Rose of the Month #13
By Gaird Hamilton
Madame Alfred Carriere

When I went out in the garden pondering which rose was a candidate for this thirteenth in our Rose of the Month series, I found lots of lovely roses already in bloom. The great weather which we have been experiencing has brought out the best in them. Rising above them all, however, was the rose that many including such experts as David Austin has called the greatest of the white climbers.

Madame Alfred Carriere which was hybridized by Joseph Schwartz of Lyon, France in 1879 has stood up to the test of time and is still grown by multitudes of people around the world. It is a noisette which is a type of rose developed originally in South Carolina from a cross between a China and a Musk rose. The noisettes as a class include some of the most beautiful of all climbers. They have a delicacy of appearance and refinement that would be hard to equal elsewhere. We have two Madame Alfred Carrieres on two separate arbors, and they cover them with grace and beauty from very early in the season right on to the end. With it’s wonderful tea fragrance it makes a walk through our arbor a true pleasure.