So tell us about Noisettes

I noticed on your order lists you refer to noisettes - are these miniature roses. I am not a student of varieties of rose, just buy what looks nice although I have a bit of a thing for Delbards and DA's just for the look of them. But to be honest I don't know a HT from a Damask ( just throwing words in here!) and there may be others who would like to know what the different types are. We had a discussion today about what to do once The Wall is finished and have a vague plan in a couple of years or maybe this year, to sacrifice one of the veggie beds that runs parallel with the Wall and turn it into a rose garden. So I think I'd better learn a bit about them!

A bit the same here, always looking for a rose book to explain things, a slow learner I'm afraid

Easiest roses to grow - climbers but you can prune to a shrub. They have a twiggy structure - no thick thorny canes and are easily trained. Crepescule is probably the best known - lends wonderful apricot colour to the garden - can use it any which way - as a mounding shrub, hedge. Larmarque is an outstanding climber - arguably the best white rose ever bred - has wonderful light green foliage and will cover a pergola in seconds. But all the noisettes have good foliage - no bare canes or half dressed ladies among them in my experience.

A personal favourite is Deprez a Fleur Jaune which has two completely different blooms summer and winter. The summer are loose semi double, buttery yellow - nothing to write home about but in winter the petals turn translucent lemon and puff out like an Elizabethan ruff - sheer magic. I would pick her for a vase just so I could stare at her.

Then there is Celine which I've ordered - she restrains herself a bit more than the others, Alistair Stella Gray - a stellar rose, Reve d'Or.

I have never planted one I didn't like. Crep is a diva and likes things just so but the rest are easy as. I haven't grown the original, Blush Noisette, because I didn't think it would survive as harsh a climate as mine - but go take a look. Mind you, none are particularly photogenic - flowers are smaller than what the average rose grower likes these days. But the colours are subtle and fit anywhere, growth is quick - they are a wonderful class of rose. I'm glad I discovered them and wouldn't be without at least one in my garden. I am greedy and had several where I once lived.

There's a wonderful romantic and interesting tale to be told of Phillipe Noisette who had a hand in the breeding of Blush Noisette and others too I believe - will tell you one day

The top of my weeper

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and a close up

Thanks for the information Fran - for some reason I thought that Noisette meant they were little flowers, as that's French for Hazel Nut! I didn't realise its a person's name! Now I am going off on another gardening tangent. Would these be suitable for the Fairy garden that the children want to tend, i.e. less thorns?

TheE - what lovely pictures. So you can train them to a weeping habit or trim them into bushes, am I right?

mine should start to weep this season I hope it is only 2 years old and it can take up to 3 - 4 years to really get going , if I dont want it to weep I could prune like a normal standard, but would look silly at 2 metres tall My aother weeper renea in the back yard has done very well, I have a pic if you would like to see it

Love to - the more I see the closer to deciding what to buy

2nd is not a great pic, very hard to take this was last year and hopefully this year another foot longer

Well kids prefer informality - petals to sniff and scatter - hips to collect. Wouldn't say noisettes are thornless but they don't jump out and grab you and a few prickles teaches them to be careful. Another benign rose with the same kindly nature is Renae but the only completely thornless rose I know is Zepherine Drouhin and it's a bourbon. My kids loved to smell it - they waited in anticipation for it to flower. They were allowed to pick some, pull apart, scatter petals over themselves and would tease they could smell the perfume on each other. It's the perfect rose for an arch or a wall in a child's garden.

Don't forget to give them something stripey

Your Renae is perfection Thee

Roses are red
Voilets are ....

Thee ...your rose pics are just beautiful (as usual)...was only thinking today that my Pierre De Ronsard gave me approx 6 roses when I first planted it a few months ago & have had no flowers since...read this week that climbers can often take a few years to really settle in & flower abundantly...is this true??
Patricia

Patricia ( as in Pat ) climbers take a good three years to get going, and should not been pruned for at least the first 2 years, a tidy up is okay, and after that they suggest to cut of at least one old cane every season to encourage a new cane to grow from the graft. I hope this helps a bit

Thee thanks for that...knew you'd have the answer..

No probs. are you my fav. Pat that has all the sisters

Yes Thee ...the one & only

Stecranat wrote:Yes Thee ...the one & only

Coolies