Roses: Past and Present by Clair G. Martin

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1 Roses: Past and Present by Clair G. Martin photography by Saxon Holt TODAY GARDENERS CAN PARTAKE of the same truly ancient roses that once graced Empress Joséphine s rose garden at Malmaison on the outskirts of Paris. We don t even have to settle for copies we can actually plant a piece of the original. Unlike modern copies of antiques, we can clone ours so that every plant is a genetic sister of the original. Today it is possible to build a collection of these antique beauties from nursery catalogs and just by sharing cuttings among ourselves. What fun to have a rose that reflects local history, an historical event or even one that grew in our greatgrandmother s garden! As more of us discover the fine garden qualities of these long-lived, hardy, and in many cases, extremely disease resistant shrubs, a new age in rose growing has dawned one filled with exquisite beauty and intoxicating fragrances that were almost lost forever. Here, we present the roses immortalized in the early 19th century by Joséphine s court painter, Pierre-Joseph Redouté and contrasting them with the same roses photographed today by renowned garden photographer Saxon Holt. The comparison shows how everlasting the old roses are and will continue to be for generations to come. 50 AMERICAN ROSE ROSE.ORG

2 Apothecary s Rose The 'Apothecary s Rose' is a true antique, reputed to have been brought back to France by a Crusading French nobleman around Given the Latin name Rosa gallica officinalis because of its use in producing medieval medicines and conserves up until the French Revolution. Austrian Copper Probably introduced into Europe from Turkey in the 15th century, 'Austrian Copper' is the source of both strong yellow and orange colors in modern hybrid tea roses. Cold hardy, it is often found on abandoned pioneer home sites. all illustrations by Redouté courtesy Roses JANUARY/FEBRUARY

3 Autumn Damask First mentioned by the Roman poet Virgil around 30 BC as the Twice-blooming rose of Paestum, 'Autumn Damask' is a rose with a list of names nearly as long as your arm. In California it was grown in Spanish Mission gardens for its flowers and fragrance as the Rose of Castile. 52 AMERICAN ROSE ROSE.ORG

4 Blush Noisette 'Blush Noisette', a seedling of 'Champneys Pink Cluster', is a contender for the title of the first remontant hybrid rose. Produced by a South Carolina rice planter, it traces its parentage back to the China Rose Old Blush and the Musk Rose. Duchess of Portland 'Duchess of Portland' is truly the Mysterious Lady in Red, and was introduced into gardens circa 1800 and continues to charm us with her subtle delights. She may have originated in Italy from a cross between 'Slater s Crimson China' and possibly the 'Autumn Damask'. JANUARY/FEBRUARY

5 Empress Joséphine Joséphine de Beauharnais was known to her family as Rose and renamed Joséphine by her second husband, Napoleon I. This rose, which seems to have been around for some time, was named in her honor by her court painter Pierre-Joseph Redouté. She was such a dedicated lover of roses that she convinced her Emperor husband to buy roses from a British nursery in the midst of his war with England! 54 AMERICAN ROSE ROSE.ORG

6 Great Maiden s Blush Ethereal by color and fragrance, 'Great Maiden s Blush' is one tough rose. The French gave it many names including Cuisse de Nymphe Emue which translates into English as the Thigh of the Passionate Nymph. Rose hybridizers in those days were usually men, thus the name! JANUARY/FEBRUARY

7 Rosa Mundi 'Rosa Mundi' is a striped sport of the 'Apothecary s Rose'. It often loses it stripes from time to time and parts reverts to it parent form. Quite hardy, 'Rosa Mundi' will produce more bloom in warmer regions unlike it parent form. 56 AMERICAN ROSE ROSE.ORG

8 Rose de Meaux 'Rose de Meaux' is a centifolia with a charming compact form and foliage that compliments its petite blooms. Dating back to 1789 it may have been discovered in a garden in the French town of Meaux. BEHIND THE SCENES About the photos and how they were done: In the early 19th century, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, the master of botanic illustrations, perfected the art of stiple engraving while producing Les Roses for the Empress Josephine. The images in this series are a direct homage to the style and grace of the master. These roses were all photographed between 1996 and 1998 for the Smith & Hawken rose books written by Clair Martin. A makeshift studio was set up in garages or living rooms in rose gardens from Los Angeles to Portland as the rose season progressed northward. Each day of the shoot eigh to 12 roses were determined to be at their peak and enough picked to be broken up and then reconstructed looking carefully through the camera viewfinder. Roses look to the sky and not the viewer, so on any given stem, even the very best on the best day, will not have every flower, bud and leaf in perfect condition. While every effort was used to not fabricate the look, it occasionally took as many as 11 parts to assemble the photographs. Two years after the books were completed Saxon Holt began printing this series as Giclée prints. The original transparencies were scanned, stems were cut, and a text line mimicking the style of traditional botanic engravings was added in the digital file. The Giclée prints were mastered by Bob Cornelis of Color Folio in Sebastopol, CA and printed on archival, watercolor paper. See more at photobotanic.com. JANUARY/FEBRUARY