Website/Catalog  (1986)  Page(s) 11.  
 
Belle de Crecy.....H. P.

Book  (Dec 1985)  Page(s) 153.  
 
Mid-19th Century. Origin and parentage unknown. Fairly reliable as a grower but temperamental in flower. Flowers are a pleasing mixture of pinks, greys and mauves, flat and quartered, often with a clearly defined, green eye in the centre. Highly scented. Growth upright, foliage grey-green. Almost thornless. 4' x 3'

Website/Catalog  (1984)  Page(s) 14.  
 
Gallica Roses (French Rose, Rose of Provins)
Belle de Crècy (1848)
The blooms spring from thick buds of intense pinkish red, progressing through tones of mauve and purple to a shotgun metallic grey. When the bloom forms fully, its flat face shows a green button eye. The unusual color combination against the full darkly green leaves is truly outstanding especially when grown among white roses.

Book  (1984)  Page(s) 36.  Includes photo(s).
 
Belle de Crécy ('Météore') Gallica. Introduced by Roeser, ca. 1848. Description...

Book  (1984)  Page(s) 36.  Includes photo(s).
 
‘Belle de Crécy’/’Météore’?: Rosiers galliques. Introduit par Roeser en 1848… tiges sans aiguillons… feuillage d’un vert mélancolique… D’abord roses en boutons, les petites fleurs plates mais très doubles, rouge cerise en s’ouvrant mais avec des taches et des veines lilas, finissent les pétales réfléchis, gardant toutefois l’oeil en bouton, touchées de pourpre et de gris… à une exposition ensoleillée, elles deviennent rapidement violettes, plus précisément violet de Parme, à moins qu’elles ne tournent au gris lavande avec des traînées pourpres ou rouge cerise. Quelles roses modernes font preuve d’autant d’imagination... à moins d’avoir des gênes de Rosa gallica.

Article (website)  (1982)  Page(s) 10.  
 
Belle de Crécy​ (gallica)​. A free flowering​ nearly thornless bush.​ Beautiful​ bright pink and mauve flowers with a distinctive scent.​ Probably mid 19th Century.​ (S)​ 4 x 3.

Book  (1971)  Page(s) 19-20.  
 
...shortly afterwards the only big commercial collection of shrub roses fell upon the market, that of Messrs G. Beckwith & Son of Hoddesdon. Although this collection was mainly composed of species, many of which were of doubtful horticultural value, the entire collection was acquired in the spring of 1940....There were several nuggets among the dross, such as...the exquisitely fragrant Gallica Rose 'Belle de Crécy'. This perfectly shaped old-world rose, in its extraordinary mixture of cerise, violet, and lilac-grey, happened to be planted near to the incomparable white hybrid Damask Rose 'Madame Hardy'....

Book  (1971)  Page(s) 142.  Includes photo(s).
 
Gallica. Belle de Crécy. One of my favourites among the Gallicas, in fact I consider it supreme for its soft parma violet colourings - supreme among all old roses - and for fragrance it is hard to beat. Unfortunately it is not of very erect habit, but with a little support among other bushes it is admirable and will then attain 4 feet, and it is only lightly armed. The leaves tone well in their dull leaden green with the colours of the flowers, and are neat and well poised. On first opening the flowers give little indication of their ultimate colour, being of intense cerise pink freckled and veined with mauve. On exposure, and particularly in hot weather, they quickly begin to turn to softest violet, eventually being almost entirely lavender grey with purple and cerise tints here and there. A perfect flower, of which there are many, opens wide, with reflexing and flat petals, leaving a pronounced button eye. With white roses such as 'Madame Hardy' the contrast is exquisite. Prior to 1848. (Plate V).

Book  (1971)  Page(s) 28.  
 

Tess Allan.  Gallica Roses. 
Belle de Crécy has latent possibilities and although I do not want to denigrate its flowers they have never lived up to their reputation in our garden. The bush is a large, unwieldy plant with dull green leaves. The lilac-pink buds open to full, flat flowers with a lovely range of colours: rose, lilac, purple and slate grey. A late frost will distort the shape of the flowers but, even at their best, they never surpass the elegant refinement of 'Jenny Duval'.

Book  (1966)  Page(s) 9.  
 
Gallica. Belle de Crécy...The flat flowers, with small incurving centre petals surrounding a button eye, open carmine shaded with mauve; but this colouring quickly changes until slaty, blue-purple tones appear, which give the rose an unusual and most distinctive appearance. The bush is upright, with thin flexible stems - almost too light for the weight of flowers which smother it in early summer.