I have Caldwell Pink, and here in No California it is disease free. I just went to look at it, and after 8 days of rain, it has no BS, no mildew, nothing. It is not blooming right now, so I could not check on the fragrance, but I do not remember it being strong. Great rose - blooms in the Spring and all summer and into the Fall. The only "pest" it attracts in my garden are large, four legged ones.

Jackie

I've observed both roses repeatedly, though I don't grow either.

Neither is prone to disease (including BS) in most environments. As far as my nose is concerned, Pink Pet ("Caldwell Pink") has virtually no fragrance, while Blush Noisette has a clove sort of scent.

Hope that helps.

Caldwell Pink has 0 fragrance.

Jackie sounds like Caldwell pink would do well in my climate as far as disease resistant to BS. Thanks for letting me know how great it is growing for you.
Fff and Mauvegirl, thanks for your input as well, I don't think it not having a fragrance is going to be a deal breaker for me just based on its bloom factor and resistance to BS. Sounds like a great rose, thanks!

Both are fine roses in TX. In fact, you're probably required to grow Caldwell in TX--state law.

Seriously, CP is so happy, healthy, floriferous; so adaptable to the different soils & climates--it's easy to forgive the fact that it just isn't fragrant.

Once it starts spring growth it's usually covered in pink pompoms until frost. It also has attractive red fall foliage. Only time I've seen a CP unhappy is when it's been planted in shade. Even then, it soldiered on, but without the wonderful abundance of bloom.

It also is the easiest rooting rose I've ever known--trimmings tossed on the ground root. I'm even trying it as a rootstock for budding & am very pleased so far.

I don't have Blush Noisette now, but still have a 20+ yr old Champney's Pink Cluster that's been a great plant. Lots of healthy growth, big sprays of small fragrant flowers throughout the growing season.

It also roots very easily. If you don't mind starting with small plants, I'm happy to send you rooted babies of Caldwell & Champney's--just e-mail me.

This post was edited by bluegirl on Tue, Dec 9, 14 at 7:19

I have a bed of 5 Caldwell Pinks. They are very healthy, and get no BS in my no spray garden.

The pink color has a glow to it that I see as very beautiful. It almost seems to have a slight lavender cast, but is still fully pink.

My Blush Noisette will begin its third year this year, so I cannot give any suggestions until after this year.

Sammy

Yeah, Sammy--Caldwell definitely does have a faint bluish cast to its color--at least cool-weather blooms do. In summer the blooms fade to the palest pink.

I also don't spray & it's extremely healthy. It tends to be one of the later starting roses in spring. It eventually drops all of its leaves after hard frost but once it starts up again, it's a non-stop bloomer.

I don't recall much about Blush Noisette, but Champney's is another bloom machine & very healthy. When I finally got this old plant put into the ground it really started to shine. Shot up to 5' or so, a nice vase shape with lots of fresh healthy basals & big sprays of sweet flowers all year. Sets hips, too.

Daisy, what a beautiful shot. I especially love the combination of the rose with the pale pink flowers.

I must be the only person here who hasn't grown Caldwell Pink successfully, after trying twice. I'd like to blame it on something else, but I think it must be me.

Ingrid

No, Ingrid, isn't just you. I've had Pink Pet/Caldwell Pink here in Encino for quite a few years. It hates this junk dirt and demands a lot more water than any other rose in the area, except the few remaining Austin roses. It won't die, but it also won't thrive. It did just fine in a pot of moisture control potting soil, but nearly zilch in the dirt. It receives seven or eight hours of direct sun with no reflected/radiated heat and will only produce growth and a few flowers when heavily watered. With the recent rains, I'm expecting another flush of both. I think it's just better suited to other conditions than those we have in common. It's one I have wanted to like for the longest time, but it obviously isn't any happier to be with me than it was with you. We're in good company! Kim

Please forgive me for intruding here and posting photos of Blush Noisette as I absolutely adore the plant... I've been growing it on and off for years... I love it's scent, like fresh apples...its continuous flowering habit...disease free foliage and just masses of mophead like blooms... however, it has one downside for me, some of the flowers can ball and some just won't open and go brown.... every so often I have to give the bush a good shake to dislodge the discoloured ones, as they don't shed until you get a good gale blow through...
..another thing I like is its history...I mean 200 years old this year...since it was bred... I just got to have that...

I love Daisy's photo too..

..trained on trellis...straight ahead...it's very amenable to training like a rambler...

last one...

I like to grow it with a Geranium like this 'Patricia'... a psilostemon type...

I do hope you choose to grow it...but if not..well there's always another....
best wishes...

