Sorry to be a bother but this exact same picture also features in the photos for the 'Mischief' rose by Sam Mcgredy. Can I ask Mr. Rippetoe which is it please? - 'Compassion' or 'Mischief' ?

Dear Robert,
You have a photo 7604 on the 'Compassion' rose pages which is exactly the same picture to be found last on the 'Mischief' rose pages with a different number 7637 and shows a salmon/coral bud beginning to unfurl. I love the photo by the way but which rose is it - 'Mischief' or 'Compassion'?

Also, I would like to know if a bloom of 'Mischief' is very fragrant when placed in a vase of water - anyone?

Some roses are more fragrant in a vase and can fill a room with scent but still have just a basic rose scent when you put your nose in them to sniff whilst they are on the plant.

The HMF pages state elsewhere that 'Mischief' won the RNRS 'Clay Cup for Fragrance' in 1961 but a number of books including the RNRS Annuals don't mention this award for 'Mischief' at all and it is usually described as having a 'mild' scent with a score of 5/10.

Mischief looks a bit like a leggy old 5 foot hybrid tea with beautiful pink/orange-blended bloom which generated an amazing exotic scent of vanilla/lime/strawberries (when put in a vase) and used to grow on a friend's South-facing shed here in South East England. The blooms were no more than 4 inches diameter but were all beautifully formed with rolled back petals like 'Red Devil's or 'Wendy Cussons' and similar to Steve Rousell's 'Clovie' in colour but a neater, smaller more globular bloom than all three giving the illusion of being taller than its diameter.
They didn't fade in sun or get spotty in the rain.The supporting peduncles - occasionally in pairs or rarely threes were light green, very slim but strong enough and had small prickles.

I regret never digging up and saving the plant and taking cuttings when my neighbour moved house and he has since passed away. The closest rose I've found so far is 'Prima Ballerina' but she can have flatter blooms and wavy petals and doesn't have the orange tint. My mystery rose's blooms all looked uniform and spiralling and not filled, ruflled or cabbage-like as with many Hybrid Teas.

Jack Harkness wrote in his book 'Roses' that he would have given 'Prima Ballerina' a 10/10 for scent and 'Fragrant Cloud' a 9 so I thought I'd grow PB and find out but can anyone recommend 'Mischief' or someting else orange/pink for (in the vase) fragrance?

Chris