After 4 years of trying, finally got my Boule de Neige

9 years ago

Some of you may remember me moaning and groaning last year about my seemingly impossible search for a Boule de Neige. I groused all over the place about every place I tried that had it listed would tell me it was out of stock--in some cases just a couple weeks before they were supposed to mail it to me. I was particularly mad that they would accept and confirm my order--only to later say, sorry, we don't really have it.

Well, somehow I found Pam Greenewald from Angel Gardens in Florida last fall. She kindly offered to grow me a Boule de Neige, and I just received it this morning--looking perhaps a bit battered after its long journey but still reasonably healthy and a decent size. My only reservation is that the box was rather battered because it did not have "fragile" or "this side up" marked on it (my postal carrier was really upset!), but the plants survived so I don't have any serious complaint about it. Especially after searching fruitlessly for 4 years for this plant!

When it blooms I'll post a pic. I'm really excited about this plant. Here's pic : Boule de Neige at helpmefind.com . It's a wonderful older rose.

In the meantime, I just wanted to give everybody a heads up about Pam Greenewald at Angel Gardens. Terrific woman to work with and another excellent nursery to add to our list of "favorites."

Kate

Featured Answer

noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque)

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

FYI Joy Creek has Boule de Neige. www.joycreek.com

May 9, 2015 ABQ Rose Garden: Essentially once-blooming here.

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Comments (19)

ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
9 years ago
Congratulations, Kate. I'm glad your persistence has finally paid off. I'm surprised a rose as well-known as Boule de Neige would be so difficult to find. I hope yours grows very quickly and lets you see at least a flower or two this year.
Kippy
9 years ago
I am glad you got your rose! I don't think anyone actually looks at what is on boxes and they sure can't figure out arrows. Maybe just my bad luck and I have spoken to the usps carrier about it. I don't think I got a single box from Vintage, Heirloom or Rogue Valley they did not manage to either squash in the center or flatten and bend. I think the ones from RU and ARE where in bigger boxes so they faired a bit better but took longer in route and arrived in worse plant shape. For some reason plants from Burlington arrive like the were on a platter and from Karen like the used it for a wheel chuck. Same type of box and packaging. And the itty bitty plant I won in an auction only arrived alive and not as a twig and roots in a massive box because some one thought to use tape to hold the soil in the pot. (Next time it would help to tape the pot to the cardboard insert they made and stuck in the box. Plant could have fit in the small sized flat rate box rather than a microwave sized box and. It been stirred up so much but it was so small the pot protected it). That box was sitting upside down on my door step with the arrow pointing down and fragile live plant written all over it Shipping can be iffy I have had 4 plants not survive the postal/ups system but most do okay even if set back
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Disease resistance of Boule de Neige Bourbon?
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Christopher, I have a good guess from where the "Sapho (a Tea)" came. In David Austin's book "The Heritage of the Rose" (copyright 1988), he lists the parentage of 'Boule de Neige' as: "Boubon 'Blanche Lafitte' x the Tea Rose 'Sappho'." I do not know when HMF came into being, but I am sure if it existed in 1996 when Liz Druitt's book was published, that it contained far less information than it does today. According to HMF, 'Sappho' the tea rose was introduced in 1889, and since 'Boule de Neige' was introduced in 1867, we can see that it was impossible for the tea to be the parent. I believe that Austin's book "The Heritage of the Rose" was pretty common. It was the first rose book I purchased in the early 1990s, when I only had three rose bushes. Also of interest to me, is that if you look at the references for 'Boule de Neige' on HMF, the more recent ones call it a Bourbon, the older ones call it a hybrid Noisette and the oldest calls it a hybrid perpetual. The same three classifications are used for 'Coquette des Alpes', 'Coquette des Blanches' and 'Madame Alfred de Rougemont', with the addition of Noisette perpetual. According to references at HMF 'Lady Emily Peel' and 'Perle des Blanches' have been classified as Boubon, hybrid Noisette and Noisette perpetual, with Modern Roses 10 calling 'Lady Emily Peel' a Noisette. I was really confused about where all the Noisette classifications came from, until I used Google to translate a reference for 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte'. From what I understand of the imperfect translation of the entry from Journal des Roses (1885), they considered 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte' to be almost pure Noisette while the other references on HMF all call it a Bourbon. Vintage Gardens has this to say about 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte' : "In style like a larger flowered Blush Noisette of even more delicate coloring, Mlle. Blanche belongs to a group which Ellwanger called as The Hybrid Noisette, which shared some of the character of Bourbons...vase shaped to about 5', bear delicious blooms of pale blush, in abundance all year.":
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Finally, here she is--my long-awaited Boule de Neige (and OGR friends)
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Thank you for your comments--and Boule de Neige thanks you also. By the way, Boule de Neige translates as "ball of snow"--or "snowball." Good description of many of the blooms. Yes, I'm feeling much, much better this year--though the energy isn't quite as energetic as when I was young, unfortunately. But that doesn't stop me from enjoying my roses--and enjoying the enjoyment other people get from them also. Kate
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I'd like to provide an update. RvR was very responsive when I contacted them and provided a full refund once I sent them pictures of my rose. I am happy with their service and will do business with them again. By the way, apparently the rose I got was Vick's Caprice, a hybrid perpetual. I'm sad I did not like the blooms, because it seems to be an excellent plant for my area! In its second year it threw out tall new basal growth and bore many large flowers. I will attempt to transplant it and give it to a neighbor - let's see if it survives.
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dublinbay z6 (KS)
Original Author
9 years ago
Wow, Kippy--after hearing all your shipping woes, I feel I've been lucky indeed since this is the only shipped rose I ever received that was that battered--and the rose is still in good shape, in spite of the battering.

