Utilizing nearly one hundred illustrations, this is the first American book-length history and analysis of the Noisettes, a class of rose born in Charleston not long after the American Revolution. The first Noisette rose was raised by South Carolina rice planter John Champneys as a hybrid seedling from the China rose "Parson"s Pink" and the autumn-flowering musk rose, resulting in a vigorous climber that produces magnificent clusters of small pink flowers from spring to fall. Variations developed as the Noisettes grew in international popularity. Now an expert group of international contributors takes up the task of telling the story of this unique botanical contribution in a manner that appeals to lovers of old roses, amateur and professional gardeners, Southern history enthusiasts, and admirers of historical Southern gardens. The informative opening essays describe Charleston in the early nineteenth century when Champneys bred the first Noisette, then chronicle the history of...