'Mme. Isaac Pereire'.
Bourbon
uring the winter of 1996, many evenings
were spent perusing the few rose books in my growing collection--I was looking
for old garden roses to grow on my rustic, black locust-pole, pergola still in
the planning stages. Among all the references I reviewed, no rose got more
acclaim for its fragrance than the bourbon 'Mme. Isaac Pereire'. If I were to
start my old garden rose collection, this had to be a prime candidate, so much
had been written about her:
Liz Driut
confesses "At the risk of sounding over-enthusiastic, I have to say that both
their color and their fragrance are gorgeous--the on a rich purple-tinged rose
and the other a deep, soul-satisfying blend of intense perfumes. I would grow
this rose even if the flowers came on a plastic bush from Wal-Mart"
David Austin
describe her blooms writing "These are cupped at first and quarterd on opening,
the petals being rolled back at the edges. The colour is a very deep pink
shaded with magenta, giving a rich effect, and there is an extremely powerful
fragrance."
And Peter Beales' opening sentence in his description reads
"Huge, shaggy, purplish deep-pink blooms exuding a heady perfume and carried on
a large, strong bush."
'Mme. Isaac Pereire' is indeed a stout-growing shrub with stiff, thick canes that has gotten as tall as 8 to 9 foot. She can't quite make up her mind to be either a climber or a large shrub. I try to keep her longer canes trained up and onto the pergola, while the rest of her is spread out in shrub-like fashion. The foliage is a blue-green color, and may be a bit sparse, especially in the middle of summer and attacks of black spot. Big short and fat buds open to a many petaled, double and quartered flower of deep pink. Re-bloom is more or less constant throughout the season, but it's sparsest season is mid-summer, as fall brings on a second flush. The fragrance is powerful, drifting quite a distance in the still evenings of summer and fall. Nothing quite like losing your nose deep in the many petals, savoring the sweet scent. Hips will develop on many blooms I leave on the plant in late summer.
This season, 2001, I had to prune her quite a ways back, at least
half her size. The very warm weather last fall kept her growing right up to the
middle of November. Then around Thanksgiving the sudden cold spell with
temperatures near 15deg F. hit hard and did most of the damage to her actively
growing canes.
kbk 2001 March 20
"By the end of the nineteenth century, 'Mme. Isaac Pereire' had become a favorite. Considered one fo the most fragrant of all roses, it provided pounds of petals for the potpourris then so popular. The sumptuous 4-inch flowers, deeply quartered, are a light velvety crimson. Bushes grow to 6 feet and some canes reach higher; bending them down encourages bloom. In the sport, 'Mme. Ernst Calvat', the foliage is plum-toned when new and the flowers a rich pink like huge Cabbage Roses. The scent of either is heavily Damask with a hint of the China bouquet, apparent yards away, a treasure in the fall garden."
--Helen Van Pelt Wilson and Léonie Bell in The Fragrant Year, 1967.
"The deep pink to crimson 'Mme. Isaac Pereire' is as powerful in growth as it is sweetly scented of raspberries with beautiful full blooms and handsome foliage. It is best grown with support, for its branches can reach 4.5m/15ft; either a wall or a pillar is suitable. For me this lovely rose is one of the best of the Bourbons, and with care and feeding will be a sensational sight, especially in late summer. The grandson of the Mme. Pereire for whom the rose was named has a very beautiful garden near Chartres, and against the walls of his house there grows a fine specimen of 'Mme. Isaac', planted by a previous owner."
--Text and above painting from The Scented Garden,by Rosemary Verey, 1981, Random House, Inc., New York.
OLD ROSES AND NEW
Close to our hearts
as a bird to a tree
Is the mem'ry of roses that used to be;
But the
promise of species yet to come
Hase the forcible beat of a vigorous
drum.
And yet, some day, when we're old and gray,
They'll all
be roses of yesterday;
We'll find that the Old and the New were alike
In
splendor and loveliness and gard'ners delight.
--Kay Listak in 1960
American Rose Annual.
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