I think Crepescule is just not a great repeater. I get a great spring flush, but then sporadic blooming after that. And then maybe a nice fall flush. It seems the rose is too busy putting out long octopus arms to climb up trees.

Crepuscule also does well in Melbourne, Australia, which is one of our coldest capital cities, but only has occasional frost and never snow. 90 degrees is not uncommon, but 100 degrees makes the news. It is as Buford said though - incredible spring flush, always has a bloom or two through the summer, and then another autumn flush.

The Noisettes which are reported to like warmer conditions will be planted against a west facing wall here, and I have high hopes for them despite our mild climate, based on the performance of Crepuscule.

CREPUSCULE declines to grow in coastal Ventura Co., where temps in the 90's are still rare, and we average 0 chill hours.
JAUNE DESPREZ has been persuaded to grow, but rarely blooms.
MRS. WOODS LAVENDER-PINK NOISETTE grew like a house-eater here, but rarely bloomed.

The cluster-flowering Noisettes (BLUSH NOISETTE and its various seedlings and sports) do very well here.

REVE d'OR is very happy and bloomiferous :-)

Tea Roses are very happy.
China Roses are very happy.

My Crepuscule is about a foot tall so far. Some new growth on it. My Lady Hillingdon is not any taller and a year older. I am hoping that putting Crepuscule in a hot spot gets us more growth than Jeri, but I doubt it will ever get as big as the icebergs in the same bed.

We get enough chill hours, below 45 for fruit trees, to get fruit to set. Some years we get a few nights with a hard enough freeze for water in the garden to get ice on it.

My 2 Reve d'Ors from the Sacramento Cemetery are very happy in coastal Pacifica. Jaques Amyot has been in a 5gal pot growing slowly for 3 years and is now repeat blooming and taking off so will be planted very soon. The fragrance is wonderful (from Vintage). Blush Noisette is in the ground and slowly getting started. But the champion is Narrow Water. One of mine is in full shade and has sent out branches 20 feet into the tree and the blooming tips are peeking out of the tree leaves. All repeat and are pretty disease free. I love Noisettes for my part shade garden.

Diane

Love the photos of 'Meteor'!

If you're mostly interested in not-so-pale Noisettes, I wonder if you would also like 'Fellemberg', 'Triomphe des Noisettes' or 'Bouganville' AKA 'Bougainville'? They are all supposed to be repeat bloomers, like Meteor...

Unfortunately, I have no idea if they'd like your climate, but as muscovyduckling mentioned, you can keep an eye out for what does well in other mild-summer locales. Fellemberg has some China ancestry, so that might be a good thing?

Good luck,
Virginia

'Fellemberg' blooms and repeats well in the U.C. Berkeley Botanical Garden -- was just looking at it in full bloom again last week. Berkeley temps rarely go into the 90's. Now that I think of it, though, their collection doesn't have many noisettes/tea noisettes at all. They do have 'Lamarque', which usually has some blooms on it.

In Morcom Park, in adjacent Oakland with similar weather, there is a humungous Lamarque and at least a few others -- whose names escape me now (Luxrosa would know!).

I've had 2 noisettes but both have done terribly here. Summer frequently has temps in the 90s and 100s so not all that mild. These roses seem to like heat, however they need A LOT of water year round, similar to tea roses which also fair poorly without nearly constant moisture in the dry heat of this area. I grow many low-water California native plants, and plants that require large amounts of water stand out readily. If I were to give them the water they need in the summer, it would kill many of the natives which can't handle warm moist roots in the summer (promotes growth of root pathogens).

The noisettes I've had were Camelia Rose, which arrived as a strapping big plant from back east and Caroline Marniesse. Camelia Rose was planted next to a seasonal stream, where many of my roses (particularly ramblers and species) grow like gangbusters. She promptly grew backwards and was dead in less than a year, about 10 feet away from an enormous Apple Blossom that blooms spectacularly, and a few more feet to an equally wonderful Light Pink Eglantine from SJHRG.

Caroline Marniesse arrived as a normal-sized band from Vintage. She struggles in dry summer heat. I have her planted in a spot that gets dappled shade part of the day and full sun the rest. Yet she wilts reliably in summer heat, even when watered daily. Her next door neighbor Europas Rosentgarten, a floribunda from Eurodesert, thrives in the same conditions. Blooms, grows, and just generally looks wonderful, showing zero signs of heat stress. Another neighbor is the bourbon Madame Pierre Oger, another band size rose from Vintage (and I think in the same shipment as Caroline Marniesse), which has grown like a rocket (over 6 feet tall now) and blooms beautifully. Handles heat well with average irrigation in my low water garden.

If anyone wants Caroline Marniesse, I'd be happy to bring her to some Southern Calfiornia rose event and pass her on to you. She is slated to be shovel-pruned and replaced with either a rugosa, spinosissima, damask, or species. I think she would do fine in a more normal rose garden with hybrid teas and teas, since they have similar water needs.

Melissa

Thanks for so much terrific information everyone!

