I've grown Mrs.Charles Bell for a few years. First in a completely inadequate sized pot and now in the ground for going on 2 years. I absolutely love this rose! Yes, it gets a little black spot but not too badly. The bloom color won't stop traffic because the blooms are a subtle pink which I appreciate and the scent is not particularly strong but beautiful with a slight citrus quality. I have to be honest, I don't have a lot of rose growing experience and my collection is not huge, but I think Mrs.Charles Bell is about as good a rose as you can get if you like subtlety. I like it so much I planted a Red Radiance as well which is still young but I expect will be just as lovely. Oh and the blooms are quite large but not overwhelmingly so. I'm in the San Francisco Bay area north of the city. I believe I received Mrs. from Burlington as a band as well as the Red Radiance. Burling grows a beautiful selection of roses and she is wonderful to work with.
I am asking because my neighbor's hybrid tea bears a startling resemblance to the photo of Mrs. Charles. The foliage color sounds right. I've been trying to find out what her rose is without much success - until now. Thank you so much for the info.
Take a look at Radiance, which has a lot of shots of the foliage. It's a big family of sports. I grow Careless Love, another sport, which sports back to Mrs. Charles Bell on occasion. http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/pl.php?n=5059&tab=10
Re: What kind of foliage does Mrs. Charles Bell have?
A close look at the surface shows many tiny indentations which remind you of a sage leaf. I have put two pictures in the 'Mrs. Charles J. Bell' file, one of which shows the glandular pedicels and you should check this as well. It is certainly not a smooth pedicel.
Hmm, I'll have to look again at the photos I have & see what the upper stem's surface looks like. I looked & there definitely that glandular pedicel you pointed out. Here is a photo of the bud. I found that the fully opened bloom wilted under strong sun. Thank you for these photos.
