"What is a nation? Just the same
Old garden with a different name.
It may be here, it may be there
We grow the same roses everywhere"
The romantic history and horticultural background of gardens devoted to roses alone hearkens back to the 17th Century. The most famous, possibly the earliest, are the rose gardens of Bagatelle in Paris, still in existence today. In 1777 M. Le Comte d' Artois, brother of Louis XVI who owned the small dwelling, called Bagatelle, decided to tear it down and built a mansion to celebrate the return of the Queen to Versailles. As time was limited, he employed thousands of men who worked day and night. Because of the acute shortage of dressed material available, he resorted to ordering the Swiss guards to seize wagons containing such materials. They were paid for on the spot, regardless of the fact that they had already been bought and paid for by private individuals. Such underhanded tactics were frowned on by the Austrian ambassador. However, the exquisite mansion, windows garlanded with roses cut in stone, was completed in three months. Marie Antoinette lost one thousand livres on a wager that the feat was impossible.
In 1789 d' Artois left France and did not see his Bagatelle for 26 years. In the meantime, Napoleon purchased it, restored the gardens, and used it for his Hunting Lodge. From a rose-covered kiosk Empress Eugenie, whom Napoleon married after his divorce from Josephine, lovingly watched her young son on his pony taking riding lessons in the paddock.
At the fall of the Empire, M. le Comte d' Artois returned to France and retook possession of Bagatelle. After his death it was sold to the Marquis of Hertford, a keen rosarian. He restored the rose gardens and converted the paddock into a rose garden. Eventually, Bagatelle was purchased by the City of Paris. The gardens were replanted and laid out in the famous Rose Gardens of Bagatelle that boast as complete a collection of roses as any in the world. It is dedicated horticultural to the cultivation of all known decorative roses. In June it is an intoxicating sight with its festooned pergolas, parasols of weeping roses, and beds of newest floribundas. There are almost ten thousand rose trees and the grounds are surrounded by great oak trees. The little kiosk on the knoll, where Empress Eugenie watched the young prince riding his pony, still stands in his memory, for he lost his life in combat with the British Army in Zululand in 1897.
Another famous 17th Century rose garden was Malmaison, the realization of a life-long dream of Empress Josephine. Possibly the most dedicated rosarian of all time, Josephine de Beauharnai was born in June, the month of roses, and was christened, Rose. After the death of her first husband, to whom she was wed at age sixteen, she found herself in dire financial straits. After a whirlwind courtship she married Napoleon Bonaparte. Although not in love with him, she sought security and splendor in the marriage. At long last she was able to gratify her lifelong passion for flowers and gardening. In 1789 she acquired Malmaison, about seven and a half miles outside of Paris. She spent fortunes on expeditions to the East and South Africa collecting flower specimens. She grew the first dahlias in France. Even though France was at war with England, plants designed for her were allowed to pass the blockade on the high seas.
Above all flowers, roses were her all-consuming passion, and she collected species from all over the world. She had over two hundred varieties. Some of her roses are still with us today. Those were happy days at Malmaison, where Bonaparte relaxed. Sadly, her pleasure lasted a mere 15 years when Napoleon divorced her. As the wife of a fallen Emperor she spent the last lonely days of her life at her beloved Malmaison where she died in 1814. in the tragic days of June, 1815, Napoleon spent a few days at Malmaison as the guest of Hortense, where the gentle spirit of Josephine still brooded. After her death, Malmaison passed through many hands and the gardens fell into neglect, finally meeting complete destruction during the Prussian invasion of 1870. Little remains of Malmaison but the Chateau and fond memories of Empress Josephine Rose.
Roseraie de l'Hhay near Paris, one of the most famous in the world, was the result of a casual comment made to wealthy Bon Marche: "If I had all your money, I would give up business and devote my whole life to growing roses." He did. It is not only a rose garden but a living museum of every rose that grows, documented and catalogued for the instruction of amateur and professional botanists.
The rose garden in Parco de Quest in Madrid, called Rosaleda, is another glorious sight with roses growing on pergolas reflected in pools and tunnels of roses.
Other famous rose gardens are those of Russborough in Ireland, Hartford, Connecticut and Hershey, Pennsylvania in America, not to mention Mexico's City of Roses, Guadalajara!
