No southern garden is complete without the presence of roses and no other rose class is more fitting in a southern garden than the Noisettes. The Noisette class descended from the first recorded American hybrid, Champneys’ Pink Cluster a.k.a ‘The Charleston Rose’, and is recognized as the first rose class originating in the United States.
Noisettes do especially well in our warm, southern climates. Soft colors in pastel shades of pink, apricot, yellow, cream, and white define this class. Most are climbers though a few are bushes. My favorite of the Noisettes is the climbing rose Crépuscule. I finally did it justice three years ago when I made a simple cedar trellis for it climb although it did just fine hanging on our low-lined fence. Crépuscule has very few prickles making it ideal to train. It is very low maintenance and can tolerate less sunlight than recommended for roses. In fact, the blooms do better in areas with more shade as they tend to fade quickly in the heat of the summer. Crépuscule is also one of the few Noisettes with large, clustering flowers and has a very clean, pleasant scent. If you only have room for one climber, consider Crépuscule.
