In Redouté the text says the rose begins to bloom in July and blooms until frost. With us in southern Maryland, Faded Pink Monthly begins late in May, blooming until cut by frost.
     We noted a few facts not touched upon in the above description; An occasional flowering branch was found quite devoid of prickles; the unpaired leaflet was generally a bit longer than the paired; a few bracts were foliaceous, perhaps the result of rich feeding; the pedicels frequently were subarticulate or jointed. Comparing the odor with the Musk, we decided that the fragrance was musky.
     Because we were not completely satisfied, we went to other books. Boitard added to our description that the leaflets are sharply and simply toothed, with the serrations converging; that bracts, a noticeable feature in the bloom of Faded Pink Monthly, are linear, lauccolate, awl-shaped, glandular on the edges, and often inclined to drop off. He mentions that the inner petals of the flower are entire while the outer ones are notched.
     Cochet adds that the stipules are deeply toothed, like Rosa moschata, and that the leaflets are a "beau vert tendre." Other authorities state that thornless flowering shoots and jointed pedicels are found. Many speak of the Musk fragrance.
     It seems, with the Faded Pink Monthly so bravely meeting these fine points of description, deficient up to now only in ultimate height and size of cluster, we are justified in believing that this is a plant of Le Rosier de Philippe Noisette, 1817.
     Were there others somewhere? We went hunting. While we have not found another Faded Pink Monthly anywhere, our hunting has been good. We have one with white flowers coming in great clusters, pure white under the sun but often opening with a deep rose-colored, small, sharply marked center made by the rosy shanks of the petals. The books say Aimée Vibert is pure white. So be it. We are calling the white rose "St. Leonards" as we got it near the St. Leonards post office.
     On another old farm where there have been preserved a few old bushes, we found another which is a soft blush-pink, deeper in color than Faded Pink Monthly, a lovely rose which seems to keep its color to the end. Fortunately, it is a noble, sturdy