There are roses, and then, there are stars! Souvenir de la Malmaison is one of them.
One of the grand dames among roses, she was bred by Jean Beluze in France in 1843. This sublime sheer- white-and-pink Bourbon rose has some stories woven around her glorious past! Here is my favourite:
Joséphine de Beauharnais, empress of France, received from her husband, the emperor Napoléon, a very precious good-bye gift on occasion of their separation as a token of his undying gratitude - the beautiful castle Malmaison in the south west of Paris. The rose garden of Malmaison was famous for holding all the then known rose varieties. The forsaken empress - to heal her broken heart - turned to tending the roses in her garden. So when the empress's favourite rose breeder, Jean Beluze, presented her a bloom of his newest creation, she named it 'Souvenir de la Malmaison', and gave it to Napoléon with her undying love. :*((
So not true!
Joséphine actually bought this castle behind her husband's back, because he wouldn't pay the enormous sum the previous owners charged. In effect, Joséphine lived in serious debt for many years after the purchase, until Napoleon was crowned emperor. He then begrudgedly settled the debt, and, as their marriage ended, gave her Malmaison, 'the bad house', as her ex-wife's residence. The breeder Jean Beluze, however, never came into play then. He bred and named this magnificent rose 29 years after Joséphine's death.
Souvenir de la Malmaison is worthy any good story, though. Just look at her extraordinary large, soft pink-and-white quartered bloom showing oh so many twirling petals! This historic bourbon rose is lavish with her wonderful scent, and her extraordinary lucid blooms as long as there is enough sun and warmth for her. That much said, SdlM belongs to the so-called desert roses that love sandy soils, and alfa alfa. Souvenir needs morning sun to open her blooms, dry conditions to protect her blooms from balling, a little dappled shade in the early afternoon, and more sun please in the evening to make her a prolific bloomer; not forgetting, sun and warmth from early spring on till late into fall, and then some! This actually makes her the perfect rose for areas that have been suffering from heat and drought. Nevertheless, if you can only offer her less than perfect conditions, she will still do her best for you. That is why I love her so much. Souvenir de la Malmaison will not give up on me, the alcaline clay soil in my garden, or spring rains. On that occasion, she can develop a tendency to blackspot that is easily prevented by spraying her with Recht's Vitanal Professional Rosen, or any other organic foliage strengthener that doesn't pollute or harm. I promise, you won't mind the effort when next to her ethereal beauty!