IMHO, it is a better Southern CA rose than 'Mme. Isaac Pereire,' but I would not call it a good candidate for a no-spray SoCal garden.

It bloomed fairly well here in the spring, not at all in the summer, and a small bit in Fall. In Fall, however, it did suffer a considerable amount of rust.

In my cool coastal area, it disliked pruning, and was thus an awkward plant. That might not be a problem, further inland.

It was a better plant here than Louise Odier (who bloomed only a little, and was a Beanstalk here) -- Or Maggie, who sulked and died here. But it's one of those roses I'd just as soon visit someplace where it was happier, and we no longer grow it.

One interesting thing. On a few occasions, it sported back to MIP -- thus settling in my mind the question of whether it is really a sport or really a seedling of MIP.

Jeri Jennings
Coastal Ventura Co., SoCal

Jeri, thanks for your response! Your experience with Mme. Ernst Calvat doesn't sound too encouraging, but maybe I get a little bit more lucky with her in San Diego, inland. One can still dream? Do you have any idea about the mature size of this rose?

I am surprised that nobody else has answered so far to my post even here on GardenWeb. Is that rose so rarely grown? I would be very happy if someone else who is has this rose in her/his garden would chime in.

Christina

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Garden Dreams

I really love mine. I fanned it out on a wall and don't prune too much. Big spring show and smaller fall repeat. Disease resistance has improved as the plant aged. I use lots of mulch and keep putting it on all through the year. I like the bourbons as a group even though you don't get the same results that people report back east. The flowers are lovely and I like the delicacy of the plants. I just wind the long canes around the trellis on the wall. I think of it as a small climber. Try it in a generous space and don't cut it too much. Let it grow large. Blue delphiniums were just the companions for this rose- alas the snails did them in in the fall.

In my northern California garden it is magnificent. I'm growing it on a tall ladder. It grows up and arches over. rebloom is pretty good. I have found like Kitty that disease resistence seemed to improve with age.

I think, in INLAND S.D. Co., following Kittymoonbeam's advice, she might work out fine.
At least, it's well-worth the try. And if she doesn't work out, you'll at least know that you gave it a shot.

Jeri

There is a page about it in Clair Martin's "100 Old Roses for the American Garden". As with all the roses in that book, it tells about its size, habit, uses, etc., as well as several paragraphs about the rose. It certainly is beautiful.

We grew it for a number of years, but no longer have it. As I recall, it was fairly susceptible to black spot and powdery mildew here, and seldom rebloomed.

One might note, here, that "Ernst" is a very old typo that got propagated in rose literature. The name is properly "Ernest."

I'm not in your zone, but I love this rose here. It has incredible fragrance and beauty of flower. I like the color better than Mme Isaac. It does get blackspot here and is bare-legged at the bottom, but I grow it on a pillar and have lots of shorter roses and perennials around it that hide the bare legs so it doesn't look bad. The repeat is pretty good if you keep it well-watered in the summer and I treat her with organic fertilizer. It's wrapped around a 6' pillar and pruned hard. It could be allowed to get taller, but can be kept in bounds with pruning without a lot of trouble.

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kittymoonbeam, thank you very much for the detailed information about this rose. That is very helpful!

Pam, what a great idea to grow MEC over a ladder! I am glad to hear that you agree with kittymoonbeam that the disease resistance is improving with age.

Jeri, thanks again for your input. I will follow kittymoonbeam's advice. I definitively will give this rose a shot in my garden. For me she is too beautiful to not trying to grow her.

organic tosca, thanks for the book recommendation. I have heard got things about this book before, but never got it. Now I really have a reason :-).

malcom manners, thanks for sharing your experience with MEC.
Also thank you for the correction of the name. From now on it will be Mme. Ernest Calvat for me. Unfortunately I can't change the headline of the post anymore :-(.

lori elf, thank you sooo... much for posting a photo and describing your experience with MEC. This rose looks so lovely in your garden. I really like the way you have trained her around the pillar!

Christina

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Garden Dreams

I know the rose as Mme Ernst Calvat, so I researched the name. Here is the result:

• Mme Ernst Calvat is indeed a distinct rose cultivar. It is not a typo for Mme Earnest Calvat.
• The rose Mme Ernst Calvat is a sport (mutation) of another well-known rose called Mme Isaac Pereire.
• It was introduced in 1888 by Joseph Schwartz of Lyon, France.