The American Noisettes

It is well known that the original noisette rose was an American production. The story is often told of John Champney of Charleston, SC crossing a musk and a china rose, creating Champney's Pink Cluster. A seedling of this his friend and neighbour Philippe Noisette sent to France in 1814, where it became known as the "Noisette" rose. The Noisette was taken up by the French hybridisers who crossed them with tea roses to create some of the iconic roses of the 19th century.

What is sometimes overlooked is how much further development of the noisettes went on in America. This was mainly due to the fact that in the warm summers of the American south-east the early noisettes frequently set seed and these seedlings increased the diversity of the group. In this story some notable American rosarians stand out:

James Pentland

From 1843 Pentland was gardener at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, MD. Later he purchased land near the cemetery to set up his own nursery. Pentland prospered and in 1868 he was elected Representative for Baltimore City to the Maryland House of Delegates. His best known noisette roses were:

• Beauty of Green Mount (1854) "rich, brilliant carmine color, very large and double";
• Dr. Kane (1856) "with large yellow flowers";
• Woodland Marguerite (1859) "large, pure white, and double, free blooming, with a lilac fragrance".

Charles Grafton Page

Page (1812-1868) was an inventor and professor of chemistry in Washington DC, as well as a notable amateur rosarian. His roses included:

• America (distributed by Thomas G. Ward, 1859) "flowers large, creamy yellow, with a salmon tinge; a cross from Solfaterre and Safrano"
• Cinderella (1859) "rosy crimson".

Andrew Gray

Gray was foreman of the Buist nursery firm in Philadelphia before setting up on his own in Charleston SC around 1849. He raised at least two noisettes:

• Isabella Gray, named after his eldest daughter, a seedling from Cloth of Gold
• Jane Hardy (named after his wife) also a seedling from Cloth of Gold. According to Rivers this is: "like the old double yellow rose, its buds burst without opening".

Anthony Cook

Of Cook little appears to be know except he came from Baltimore. He raised two noisettes:

• Nasaliana (1872) "flowers pink, of flat form, very fragrant; a seedling from Desprez".
• Tuseneltea (1860) "Pale yellow; a seedling from Solfaterre".

Of these American seedlings few, if any, survive. This is in contrast to the French noisettes, such as Cloth of Gold (1841), Desprez and Lamarque which are still available today.