Rosa centifolia var. muscosa Salet - Cabbage Rose

The Organic Old Salet Rose, classified in the category of moss roses, is a bush cultivated organically for the extraction of its essential oil used in perfumery. Its buds, lightly covered with "moss," open into beautiful old-style roses, filled with petals, in a lovely range of pure pink. Moss with balsamic scents and flowers with a sweet fragrance make up the indescribable fragrance of this rose. Early and abundant in spring, it blooms more discreetly, but faithfully, until the first frost. It is an excellent garden rose, both charming and easy to grow naturally. And its flowers last 5 days in a vase.

The Salet rose (also known as Melchior Salet) is a hybrid obtained in France by François Lacharme in 1854. One of its ancestors, Rosa x centifolia Muscosa, is a botanical species that appeared through a simple mutation of the Centifolia Rose with its countless petals, which is beautifully called the Cabbage Rose. 'Salet' is a vigorous bush with a slightly spreading habit, not very thorny, which reaches about 1.2m (4ft) in height and about 80cm (32in) in width at maturity. The slender and flexible branches are adorned with abundant and fine foliage of a matte light green, which can sometimes be sensitive to black spot disease in humid climates. This foliage is deciduous, it falls in autumn. Flowering begins in May-June, depending on the region, and lasts until October. The round buds have a sort of frizzy green vegetation with numerous resinous glands that release a balsamic aroma when crushed. They open into flattened cups, 8cm (3in) in diameter, composed of 50 crumpled, narrow, slightly tubular petals. The centre of the flower is often divided into quarters and has a bud. The colour changes from bright pink at blooming to soft pink. Salet roses are solitary or grouped in bouquets of 2 to 5 units. Their fragrance, with sweet and fruity notes, is particularly intense in the evening. This rose produces few fruits.

The passion for old and botanical roses is fully justified, and the moss rose Salet is no exception. These roses are not only the ancestors of our modern roses but also generally more robust and reliable. Salet is one of the few "moss" roses that has never disappeared from catalogues, despite trends, probably because of its recurrent flowering. It attracts attention in the garden with the magnificent fragrance of its roses, always cultivated for the perfume industry. It will find its place in a flowerbed, among delicate flowers or planted in groups of three to form a large bush. Lastly, it is a very hardy bush, and ultimately not very demanding in terms of soil, which deserves to be placed near a pathway for its fragrance and nostalgic flowering.