Marlorena please by all means feel free to intrude any time with gorgeous pictures of roses lol! Your blush noisette is gorgeous, thanks so much for sharing. And Daisy the pic of your BN is just as beautiful. Between you and Marlorenas pics you have convinced me I need BN as well as Caldwell pink.
Bluegirl I wouldn't want to break any laws in our great state of Texas so I well for sure be planting Caldwell pink this spring, it sounds like a gorgeous rose and I am very excited about planting it. I also now need Champneys pink cluster too and appreciate your offer for cuttings. I am going to try to find one at a local nursery but if I don't have any luck I will for sure email you and take you up on your very gracious offer. And please feel free to recommend any other rose I need to plant to avoid breaking Texas state law lol. I already have mrs dudley cross on my list and will probably add Georgetown tea but would love other suggestions as well. It's easy to get excited about a rose when everyone has had only positive things to say about CP. THANKS!

This post was edited by boncrow66 on Tue, Dec 9, 14 at 15:02

Oh, wow, lovely photos! Just beautiful.

Hey, Boncrow, starting in late Jan., our local HEBs usually carry Caldwell Pink, Mrs. Dudley Cross & a few other ogrs that thrive in TX. Body bags for ~10 bucks each, IIRC.

Virtually every tea, China, poly, noisette or HM I've tried here does very well. Of the Bourbons--Souvenir del la Malmaison & Souv. de St. Annes thrive, of the HPs--Baronne Prevost & Reine de Violettes have done well. I never have been able to make a Mme. Isaac Periere happy.

Other old European roses like damasks, albas, centifolias, & gallicas are iffy. A few isolated ones have done okay for me--Alba Semi Plena, Tuscany Superb. A few of the old mosses are okay--Rene D'Anjou, Mousseaux du Japon. And the modern mini mosses do even better.
Ya never know 'till ya try...

Have to put in a particular vote for the tea, Mrs. Dudley Cross, as it not only does very well (voted the rose of San Antonio) but is thornless, or virtually so.

I've never had Georgetown Tea, but it's been on the old wish list--sounds gorgeous.

I've been fooling around with propagating stuff under mist this past year & have a BUNCH of rooted ogr babies, so don't be shy about asking. Seriously, I don't need or want all these, I was just experimenting a lot this summer. Be most happy to tag some for ya & send now or in the spring.

Kim, you've made me feel a lot better. So it's not just me, but also junk dirt and maybe not enough water that made CP hate it here. To me the rose is not beautiful enough to bother with if I have to baby it so it's just as well.

Lovely photos, Marlorena, of Blush Noisette. I've tried noisettes here and they all committed suicide, one after the other. I think I'm a better gardener now than I was then and they might possibly survive, but there isn't an inch of room left now.

Ingrid

Bluegirl thanks for the heads up about HEB, I will definetely be checking them out. If they don't had a blush noisette or champneys pink cluster I will take you up on your kind offer of rooted cutting. I am so glad to hear Barrone Prevost and reine de violet does well in our Texas climate, those are 2 I have been wondering about and have on my wish list. I am new to OGR's and planted my first SDLM last spring thanks to Ingrid's positive comments and I love it! I appreciate all your help and advice, it had made me feel more confident in my choices.
Ingrid I'm sorry cp didn't do well for you, I'm sure it's your climate and not you, your garden is amazing and I love all the pics you post. I'm glad y'all are getting some much needed rain. I've been drooling over Grand Dame on your other thread lol.

You are most welcome. I can send you a list of what's rooted now & what is available for cuttings. I'm still running mist. Trying to see if I can root over the winter using a covered hot bed.

Whereabouts are you (general area)? San Antonio, Fort Worth & various other cities usually have good plant swaps twice a year. That's where I usually dump my extras, but the car got too full this Oct.

Thank you for the info Kim. I had gotten one a while back and it is just sitting and not doing much. It is in the front with some roses that do well and others than just sit and sulk. I am not sure what they do not like there but boy some do not like it.

I dug one up last week that has sat with green canes and no leaves for months and months, put it in a pot and it sprouted a green leaf.

Can Caldwell Pink take some shade? That one side of the lot gets lots of extra water from the neighbors well.

People aren't comfortable in every climate. Why should a rose, or any other plant be? I think Pink Pet just hates the desert south west. If we can't make it happy in the ground, it is determined NOT to be happy, so on to the next! Kim

Blue girl I am in the Beaumont area, about a hour south of Houston. I am really excited to know about HEB having roses in January, how did I not know this ? Lol.
Kim I agree that something that might do well in my climate might not in another, I have learned that lesson, not necessarily with roses, but with other plants. I think that's why I am taking the time to research what roses are best for my Texas climate so that I will hopefully be successful in planning a beautiful garden. I know I'll make some mistakes but that's part of it. It's forums like this that have helped me in my decision making. Thanks everyone for their patience.

