Blush Noisette

Rose Class:   Noisette

Date of Introduction:   Before 1817

This Blush Noisette just bloomed in time for Easter. This is the first rose to bloom for me this season. I just cut three stems and put them in a simple white vase, and it looks so lovely, and it gives a pleasant sweet fragrance.

‘Blush Noisette’ is an original American Rose. It belongs to a group called Noisette Roses, whose origin began in Charleston, South Carolina. It is very disease resistant and always looking healthy. It is not winter hardy. I planted two on each end of my neighbor’s garage, and they are doing quite well without maintenance at all. I gave them Epsom salt in the fall and a handful of fertilizer in the spring, and that’s all the food they get. They only got watered by rain the last three years since my garden hose won’t reach them. I pruned them early in the season and again after the first flush. Sometime in the late summer, I prune them once more to control their growth. It is a great rose, and for those looking for a low-maintenance rose, this is your best choice. It is fragrant and floriferous!

The origin of Noisette Rose is debatable since some rose historians said it originated in Charleston, SC, where Philippe Noisette transmitted the plants to Paris. Others said it was John Champney, also of Charleston, SC, who raised the original variety called ‘Champney Rose’ or ‘Champney’s Pink Cluster’ from the seed of the ‘White Musk Rose’ or ‘Rosa Moschata’, fertilized by the ‘Old Blush China. He later sent cuttings to William Prince, a New York nurseryman. From there, an immense number were propagated and sent to England and France. The old ‘Blush Noisette Rose’ was raised a few years after by Philippe Noisette from the seed of the ‘Champney Rose,’ and this was sent to his brother, Louis Noisette of Paris, under the name of Noisette Rose.

‘Blush Noisette’ is more double than ‘Champney Pink’ and more dwarf and compact growth, the flowers in very large dense panicles. The old ‘Champney’s Pink Cluster’, not as full, but it has rapid growth and great for pillars and trellises.

Happy gardening!