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Last Updated: Jan 10, 2007 - 10:15:57 AM |
Gosia Wajchert
Two of the most interesting varieties of roses, both in their history and their growing, are the Bourbon Rose and the Noisette Rose. Both varieties have a long and storied history, and both are popular with all sorts of rose enthusiasts.
Bourbon Roses
Bourbon roses are named after the island of Bourbon, these days known as Reunion, located in the Indian Ocean. It is from this island that Bourbon roses supposedly originated from a natural cross between the China rose variety "Parson's Pink" and the Damask Perpetual known as "Tous-les-Mois". These two roses were used as hedge material on the island, and the cross was said to have occurred purely by chance. As with all aspects of the origin of the Bourbon rose, this legend remains a matter of hot dispute to this day.
No matter where or how they originated, however, seeds and cuttings from Bourbon roses appeared in Paris, with the seeds appearing in 1819 and the cuttings following in 1821. It took awhile for good varieties of new Bourbon roses to appear, as most early attempts were failures. Good varieties did begin to appear in the 1830's. The best of the new Bourbon roses combined beauty, fragrance and hardiness.
A Bourbon rose will generally have the same arching growth pattern as its Damask ancestor, along with the lush flowers and fragrance of the Damask. At the same time, the Bourbon rose will have a strong ability to rebloom, a feature it retains from its China rose parent. In addition, the Bourbon rose retains the subtle influence of the China rose flower form.
In many ways, however it is a misnomer to speak of a typical Bourbon rose, as they range from the tall, arching growth patterns to dwarf, China-like growth patterns of the Hermosa variety. The colors range from deep reds to pinks to blush to whites. The beauty and charm of the Bourbon rose has helped them in recent years return to the great popularity they once new.
Noisette Roses
The Noisette rose was born just after 1800, when John Champneys from South Carolina mixed a pink China rose with the Musk Rose R. moschata to obtain a large shrub full of clusters of pink blossoms with a light fragrance. A neighbor in South Carolina, Philippe Noisette, planted the seeds of this rose and grew a plant that was similar but smaller. This plant featured larger clusters of double flowers.
Philippe Noisette had a brother who was a major French nurseryman in Paris, and it is through this channel that the rose was released commercially in 1815. The French rose breeders of the day quickly went to work, and within a decade there were over a hundred Noisette roses in flower catalogs, ranging in color from white to crimson-purple.
The new yellow variety tea rose appeared around the same time, and it was crossed with the Noisettes. This crossing would change the Noisette group greatly, causing the blossoms to become larger while the clusters became smaller. The resulting plants were more tea like, and they showed a tendency to climb as well.
The Noisette roses reached their peak in 1853 with the emergence of one of the most loved roses of all time, the "Gloire de Dijon" climbing rose. Other climbing varieties of Noisette, most in shades of yellow or pinkish yellow, continued to be released through the turn of the century, when newer and hardier climbers began to take over some of the popularity of the Noisettes.
What many consider the last stage of the Noisette roses came in the 1910's and 1920's. At this time the Noisettes seemed to return to their earlier form of multi-flowering shrubs. Helping this along was the development of the hybrid musks - crosses between Noisettes and hybrid tea roses.
Gosia Wajchert is a garden writer from the UK.
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