D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
July 2009
A Rose by Any Other Nom
From Napoleon's palace gardens to a one-acre plot in Deming, the eternal allure of roses.
The DNA of serious gardeners carries a gene that makes us indulgent plant collectors and garden makers. Over time, I have observed this trait in myself and others. Rather than judge faults and merits, I will demonstrate with a case in point: the indulgences of two rosarians separated by three centuries.
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Roses abound in the Deming garden of Mary and Les Bass. (Photo by Vivian Savitt) |
Marie-Joseph Rose Tascher de la Pagerie became Napoleon's first wife in 1796, seven years after the storming of the Bastille. Both were islanders — she, a Creole, born on Martinique; he, a Corsican, who didn't learn French until his adolescence. Correspondence from their courtship period suggests that Napoleon unilaterally decided to call Rose, "Josephine," and that his heraldic clout made it stick.
Closer to home and the present — Mary and Les Bass — native Texans now retired in Deming. Although Les' acquaintances call him "Les," Mary never fluctuates from "Leslie."
In 1798, the purchase of Chateau de la Malmaison did not portend happiness for the newlywed Bonapartes. As lives become enmeshed in the destiny of an empire, this is often the case — n'est-ce pas? The acquisition, however, marked an era of levitation for botany. Josephine's indulgences included interior decoration and taking lovers, but her extravagance ultime was flowers in general — and her namesake rose in particular. The chatelaine set out to acquire every known variety.
The Basses bought their Deming abode in 1990, after Les retired from US West, now Qwest. Mary describes herself as an ornamental plant enthusiast, perhaps because as a child she had been "forced to work in her mother's vegetable garden."
The couple's interest in roses is marked by a long-ago wedding anniversary — when Les gave Mary a "Peace" rosebush. Thereafter, Les started reading rose history and studying catalogs. His scholarship sparked the garden's design into small, themed gardens with names like Pioneer, Fairy, Octagon, Life and the Friendship Bed, to name a few. Gradually their one-acre plot became a rose land.
In Napoleon's time, despite the war between England and France, Josephine requested Chinese roses and English plant discoveries from the distinguished London firm Lee & Kennedy of Hammersmith. As a gardening style, "les jardins Anglaise" were tres fashionable in France.
During this time, botanists sailing with the explorer James Cook collected 3,000 plant specimens at Botany Bay on the east coast of "terra australis," today's Australia. These finds also found their way to the distinguished London nursery. Many of the most exotic species were conveyed to Malmaison by Kennedy himself, who carried a grant of safe passage through military blockades.
On the high seas as well, Napoleon's naval commanders were ordered to confiscate seeds from captured ships.
In Deming, Les Bass purchases own-root roses directly from growers such as Amity Heritage, Heirloom and Vintage. He has also had "tremendous luck" with David Austin Roses, the renowned English firm with a US office in Tyler, Texas — "America's Rose Capitol."
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In the Life Garden, a yellow Lady
Banks rose (Rosa banksiae) forms a bower to herald spring, while
lilies, iris, monarda and alliums grow dreamily in the Crescent Bed.
(Photo by Mary Bass) |
Among Les' favorite Austin roses are the deep yellow "Golden Celebration" with its arching habit, the soft pink and bushy "Eglantyne," and the bright crimson "L.D. Braithwaite," with a scent that develops over time. Because of their height, the aforementioned varieties are recommended for growing in the back of borders. Les' other favorites include the apricot-colored "Sweet Juliet" and the double apricot-yellow blooms of "English Garden."
Back at the ranch — oops, I mean France — Josephine's personal staff of horticulturists hybridized the repeat-blooming Chinese roses that had been cultivated in the East for 2,000 years. The resultant hybrids would become the parents of modern-day roses that grow in the Bass garden in Deming.
Josephine's royal botanists compiled lists of acquired plants, including data on recent arrivals from expeditions to Tahiti and South America. The Chilean bell-flower, an exquisite vine with four-inch-long waxy red flowers, was named Lapageria rosea in her honor. The plants were protected in hothouses heated by coal-burning stoves modeled on those developed at the botanical gardens at Kew, outside London.
Josephine also hired Pierre-Joseph Redout to illustrate a botanical text. Today, he is revered as one of the great botanical artists.
Some folks think roses are hard to grow. "Not so!" say the Basses, who love the range of color, scent and form found in roses. For Deming-area gardeners, it is crucial to curtail wind damage by using tree rows as wind breakers — Arizona cypress and Afghan pines work fine. Mary and Les have a well and irrigation system. In summer, they water the roses once a week; in winter, every other week. Mary claims that nothing in the garden is pampered, but the most time-consuming job is deadheading. Although the Basses are composting now, they continue to till in steer manure every spring. Here's a list of Les' choices for beginner rose growers:
1. Green rose 2. all varieties of Peace roses 3. Golden Celebration 4. Arizona 5. Katherine T. Marshall 6. Intrigue 7. Queen Elizabeth 8. English Perfume
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By this time, following Napoleon's coronation in 1804, "Empress" Josephine had the finances to redesign the grounds of Malmaison, where a cave, temple and pool were added. Imported exotic animals, including a kangaroo, ostriches and black swans, roamed the chateau's acreage.
In Deming, Les Bass has created some exciting garden designs of his own. As Mary will be the first to tell you, "Les does some magical things when he really gets into it."
Les built a fountain highlighted by a 300-pound giant clamshell found on Guam during WWII. Placed in the English Bed, the clamshell became its piece de resistance.
With Mary signaling thumbs up, Les also designed an Octagon Garden landscaped with dozens of floribunda roses of multiple hues. From old barn wood, he constructed fancifully shaped birdhouses and bird towers, and built Mary her beloved "Secret Garden" gate.
Where imported ostriches and swans once posed themselves upon the vistas at Malmaison, a barn owl and a hawk regularly visit the Basses' haven — especially during droughts when the mice population soars. Mary and Les cart the owl pellets to Rockhound State Park for visiting schoolchildren to dissect.
As we know from history books, the situation at the chateau began to get thorny. Napoleon and the French navy never recovered from the defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar. Although Josephine had a son and daughter from a previous marriage, she was unable to give Bonaparte a male heir. They divorced In 1809, but Josephine continued to live at Malmaison until her death from pneumonia in 1814. That same year, the dethroned emperor was exiled to Elba.
The botanical legacy of Malmasion is a stunning one that included the development of 250 varieties of roses, most of which became known through Redout's exquisite watercolors. And Josephine's flowery vision for Malmaison led to extensive rose collecting and hybridizing among fashionable Europeans.
Today Malmaison exists as a museum, but the roses are severely diminished. In sunny Deming, however, last time the Basses inventoried their garden they counted 200 varieties of roses. Among them is a soft pink Bourbon rose named "Souvenir de la Malmaison." Although it grows only two feet tall, it deserves a prominent position in the garden. Josephine would appreciate such indulgence.
Southwest Gardener columnist Vivian Savitt
gardens at Ditch
Cottage in Silver City.