We're into rose planting time. Garden centres have dozens, hundreds even, on display. Prices range from the $15 special I spotted at King’s Birthday weekend to $150 or more for a tall weeping standard.
Looking around rose gardens in summer is a great way to decide what you fancy. On a visit to France last month, I made a point of visiting Roseraie du Val-de-Marne, in suburban Paris, with the aim to choose a new rose to buy when I got home.
The garden presents a collection of roses which began in the late 19th century by French rosarian Jules Gravereaux (1844-1916). Since 1968, the property has been managed by the local council.
Gravereaux, a senior director of a Paris store, became interested in roses during textile-buying trips. He was left enough money to retire at the age of 48. In 1892, he bought a property in L'Hay-les-Roses, 8.5km from the centre of Paris.
He hired landscaper Edouard Andre to lay out a garden devoted to roses. After planting 1600, Gravereaux – who coined the term “roseraie” – began hybridising his own and making rose oil. ‘Rose a Parfum de L'Hay’ was one of 27 named hybrids he bred.
His expertise was such that he was asked to help create the rose garden at Jardins de Bagatelle. In 1911, he was asked to re-create the Empress Josephine’s collection at her former home, Malmaison, on the outskirts of Paris.
His son, Henri, continued his father’s work and the Gravereaux rose legacy at Val-de-Marne now comprises almost 3000 species and cultivars, some 11,000 bushes in total.
Divided into 13 sections, there are roses old and new, beautifully presented in beds, on arches and against walls. One rose, ‘Ghislaine de Feligonde’, dating from 1910, adds apricot highlights to the pavilion.
The garden, roughly triangular in shape, lies at one side of the Roseraie State Park and is easy to reach from the centre of Paris by metro and bus — 172 buses stop by the park entrance. The standard entry fee is €4 ($7.06), half price for over-60s.
Species roses were well represented, many grouped according to country of origin. Most bloom later, but Rosa foetida, from the Caucasus Mountains, made a saffron splash against a shady wall and Rosa roxburghii had its first single pink blossoms.
There was a display devoted to the roses Empress Josephine grew at Malmaison. This not only tied in with Jules Gravereaux’ work at the chateau, but also underlined how few roses there were – fewer than 200 – when Josephine, who died in 1814, endeavoured to collect all the roses of her time.
Not all the roses at Val-de-Marne were old. There was a good selection of Austin varieties, including well-known ‘Abraham Darby’, ‘The Pilgrim’ and ‘Gertrude Jekyll’.
Incidentally, last year David Austin Roses announced that ‘Abraham Darby’ had been “retired” because of climate change and evolving pest and disease risk. The company also re-trialled and removed ‘A Shropshire Lad’, ‘Munstead Wood’, ‘Lady Emma Hamilton’ and ‘Jude the Obscure’.
Elsewhere in the Val-de-Marne garden, recent prize-winners in rose trials featured. ‘Borneo Odore’ wouldn’t get my vote, but maybe I caught it on a bad day.
However, I fell in love with many other roses I hadn’t seen before, including strongly perfumed lilac ‘Reve d'un Soir’ and ‘Eddy Mitchell’, a stunning dark red with light reverse.
Alas, neither seems to be on the New Zealand market, although possibly they are sold here under other names.
The same is true of ‘Peace and Love’, a lovely bicoloured single that looks like a Rosa persica hybrid, reminding me somewhat of ‘Eyes for You’ without the extra row of petals.
Everything was beautifully presented, beds weed-free – unlike several other public gardens I saw – and the roses healthy and bug-free.
Most climbers were trained over arches or up boundary walls. Excellent use was made of swags, where ramblers and climbers were trained on ropes at about waist height or trained in V shapes from close to the ground. I wasn’t quite so sure about the roses on circular structures, but undoubtedly they would look better once flowering started.
For garden lovers lucky enough to be in Paris in May or June, Roseraie du Val-de-Marne, considered the world’s first garden devoted solely to roses, is one for their agenda.