Both of my Caldwell pinks are in part shade and seem quite happy, though as with any rose the bloom is probably stronger in full sun. Given how "full" the sun can get in Texas, though, I would think many roses might appreciate a little part shade in the hottest hours.

Cynthia

Caldwell Pink has not done very well in my garden either, so probably hot desert climate is not liked by this rose, as others mentioned.

Now that I have decided on CP, I need to decide how many to plant! I am leaning toward a mass planting of 3 in front of part of my deck and another in a triangle shape on the other side of the steps leading up on the deck with some perennials added in like maybe blue haze.

That's interesting that Caldwell Pink is doing well in Cynthia's zone 5 garden. It does well in my garden in part shade. My plants are under tree canopy but get light at an angle. They rebloom but would probably do better with more sun. I don't see much bs on them but I think they do get some cercospora. I think the individual blooms are really pretty as they are so full and I like the lavender pink color. I have one on either side of an entrance to my garden because they look airy and fairy like to me. They seem tough and low maintenance here.

Beautiful setting, Erasmus, with that CP & artemisia.

Interesting that it's hardy as far north as NE, Cynthia.

I was surprised to hear it doesn't thrive in southern CA or NV. I suppose those areas are just too extreme re. heat & drought.

Boncrow, you'll find lots of ogrs that do well in the Golden Triangle. Almost any China, tea, poly, HM, or Noisette will thrive there. I gardened many years on the coastal prairie sw of Houston.
Sometimes the rainy hot springs will spoil blooms of Souvenir del la Malmaison, but I hope you try it, as it's so very lovely. When it's a few year old it can become spectacular, covered with those big, fragrant, petal-stuffed blooms.
Many years, fall is a far better bloom season than spring, with drier, cooler air that doesn't ball the flowers.

Erasmus your garden is beautiful, thanks for sharing pics of your CP!
Bluegirl I planted SDLM last spring and I love it so far and can't wait for it to mature.

Well, I've had Caldwell Pink in my Phoenix garden for ten years and it is one of my favorites. It is planted under a large shade tree, but seems to like where it lives. I guess I should be counting my blessings.

Great pictures of Caldwell Pink, Erasmus. That shows some of the differences between the same rose in relatively warm zones vs. here - mine is no more than 3 feet tall or so in its third (?) year, but it may get taller as it ages. It doesn't always lose cane entirely over the winter, though it did last year, but it's pretty bullet proof and a guaranteed survivor. The plus side of growing it in this zone with a chance at cooler weather is that we can get some of the darker tones this rose sometimes shows, not just the pale pink. I've attached a photo - I think the very dark pink is Laguna creeping its way into the photo, but I'm not entirely sure. What is interesting is the pink with dark pink centers on a few of the blooms - looks like CP and Laguna may have been sneaking around the fence for a little hanky panky, eh? You can see the extent of the part shade here with the lamium and heuchera that are happy just beyond the fence. You're right that I may not get as much rebloom as I might like on this rose in part shade, but it's pretty reliable in this spot.

Boncrow, your plan for Caldwell Pink in combinations sounds great. You might think about something purple - a salvia or geranium - around the front or edges, just to make the pink "pop". Of course we'll want pictures!

Cynthia

I'm not sure if there are two different clones or if it's my climate, but my Pink Pet stays under two feet, and it's about 15 years old. It is small enough that it makes an excellent rose for a hanging basket. My original PP came from a plant in Texas. I bought two more from a local nursery, and they both stay quite small.

I doubt it's a case of varying 'clones'. More likely, it all depends upon whether the plant likes the color of your shirt or something. I've seen Pink Pet as lush, gorgeous bushes, but not around where I live. Kim

Here it is with light and darker blooms:

Blooms are tiny but full and can have a button eye:

Kim, it is very happy here, blooms its head off, and the foliage is very healthy. It just never gets very tall. It's wider than tall, as a matter of fact.

I believe you! It probably likes your gardening garb better than it does mine! Kim

Nipstress thanks for the suggestion. I am so pumped up by everyone's posits comments and beautiful pics of CP. Is it spring yet???? LOL.

erasmus, it's pictures of your close-up of CP that made me want to have it, so ethereal and lovely. The best description I can think of for my former plant is "scruffy". I'm glad CP works for most people since it has so many positive attributes. Fortunately we few who can't seem to make it happy have hundreds of other roses to choose from.

Ingrid

A bit late to the thread here. I have 5 caldwell pinks around my cedar elm tree that are 2+ years old. I bought them as 4 inch pots at a local nursery. They get sun most of the day until late afternoon. Very free blooming, no diseases at all. They are however not semi evergreen like most other roses in texas. Once the weather turns cold, the leaves turn a pretty dark reddish brown and drop. It promptly grows new leaves for the spring. A nice rose, but more like a carnation than a rose. I believe it's also called carnation rose.