Madame Isaac Pereire (top left), with Lady Emma Hamilton (top right) and Evelyn.

I’ve touched upon this before – the history of women who gave their name to some of the finest classic old roses – for example Madam Isaac Pereire, Madam d’Arblay, Madame Pierre Oger, Madame Alfred Carriere. There are hundreds of roses with the prefix ‘Madame’ but the details of many of their lives are often unknown –  or if documented, their histories deserve to be better remembered.

In many cases, especially with roses bred in the 19th century, they include the wives of eminent men – statesmen, soldiers or businessmen – while some were eminent in their own right. In many cases they were members of the rose breeder’s own family.

There is an article by Peter Scott in The Royal National Rose Society Historic Rose Journal No. 32 Autumn 2006 which gives a biography of some of these…