The Rose Garden
Garden art
The kingdom of roses, the Roseraie is a place of delights where the sensuality of the queen of flowers is fully expressed.
The birth of the Roseraie
Harvested from the wild and then cultivated in the first gardens for its medicinal properties and fragrance, the rose remains the ‘queen of flowers’ appreciated by all generations of gardeners. It was cultivated in China 5,000 years ago, then by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.
Grown in Provins, where the gallic rose was brought back from the Crusades, its virtues gave it a place of choice in simple gardens in the Middle Ages. As botanical discoveries were made, new imported species and varieties were introduced into the great gardens of Europe, where they were treated with particular care and given their own space in the classical flowerbeds.
As their success grew, they were multiplied and hybridized, taking an increasingly important place in gardens. So much so that the term Roseraie was coined to designate the place devoted to bringing together all these botanical beauties or those created by rose growers.
La Roseraie, a style apart
Large rose gardens sprang up in the gardens of castles and private homes, as well as in botanical gardens in towns and cities. One of the most famous, the Roseraie de l’Haÿ les Roses, now known as the Roseraie du Val de Marne, boasts the largest collection of old roses in the world. It was designed by Edouard André, the famous 19th-century landscape architect, at the request of a passionate collector, Jules Gravereaux.
The design follows the characteristic pattern of this type of cultivation, which has been practised for centuries in France. The classic parterres, bordered by boxwood, show off the rosebushes side by side, with a rigorous layout to distinguish each variety. Large metal pergolas and high trellises are adorned with creeping roses and climbers, while gravelled paths and lawns provide a seamless backdrop to this floral tableau.
From rose garden to rose garden
This style can be found at the Roseraie de Bagatelle and in the many classic rose gardens now open to visitors. The arrangement of the roses on bare earth or bare lawns makes it easier to maintain these impressive collections, which have preserved their varieties over the centuries. This is also the style favoured in the rose gardens of large private estates, so as to integrate the rose garden into the classical garden.
The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild rose garden is part of this approach. In England, on the other hand, gardeners’ passion for perennials led to a slightly different style from the outset. Instead of being alone in their beds, the roses are surrounded by the foliage and flowers of a host of perennials.
These increasingly sought-after combinations, combined with the landscape style of English gardens, eventually gave rise to the idea of creating rose gardens: no longer just collection rose gardens, these gardens invite you to take a sensual journey through fragrances and colours, cascades of flowers and contrasting silhouettes.
Rose gardens, ancient and modern
Classic rose garden or rose garden, any space dedicated to the queen of flowers today includes old and modern varieties as well as botanical roses. The first were obtained during the great period of rose hybridisation, from the end of the 18th century to the 1930s. They are bushy and often contain intoxicating fragrances as they open their corollas, which are full of double, very double or ‘cabbage’ petals, often arranged in quarters around the heart. Many flower just once in the season, in June.
The modern roses created after the 1950s stand out for their turbinate corollas, borne singly on stiff stems. But over the last fifteen years or so, rose growers have adopted the style of old roses for their new creations, which continue to flower throughout the summer and into September. As a result, the differences between the two styles are becoming increasingly blurred, making it possible to offer high-quality entertainment from May to October.
Finally, botanical roses offer their great resilience, their wild silhouette and their fruiting bodies to complete this charming panorama.
