‘Blush Noisette’
Noisette roses are named after the French nurserymen Louis and Philippe Noisette.
Briefly, the story runs: Louis in Paris sent an ‘Old Blush’ China rose to his brother Philippe in South Carolina in about 1802. Philippe gave ‘Old Blush’ to his neighbour, a farmer called John Champneys. On his farm it chanced to cross with Rosa moschata (the white-flowered ‘Musk’ rose, a short climber) to produce ‘Champneys’ Pink Climber’.
Philippe sent seeds of this hybrid seedling to Louis, one of which produced a repeat-flowering climber ‘Noisette Carnée’ (‘Blush Noisette’ in England), in 1818, which has remained popular to this day.
Further hybrids were introduced by crossing these early Noisettes with Tea roses to produce climbing roses with large flowers. ‘Gloire de Dijon’ is one of the best known.