Friday, April 2, 2010

A rose by any other name

While doing some family research I stumbled upon the Multiflore de Vaumarcus a beatiful pink Noisette rose. It was introduced by Menet in 1875 and due to its name is either an homage to theChâteau of Vaumarcus and its gardens, or to Henri de Büren its chatelain, botanist and head of the Neuchâtel Agricultural Society.

I sent the information on to my father who like his forefathers has a great gift for the cultivation of flowers and plants. He thought it would be nice to have the rose that honored the home of our ancestors in his garden in California. He did some research and found that the species was only sold in Europe. As my father is very dogged when it comes to things he wants, he found out that he could import a bare root version of the rose. After a great deal of bureaucratic red tape and inspection by the California Agricultural commission, there are now three Multiflore de Vaumarcus rose bushes slowly coming back to life in California soil.

The Multiflore de Vaumarcus rose that was sent to California as bare root stock bloomed for the first time this Mother's day.

Old world stock, a stressful voyage, bureaucracy, putting down new roots and blossoming in a new land, a nice metaphor for the emigrant story I think.

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