THE ROVING EYE.

DOES a rose smell sweeter if it has a slicker name?

Given the monikers of a new class of hybrid roses making their debuts this spring, local florists are betting that, even if they don't smell sweeter, the new roses may sell better.

April is the month when gardening begins in earnest. It's also the month when swarms of faithful rose enthusiasts (rosarians, to be more precise) descend on local nurseries in search of their favorite roses, which are just beginning to show their first blush, and to check out the new 2001 class of roses.

This year there are 41 newcomers to the field, including "My Fifi," "Little Gigi," "Anne Boleyn," "Mary Magdalene," and "Burning Desire," a sweet smelling, brilliant orange-blended floribunda.

Other new varieties include "Macho Man," "Sultry," "Long Tall Sally" and "Barbra Streisand," a deep mauve, hybrid tea with an intense fragrance.

Tom Givven, owner of the Marina del Rey Garden Center, says Streisand herself helped the hybridizers develop the eponymously named rose.

"The hybridizers spent years developing it because it had to be a rose that Barbra liked," he says. "It had to have a nice-smelling aroma and it had to look good, so they presented all these roses to her, because she's kind of picky, but they finally developed one she liked."

Streisand, of course, isn't the only celebrity with a rose named in her honor. There's also the "Rosie O'Donnell," the "Gary Grant" and the sweet-smelling, buttery yellow "Bob Hope."

Even a few former presidents have roses named in their honor, including Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.