I do like Fellemberg and Bouganville, though I'm not opposed to any of the lighter N/TNs. If Gloire de Dijon had a better reputation own root I'd try it in a heartbeat. GdD is a knee-buckler for me. I remember reading that someone was having Burling bud one for them. I hope they post an update on their experiences with that.

That's very interesting Melissa. I would have assumed you would have great success with Noisettes and that they wouldn't be so resource hungry. Repeat aside, that's also interesting that Crepescule does well for you, muscovyduckling. Melbourne is quite similar in climate to Santa Monica, but warmer on average by about 7 degrees Fahrenheit during our respective summers.

Narrow Water is one I have thought about for a semi-shady spot along with Secret Garden Musk Climber and Bubble Bath, Diane. I have enjoyed it each time I've seen it in person, but that is probably a year or more off from purchase.

I know we -well some of us- don't like repeatedly buying the same variety that we can't get to succeed until we find the "one," but it does seem to happen. Jeri has written about struggling to find a mildew free Duchesse de Brabant clone and a good Dark Lady I believe. It took at least three examples of each plant to find a "good" one if memory serves me. The N/TN classes aren't without their successes here. Perhaps it is worth trying an Elie Beauvillain or GdD type that is sumptuously beautiful, but not without a finicky reputation. I'd likely get a Narrow Water, Reve d'Or, or one of Meteor and Fellemberg as either a backup plan or future gift for someone.

Nurseries don't always exclusively carry roses that are destined to succeed in your climate, but varieties that I can confirm were sold here either in the late 19th or early 20th century are Meteor, Madame Alfred Carriere, William Allen Richardson, Reve d'Or, Gloire de Dijon, Lamarque, and Marechal Niel.

Jay

I can hear the sirens' calls from 'Elie Beauvillain' and 'Gloire de Dijon' also. Sumptuously beautiful is exactly right, and if you do try one or both, I hope you'll post lots of photos.

Not that I wouldn't also love to see photos of any of the others you've mentioned...

Jay, for what it's worth, I live in the hills just outside of Melbourne, where the average temps are around 4 degrees Celsius cooler than Melbourne city. So I'm guessing our summer temps would be very similar indeed.

I say go for it. I certainly will be!

FWIW Jay -- Elie Beauvillain grew backwards here. I'm not sure whether she hated our alkalinity, or our cool coastal air, or both -- but she had four years to get her act together, and failed the test.

Muscovyduckling- That's the attitude I think I need to take!

Jeri- When looking for information on EB I happened to see an old comment you left to that effect. The TNs I really like aren't the ones that seem to be reliable choices, but I'm willing to chance it on one of these while also ordering a more reputable variety. I haven't tried anything very iffy since becoming active on this forum despite the abundance of enabling. If the TNs I prefer don't like it here, I'll simply set them aside with the many classes I already disregard. Some chances need to be taken and this is more likely to end well than trying SDlM, Salet, or a rose from a more finicky class.

Jay

Here's a link to some photos of a deep pink Nabonnand Noisette called 'Madame Julie Lasseu' or sometimes 'Mme Julie Lassen'. I saw these photos yesterday, and thought nobody Stateside would carry it, but then I checked, and Angel Gardens in FL does- although they are currently out of stock per their web site.

It is described as 'vigorous', but I don't know if that means only if you're lucky enough (ahem!) to have steamy, sultry sauna-bath summers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of 'Mme Julie Lasseu'

Wow, that is a gorgeous rose, vmr423! I haven't heard of Mme. Julie Lasseu before, but the pictures on the link you provided are just beautiful. Angel Gardens is one of the few rose nurseries I haven't really looked into because of shipping costs from Florida to California, but I'll take a look at their inventory sometime soon.

Jay

The lovely Mme Alfred rocketed up the front of my sister's 2 storey cottage in mid-Wales (UK) where temperatures would very rarely hit the 80s, snow is a maybe once in 7-10 years winter novelty, and it pretty much pours with rain all year round....I'm not sure what her repeat bloom is like there (I could ask my sister if you'd like me to), but apparently she has put on some wonderful displays and certainly looked happy and healthy when I last saw her. I don't think my sister does anything much in the way of fertilising, and certainly would never spray.

Mme Julie is definitely eye candy!

But so is that photo of 'Jaune Desprez'- that's definitely a rose I'd like to see- and smell- up close.

My experience echoes Melissa's, which shouldn't be surprising since we live in similar climate conditions. Reve d'Or and Crepuscule are very happy here, as are the tea roses, with enough water and mulching. The pure noisettes, of which at one time I must have had about ten, were all a disaster. Not a one survives. However, in another, earlier garden, I remember Bougainville doing well, although I didn't care for the fact that the flowers were very small. That was a flat garden, and here the noisettes were set in a hillside, which made the heat even more of a problem. Having roses on a slope in a dry garden seems to decrease their chances, although I'm trying again now with two Wild Edric and a Mutabilis beside a sloping driveway. I'm watering and mulching more in hopes it will help.

Ingrid