(2006)  Page(s) 4.  Includes photo(s).
 

Widespread in Finland, Sweden and, apparently, Estonia but virtually unknown elsewhere is a beautiful, hardy rose with alba affinities. In Sweden it was long named R. x suionum or svearnas ros, implying a Swedish origin, while in Finland it was termed the Mustiala rose since, during the early part of the twentieth century, it was widely distributed by Mustiala Agricultural College near Turku. The question of its origin was not resolved until the 1980's, when it was observed that the Mustiala rose was identical to 'Minette' (J.P. Vibert, France, 1819) growing in the collections at Sangerhausen.
'Minette' forms a well-branched, green-stemmed shrub to about 1.5m (5ft) with singly borne, pale shell-pink, large, fragrant and beautifully formed flowers throughout July and often into early August. Its only real fault is the susceptibility of its soft-textured and very double flowers to balling in wet weather; given a hot, dry summer this is a perfect rose. Its hardiness and suckering ability account for its popularity in the Nordic countries. The pale green, slight glossy rounded leaflets suggest that R. carolina may be involved in its pedigree, which would also account for its relatively good winter-hardiness; the stems show some dieback after hard winters, but as a rule this does not prevent 'Minette' from flowering well.