Yes, Ingrid, I thought it was strange that Boule de Neige was so hard to locate. Every place I tried would say something about what a lovely or wonderful rose it was--but they didn't have it that year--nor the next--nor the next--etc. Very odd, indeed!

Kate
jerijen
9 years ago
Congratulations!

And at the rate we are losing nurseries, the ones we still have are precious. Doubly-so, if they're easy to work with.

When B&B Nursery still existed, I thought they had the best packaging Ev-Er! Alas, they are no more!
sidos_house
9 years ago
hooray!
Alana8aSC
9 years ago
Kate, I'm so glad you got a rose that you've been wanting for so long! I hope you enjoy it!
Kippy
9 years ago
Kate, it is not the nurseries fault. I must have a hostile tenant at the post office and I skip Fedex all together, they cant tell the difference between 5 and 6 so we have to swap mail with people in the next block regularly and I know the guy on my route for ground has an issue with me (his fault completely but what can you do)
seil zone 6b MI
9 years ago
That's wonderful, Kate! Can't wait to see a bloom. I've ordered a few times now from Angel Gardens and I've been very pleased with them.
thonotorose
9 years ago
Oooo, a noisette! I wonder how thorny it is? Lovely.
sara_ann-z6bok
9 years ago
Kate, I am so happy for you, it is a beautiful rose.
mustbnuts zone 9 sunset 9
9 years ago
Congrats! Can't wait to see pictures!
KnoxRose z7
9 years ago
Wonderful! I've been looking for one as well and have had basically the same experience as you! I also wonder why nobody seems to grow this regularly. I wonder if she has any more started....
dublinbay z6 (KS)
Original Author
9 years ago
Dinglehopp, I strongly suggest you email Pamela. Like I said, I don't remember now how I came up with her name, but she didn't have a Boule de Neige listed as being available. I just asked--do you by any chance have one? She answered that she had a small one going and thought she could send it to me in the later fall (I was writing in the early fall). I explained that in Kansas, we waited until spring to plant our new roses, and she wrote back that was even better and she could promise a good-sized one for sure for April. So that was all arranged through our emails--it was not part of a regular online order.

Good luck!

Kate
User
9 years ago
That's wonderful that you got the rose you've been searching for- 'Boule de Neige' is one I really like the looks of- hope to see pix of your blooms soon!

Virginia
ArbutusOmnedo 10/24
9 years ago
Congratulations! I've been away from the forums for a bit so I'm glad to see a personal triumph at the top of the threads!

I love my BdN. It's a wonderful white rose that is only surpassed by Madame Hardy in my mind, but I can't grow the Damasks.

Happy rosing everyone!

Jay
John (PNW zone 8)
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I can vouch for Joy Creek as a source for Boule de Neige. I bought mine there a few years back, and it it's been extremely vigorous and free of disease in my no spray garden, blooming in big flushes that seem to blend into each other. I have it planted in a bed near the front porch, and when the morning sun hits it in summer, its lovely scent fills the area.
Anne Zone 7a Northern CA
8 years ago
I have gotten some very nice roses from Joy Creek, including my 'Boule de Neige', which looks very healthy coming out from under the melting snow.
dublinbay z6 (KS)
Original Author
8 years ago
I'm glad to see that Boule de Neige is finally being offered in sufficient numbers to meet public demand. Back when I was looking for one, Joy Creek listed it but said it was currently "unavailable." It's great that they have built up enough stock to offer it again.

Hopefully I will have pics this coming season of my Boule de Neige. : )

Glad to hear, John, that it is s free of disease. That was my one worry--though it had no disease its first season in my yard.

Kate

After 4 years of trying, finally got my Boule de Neige

noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque)

Comments (19)

ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9

Kippy

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After 4 years of trying, finally got my Boule de Neige

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