OMG the fragrance of Blush Noisette- and a deadheading question

10 years ago

Some of you may remember a couple of years ago I was trying to determine which variety of rose my G-G-Grandmother may have grown in eastern Kentucky circa 1850's. We got it narrowed down to a few possibilities and based on years and colors I went with Blush Noisette and put three in my front yard in the fall of 2011.

Their first spring saw a few blossoms but this year they are tremendous! First- the numbers of blossoms per cluster is astounding- there must be thousands of buds on these three shrubs. But the most amazing thing is the fragrance. I walk into my front yard every morning and smell cinnamon all around me. I have had passersby stop and ask me what that amazing fragrance is- it is so wonderful I don't have words. It smells for all the world as if someone is baking with their windows open.

So a word of thanks to all who know and appreciate the old varieties, and especially to those who first suggested that this might be the variety she grew over 150 years ago.

Now- as to deadheading. I am finding differing views on how much of each cluster to remove- do I go in there and try to do each individual flower (there are too many!) or snip the entire cluster (not all of the buds have opened)? I don't want to sacrifice unopened buds but would like to remove the unsightly spent blossoms. If I wait long enough they will fall off if I merely rattle them, but aren't I supposed to really deadhead for the health of the plant?

I found an old thread here that referenced photos taken by jerijen illustrating where to actually snip on the cluster Noisette's, but unfortunately the photos are no longer viewable. If anyone has them saved I would so love to see them. It also talks about "snapping" off the old blooms but I don't quite know how or where to snap.
Thanks for any advice!

Here is a link that might be useful: old thread I'm talking about

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portlandmysteryrose

10 years ago

One of the many useful applications of squishing in my garden: removing hanging brown rose crusties, stripping flocks of vampire aphids from my gallicas, etc. :-)

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Comments (6)

jerijen
10 years ago
Cear ...

If you want to keep them looking absolutely perfect, you can stop each day and snap off each and every faded bloom, leaving the rest to open. I do that, on some cluster-flowering roses, snapping off the faded ones as I pass by.

But on a mature Blush Noisette, that is going to eat up so much time, it will drive you up the wall.

B.N. does NOT drop its faded blooms. In my climate, they sit there, and turn brown. On a mature plant, there can be so many clusters of so many blooms, removing them can be a full-time job.

I've learned to ignore the faded blooms.

When the flush is winding down, you'll see that new buds are already forming. Snip off the entire ratty old cluster -- and I do this as high as I can. If there's not a handy bud eye to cut to, I have been known to grab the whole cluster in my left hand, and whack off the blooms ABOVE where they emerge from the cane. The plant will decide where to put out new growth, and I can always clean up later.

I just finished doing this to my Roseville Noisettes, and I started on "Jacob Zeisz" this morning, before the sun came out from the clouds and drove me into the house. I'll continue tomorrow. It's a big rose now, with literally hundreds of clusters, so it takes some time, even doing it that way.

Jeri
portlandmysteryrose
10 years ago
Cearbhaill

I have a substantial 'Blush Noisette' intermingling with a 'Serotina' honeysuckle. I also snip the whole cluster in a similar manner to Jeri. In PDX, the dried spent blooms hang on. If they really bug me, and the bees aren't thick on the honeysuckle, I sometimes walk by and scrunch and shake the mixed clusters of fresh and spent blooms, aiming my scrunchy fingers for the brown bits. Then I can postpone deadheading until all members of the cluster are spent but still avoid the case of "brown lingers." 'BN' is indeed a deliciously scented beauty. In my climate, she is kind of sweet and musky. I'm so glad you found a rose that could very well have been your grandmother's!

Carol
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jerijen
10 years ago
Carol, I think that's a great strategy -- squishing them. :-)

Jeri
nickl
10 years ago
If we tried to remove the individual blooms of the sprays on our "Blush Noisette", we'd be doing nothing else.

We simply wait until 'mostÃÂ®' of the blooms in a spray are looking pretty ratty and/or have dropped petals, such that we really don't care to look at it anymore, and then we cut off the whole spray. It is a very reliable repeater here, and it almost never makes any hips for us, so we don't have any qualms about doing that.
jerijen
10 years ago
Nickl -- I do agree.

Jeri

OMG the fragrance of Blush Noisette- and a deadheading question

portlandmysteryrose

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jerijen

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