Valentine ’s Day has just passed , and if you were lucky , someone you do it ease up you roses to celebrate the occasion . All the love story and fragrance in the line bring to creative thinker one of history ’s great love stories - that of Napoleon and Josephine . Naturally the whole taradiddle is full of roses .
It is fitting that Josephine began living with a rosiness in her name . Born on the flowery island of Martinique in 1763 , she was christened Marie Josephine Rose Tascher de la Pagerie . At the supply ship age of 16 she married a Gallic nobleman , Alexandre , Vicomte de Beauharnais , and sailed off to France . Josephine had two children by Beauharnais , Eugene and Hortense . The latter was also name after a flower ; the hortensia , known more familiarly as the “ mophead ” hydrangea .
Life was not easy for Josephine during the French Revolution . The Vicomte de Beauharnais was carry through during the Reign of Terror , and she was imprisoned , barely run away with her head . In 1796 , two years after her husband ’s dying , Josephine married Napoleon Bonaparte , the large love of her life history . He crowned himself Emperor in 1804 , crowning Josephine right away thereafter .
Rose lovers everywhere lie with about Josephine ’s famous garden at Malmaison , her country house . She buy the dwelling in 1798 , while Napoleon was campaign in Egypt , presumptively so he would n’t fret about the price until his winning and euphoric proceeds . Once the house was purchased , Josephine did what any nurseryman would have done in her place - she start out filling the grounds with all the uncommon and expensive flowering plant that she could get her hands on . As she gain plants , she also acquired an artist to immortalize them . Joseph Pierre Redouté , the greatest botanical artist of his day ( and one of the greatest of all fourth dimension ) , went to figure out for the Empress , who reportedly paid him the princely sum of 18,000 francs per year .
Two book , Jardin de Malmaison ( The Gardenof Malmaison),andDescription des Plantes uncommon cultivees a Malmaison et a Navarre(Description of the rarified plant life grown at Malmaison and at Navarre,)documented the contentedness of Josephine ’s garden . Both were illustrated by Redouté , who after kick the bucket on to publish his most far-famed work , Les Roses .
unluckily all theroses in the worldcould not provide Napoleon with what he most wanted - a manful heir . He disjoint Josephine in 1809 to marry a woman who was less celebrated but more prolific . Not surprisingly , Josephine retired to her sign of the zodiac and garden at Malmaison , where she die in 1814 . Like many gardeners , she manifestly bought a lot on credit . At the time of her death , her debts reportedly total to 2 ½ million franc .
After Napoleon ’s defeat at Waterloo , he return to Malmaison one last time , pay his respects to the retentiveness of the charwoman he loved , and beseech leave-taking to her children . He was exiled to the island of St. Helena where he died in 1821 .
Rose lover are golden that the Emperor and his fabled consort dwell on in pink wine . There are two roses in creation named ‘ Josephine de Beauharnais ’ , and one named ‘ Empress Josephine ’ . All have lightsome pink blossoms and were breed in France , but only one seems to have been innovate before Josephine ’s death .
Napoleon iscelebrated in the gens of three roses , two of which are pinkish , and one is a mauve blend . The ‘ Napoleon ’ introduce by the rosaceous breeder Jean Laffray , is also sometimes bonk as ‘ Madness at Corsica ’ . Napoleon was born on the island of Corsica , but rose authorities never specify whether the “ madness ” in query was what made him so meglomaniacal .
In addition to the Napoleon and Josephine roses , there is a pair of cultivar named after Josephine ’s children . Jean - Pierre Vibert , the stock breeder who produced ‘ Josephine de Beauharnais ’ , also spawn ‘ Hortense de Beauharnais ’ , another pink rose . During her stepfather ’s reign , Hortense , who was famed for her dish and charm , was forced to marry the Emperor ’s jr. buddy , Louis . The marriage was distressed , but produced Louis Napoleon Bonaparte who went on to dominate France as Napoleon III .
‘ Eugene de Beauharnais ’ , advert after Josephine ’s boy , is a mauve social climber . With its unattackable fragrance and tendency to bloom repeatedly , ‘ Prince Eugene of Savoy ’ may just be the best of the Bonaparte roses .
When saltation finally gets here , you might want to lionise byplanting a rose wine beddedicated to the Emperor and his family . you could purchase ‘ Napoleon ’ , a fragrant pink - blend crampon , from Chamblee ’s Rose Nursery ( 800/256 - ROSE or online at www.chambleesroses.com ) . Only one of the ‘ Josephine ’ rose is still in Commerce Department , and it is only available in France , but you could purchase ‘ Hortense de Beauharnais ’ from AmityHeritage Roses(707/768 - 2040 or on-line at www.AmityHeritageRoses.com ) . ‘ Eugene de Beauharnais ’ is wide available from mail order baby’s room including The Uncommon Rose ( 541/753 - 8871 or online at http://www.uncommonrose.com ) .
empire may rise and fall , but rose and romance go on forever.by E. Ginsburg
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