Article (newspaper)  (May 2014)  Page(s) 2.  Includes photo(s).
 
Patricia Routley: I find the Baby Faurax rose so interesting. The colour, guessing its parentage, the name, and the height - everything is interesting. Léonard Lille had a seed firm in Lyon, selling Lawrenceana and Polyantha strains of seeds. He bred 15 plants between 1850 and 1937 and ‘Baby Faurax’ was his second last rose in 1924. In its time, the colour was the nearest approach to a blue colour and it was variously described as amethyst, steel blue, violet, lavender, mauve and slate. (Any of those colours would do, depending on the weather or how much iron you had in your soil). There is also some white in the center and the yellow stamens are visible. The parentage has never been known but prior to its arrival, there were multiflora ramblers around in somewhat the same shades: ‘Veilchenblau’ 1909, ‘Amethyst’ 1911 and ‘Violette’ 1921. It was speculated that ‘Baby Faurax’ was a dwarf version of one of these. But Lille had had a prior run at a blue-ish rose in 1898 with his pink violet polyantha ‘Gypsy’. Apparently the name ‘Baby Faurax’ was given in honour of a Belgian nursery and other breeders later honoured the Faurax name with a 1933 HT ‘Mme. Faurax-Lille’ [that’s interesting], ‘Elizabeth Faurax’ in 1937, and ‘Louis Faurax’ in 1941. People never knew how to pronounce the name, (I gather it is Foro), and the spelling has been mangled into Fourax and even Farex. This last one was understandable as there is a cereal for babies called Farex. Noelene Drage gave me the cuttings in 2000 and I have always been grateful. ‘Baby Faurax’ grows to a maximum of 60 cm high and wide and it is said to be slightly fragrant, but because of its height, I’ll take their word for it. Obviously the height suggests ‘Baby Faurax’ be used as an edging plant. I have two in different garden beds and they are so low, I almost have to search for them. So I grow it in a pot as well and there it reaches its full potential of 30cm for me. The flowers are 2.5cm wide, semi-double, and they come in clusters. The bush is dense and compact. Jack Harkness used the words “stumpy and rather ugly” and those words are apt. The foliage is dull and dark green and yes, it does get black spot. The rose is not classed as a miniature, but as a Polyantha rose. If you do prune, the bush repeats its bloom and the bush sets small light red hips quite freely if not deadheaded. Jack Harkness was the first to breed with it in 1967 producing the lovely mauve ‘Escapade, and a white ’Little Lady’ from ‘Baby Faurax’. I once grew some ‘Baby Faurax’ seeds to see if the offspring would give a clue as to its parentage, but they all turned out to be quite different to each other, so I am still in the dark. Four of the seedlings are quite beautiful small shrubs, if a little unhealthy. I thought I would grow another batch of ‘Baby Faurax’ seeds, just for interest, but the parrots had other ideas.

Book  (2002)  Page(s) 23.  
 
Rated 7.6

Book  (2002)  Page(s) 42.  
 
Ross Heathcote. The Early Miniatures. ‘Baby Faurax’ 1924. Pol. (L. Lille). Large clusters of small violet double blooms with some fragrance. It’s strange that most of the violet/purple roses have fragrance! The bush is small to about 0.35m. If the blooms are left on it sets hips freely – small light red in sprays, most attractive.

Book  (2000)  Page(s) 44.  Includes photo(s).
 
‘Baby Faurax’. Raised by Lille. Parentage unknown. Introduced 1924. Polyantha. Size 60 x 60cm. ‘Baby Faurax’ is a lovely colour break in small-growing old roses, and provides excellent colour contrast. The small, quite double flowers are in clusters, lavender-purple in colour, pinking a little with age. This little beauty never fails to excite comment from those who see it for the first time. In truth, many of the old dwarf Polyanthas more than hold their own with the more modern Miniature and Patio roses.

Book  (2000)  Page(s) 102.  Includes photo(s).
 
‘Baby Faurax’: Polyantha… Améthyste ou violet… petites fleurs en rosette… en bouquets denses… C’est un curieux rosier, parfait pour les petits espaces, et qui s’est révélé précieux pour l’hybridation. Lille, France, 1924

Article (magazine)  (May 1999)  Page(s) 38.  
 
Companion plants for: Helichrysum peticolar 'Limelight', a lemon-lime form, to link to red-hot 'Anna Ford'...

Website/Catalog  (24 Oct 1998)  Page(s) 58.  
 
Baby Faurax Double blooms (2 in.) of a wonderful shade of blue-purple, which is often referred to as the closest to the color blue of any rose...

Book  (Jan 1998)  Page(s) 197.  
 
‘Baby Faurax’. A short grower, no more than 12 ins. in height, that might well be at home amongst the Miniature Roses. Iit is usually regarded as being as close to blue as it is possible to get in a rose. This I think is true, with the possible exception of ‘Reine des Violettes’ and ‘Veilchenblau’. The colour is, in fact, reddish-violet. A very useful little rose with close sprays of tiny cupped flowers on a continuously flowering bush. Lille (France), 1924.

Book  (Sep 1993)  Page(s) 64.  Includes photo(s).
 
Baby Faurax Polyantha. Leonard Lille 1924... thought to be a dwarf sport of 'Veilchenblau', but more consistently amethyst... The name was given in honor of a Belgian nursery.

Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 37.  
 
Polyantha, mauve, 1924, Lille, L. Flowers violet, double, small blooms in large clusters; fragrant; dwarf growth.