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A few years ago Pam bought a horse farm just outside the town of Tryon, North Carolina which lies due south of Ashville on the North/South Carolina border. The property includes hundreds of feet of wood fence which Pam sees merely as a way to keep horses in and of course I see as trellis for climbing roses.

The problem is that until we begin living there full time I need climbers that are capable of surviving with little care. I suppose I could wait until we move there but as it takes most climbers a few years to get established I want to get started. Now having just returned a year after I planted the first group of roses I know I made the right choice. Noisettes.

A little background. A year ago I went down to Roses Unlimited in Laurens, South Carolina and purchased five Noisettes on their own roots. After planting them in October of 1993 I left, leaving them to survive on their own until I got back at Christmas and then every three months or so. The Holiday came and went and the roses were doing fine due mostly to the cool temperatures and the yearly rainfall of over 60”. This is when trouble hit. A few weeks after we left a pipe burst upstairs bringing the whole inside of the house down. The major rebuild to follow meant I couldn’t get out there over the summer to feed and occasionally take care of the roses. So this plant that is constantly being accused of needing too much pampering and being too much work to bother growing was now going to have to survive on it’s own with no help from man.

Now having just returned I’ve discovered two things. First the roses is very hardy plant and second is that my burgeoning love affair with Noisettes is quickly turning into an obsession. These are some roses.

Out of the five plants I put in three are still alive and thriving. The two I lost were lost more to the fact that the person cutting the grass never bothered to weed the beds the roses are in so they little plants were simply overwhelmed. Ah, but the three that are left..

Alistar Stella Gray, Champney’s Pink Cluster and Nastarana are all doing well and as of the end of October are still showered in blooms. Three roses with absolutely no care from man for a full year are thriving in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains!

Credit for the Noisette goes to two people actually. John Champneys was a rice planter in the city of Charleston, SC in the early 1800s. After what was probably an accidental cross between R. Moschata with R. Bengalensis (Parsons’ Pink China?) he ended up with a variety he named Champneys’ Pink Cluster. Phillipe Noisette, also of Charleston and related to Champneys, sowed seeds of this rose and one of the results was Blush Noisette a repeat flowering shrub which could also be trained as a short climber. Blush Noisette was later crossed with several other roses, mainly teas and chinas, to give us the many colors and varieties we have today of this truly native American climbing rose.

The period of development for the Noisettes was brief with most of the work being done from the 1830s to the 1880s. This is a shame because the it’s obvious to anyone familiar with these wonderful climbers that here is a reservoir of untapped naturally climbing roses. With the rebirth of interest in climbing roses not being filled by today’s mainly climbing sports, Noisettes deserve a second look for their grace, vigor, fragrance and beauty.

Noisettes tend to be vigorous growers and the blooms are best described as delicate, refined and fragrant. They can range in size from the 1” blooms of Aimee Vibert to the 5” blooms of Mme Alfred Carriere. They come in a variety of colors from pink to white with the yellow/apricot shades being most prevalent due to their so often being crossed with the old Tea Roses. All are repeat flowering. If they have a draw back it is they are not very winter hardy in very cold climates. But if you are looking for a good repeating true climber to grace a fence, an arch, a doorway or a small tree then look no further than our native climber the Noisettes. You won’t be disappointed.

Aimee Vibert. 1828. Very vigorous with wonderful foliage this rose posses small white, double blooms that appear in clusters year around.

Alister Stella Gray. 1894. In Southern California don’t be surprised to see this one go to 25’ in favorable conditions. The blooms open egg yolk yellow and later fade to a creamy white with a good scent.

Blush Noisette. Before 1817. The original and still one of the loveliest it can go to around 12’ but not much more. The flowers are not large but are displayed in sprays throughout the year. The color is white with a blush pink hence the name Blush Noisette.

Celine Forrestier. 1842. Considered by many to be among the most beautiful of the class it’ll grow to around 12’ with creamy yellow blooms with a pale pink center. It posses a very strong spicy tea fragrance.

Crepescule. 1904. Climbing to easily 15’ this beauty posses orange-apricot double flowers which appear freely all year around.

Desprez a Fleur Jaune. 1830. If there is a must have climber in any self respecting roses garden I personally would have to say this is one of them. With growth up to 20’ it can be used most anywhere and is graced with incredibly beautiful flat, quartered lemon yellow blooms with a wonderful scent. A truly great rose.

Gloire de Dijon. 1853. Sometimes considered to be a climbing tea it is usually included with the Noisettes. Large, buff yellow flowers sometimes show apricot and always are extremely fragrant. This is another of the truly great roses.

Mme. Alfred Carriere. 1879. In my humble opinion this and the climbing tea Sombreuil are the two best white climbing roses we have. No modern white climber even comes close. This great rose can grow up to 25’ in our area with large white flowers that when first opening are blush pink at the center. Very fragrant. It has the distinction of being one of the first roses of the season to flower as well as one of the last. I personally saw blooms of it at Mottisfont Abbey in England before any other rose was in bloom.

Mme Driout. 1902. The first time I say this rose it knocked me out. It was sitting in a corner at Limberlost Roses and was carrying five large pink blooms striped with cerise. Fragrant, it’s a rose that can easily take center stage in any garden.

Nastarana. 1879. For those of you who like single petal roses look no further than this one for a single petaled white roses with small blooms that carry themselves in clusters.

Reve d’Or. 15-20’ with buff yellow flowers which are breathtaking when in bloom.