayed as potent as it did at the beginning, but you just can’t have that much hotness smoking along for that long.  The rum notes had me afraid, but no fear here, it’s not boozy at all.  They suggest it’s for men, and I do think it would smell great on a guy

Let’s see if there’s another Cale in the bag.   Yup. Preludio d’Oriente. Top notes of bergamot, lemon and mandarine; middle notes of artemisia, incense and chamois leather; and base notes of patchouli, sandalwood and agarwood. Very different from the Mistero. It starts off all pretty citrus and quickly devolves into a woody rough leather that’s pretty great.   It doesn’t strike me as oriental at all. It’s just a terrific leather/woody/incense scent.

90 Euros for 100 mls brings the Cales in at a not totally ridiculous price point. All of the perfumes have a story.  An interesting line, and the two scents I’ve tried so far are interesting and well-done.

  • tammy says:

    Roses of Yesterday is also a great place to get your posies, but can’t remember off the bat if they are own-root. I think they are, but am not sure. Antique Rose Emporium out of Texas is awesome,too, especially for those in hot climates. I am beyond adddicted to the Austins and antique roses….and I refuse to grown any that don’t have a fabulous scent, other than Eden, who makes up for her lack of scent with sheer beauty.

    I may have to try Cale Mistero…I like spicy. The Oriente frightens me a tad….I turn darn near everything to lemon as it is; not sure I can handle too much citrus. But that leather, woody drydown sounds divine!

  • Elle says:

    Your garden sounds like it’s going to be simply stunning! Please post photos! I *wish* you could post the scents of those roses as well.
    I liked Mistero, but didn’t feel any heart palpitations over it. Wish I had, given the excellent price point. Need to try the other Cales.

  • Lee says:

    I have some David Austin roses, a gallica or two and a few moss roses, but my soil’s too sandy to grow them as much as I’d like.

    I think I’ve had your bug too! Yuk.

    xxx

  • Musette says:

    OOooh! Patty – I just logged onto the Heirloom Roses site and saw the Bucks!!! If you’ve not tried Dr. Griffith Buck’s roses, do! He bred them at Iowa State U, looking to combine gorgeous English-like blooms with winter hardiness and succeeded admirably. In my last garden I had Carefree Beauty and Country Dancer – both grew like weeds! Gorgeous!!!

    And seriously winter hardy.

    xo>-)

  • Christine says:

    Oh wow on your yard! Insanely jealous. The next house will have outdoor space. I’m willing it so.

    Glad to hear you’re feeling better!

  • Samantha says:

    Those Cale’s both sound so interesting…I might have to break down and sample them, I’ve been on a spending spree though and it has to come to an end! I’ve got several rosebushes and they used to be very fragrant, but they seem to have lost their smell..not nearly as strong as they used to be. Any suggestions about what to do to bring them back scent-wise?

  • Disteza says:

    Le sigh…I crave a garden full of gorgeous smelly flowers, especially some of those ridiculous English roses, but since we’re surrounded everywhere by trees the tiny patch o’sun we DO get has been allocated to the herb garden. The SO and I decided it was more cost-efficient and tastier to grow our own, so now we’ve got some rue, sorrel, mint, 3 kinds of thyme, 2 kinds of sage, and 3 kinds of basil which abut the rosemary bush. It doesn’t look great, but it pays dividends in the kitchen.

  • Musette says:

    Sweetie! I didn’t know you were sick (but I’ve been in the weeds these past days) – glad to hear you’re on the mend.

    Had to laugh – I was multitasking whilst reading the post and for a minute there I thought you were making lunch!:-D

    It does sound nice, though!

    Roses sound incredible! I will def check out your resource; I only put own-roots in now, though once I had a very happy accident with a graft. The graft died, unbeknownst to me and the host went wild! I had a 20′ fragrant shomething or other taking over my garage root. Too beautiful!

    We are prepping to do some renovation at the back of the house so planting will have to wait until fall. But that’s okay. I’m more excited about the pending powder room. Whooo-hoooo!

    xoxoxo>-)

  • Shelley says:

    Yay, feeling better!

    I am happy to say I am simply pleased to listen to you talk about another line, but am not scouring the ‘net or lemming for them. It might help that I am…

    …gardening also! I love heirloom roses, also, and am finally over my anger/mourning over the ones left behind when I moved to the current house. And have figured out a way to make a landscape that logically accepts them here at the split-level modern with some mature growth, as opposed to the old 110+ year old house with towering mulberrys along the lot line, a row of bridal wreath spirea along one side of the house, and all sorts of interesting nooks and crannies, plus… a front porch.

    I did manage to bring over some of the irises from the old place…that was never going to not happen, as I have divisions from my maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother among my collection. There is an iris flower farm in northwest Michigan I like to order from…it is a spectacular sight in bloom. They do offer mail order. I’m going to mention an old-fashioned source…Gurney’s…not spectacular in terms of exotic offerings, but I’ve always had healthy plants from there…www.gurneys.com…very good for the Victory Garden type, as they offer everything from vegetables to fruit trees to ornamentals.

  • Leslie says:

    I hope you’re feeling mucho better; being a foiled gardener is such a drag. Thanks for the links on the roses and irises, because I hadn’t seen those before. Very exciting! (I hear the pitter-patter of my credit cards running off in all directions right now.)

    The Cales sound interesting; I’m off to check those out…

  • March says:

    Hey, you! I’m sorry you’ve been so sick! Yep, you gotta get those puppies in the ground, you need a generous dig and plenty of soil conditioner … where are those boys of yours? 🙂 The Heirlooms start out looking like chopsticks but don’t be fooled — one year of putting their roots down and by *next* year they’ll be going like gangbusters. I hope you got your Darlow’s Enigma? Mixed in there somewhere I’m sure… no such thing as too many roses. The Heirloom are own-root and given where you live, not much in the way of disease or black spot, just plenty of water.

    Man, that Cale Mistero sounds amazing. How much mint? Is it really guy-fragrance, or d’you think I’d like it for me?

    • Patty says:

      Have recruited Harry to help! Not minty at all. I detected a little on the open, almost noted it, and then it was gone or blended well enough that it didn’t stand out and scream.

    • Patty says:

      Oh, answer the second part. Did you like Gypsy Water by Byredo? It’s a little like that. Not a lot, it veers more masculine, but it’s really pretty great. I was surprised because I expected nothing out of the Cales.