My thanks to Caroline for inviting me to guest here today. In my debut Regency romance, Deflowering Daisy, some of the most important scenes in the story take place in a lavish rose garden on a secluded country estate in England. Rose gardens became fashionable during the Regency due to the magnificent rose garden which the French Empress, Joséphine, created at her country estate in France. But she had some assistance from Britain, which is what I would like to tell you about today.
The French Empress & The British Gardeners
It is widely known that in the early nineteenth century, the French Empress, Joséphine, cultivated one of the first and largest rose gardens in all the world at her country estate, the Château de Malmaison, just outside Paris. But what is less commonly known is that throughout the Napoleonic Wars, she did so with the assistance of a handful of British gardeners, aided and abetted by the Prince Regent and the Royal Navy of Britain.
Madame Bonaparte dans son salon de Malmaison, 1801, Francois Gerard
The Empress Joséphine had been born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie, and had been called Rose by her family and friends from the time she was a child. Until she met and married Napoleon Bonaparte. He thought Rose much to plain and simple a name for the woman who would be the wife of the great man he intended to become. He therefore changed her name to Joséphine, which he found much more appropriate to the station he intended to assume. Though she had been forced to give up her name, Rose continued to love her namesake flower all her life.
When she acquired the country estate at Malmaison, she determined to cultivate a great rose garden on the grounds there. Prior to the early nineteenth century, when Joséphine first began her great garden, roses were not considered flowers of any particular beauty. Rather, roses were cultivated mainly for their fragrance and medicinal properties. However, the Empress found their blooms quite lovely and she was fascinated by their many varieties and colors. She set out to develop a garden in which she would have at least on specimen of every known rose variety.
Joséphine got some assistance from her husband, who gave orders that every French ship captain was to search each port the ship entered, or any ship he captured, for any plants, particularly roses. Any rose plants or seeds which might be found were to be returned to France and presented to the Empress Joséphine. In addition, there were some French botanists and rose breeders who gave her cuttings of their newest roses. Nevertheless, the Empress had much higher ambitions.
Joséphine did not just want to grow roses, she wanted to use them to adorn the gardens around her new 
château in the best way to show off their natural beauty. But in the early nineteenth century, the most fashionable style of garden design in all of Europe was considered to be the English garden. How was that to be accomplished in France, which was at war with Britain? Probably during the brief period of peace provided by the Treaty of Amiens, Joséphine hired Mr. Hewartson, an experienced English gardener, as her head gardener at Malmaison. He continued in that position even after hostilities began again in 1803.
It is also believed that Joséphine consulted with the prominent Scottish gardener and landscape designer, Thomas Blaikie, during the Peace of Amiens, probably at the suggestion of Hewartson. Either Blaikie or Hewartson recommended the well-established English nurserymen, Lee and Kennedy of Hammersmith, outside London. Lee and Kennedy had been in the nursery business for well over fifty years when they were recommended to the French Empress. They had contacts in the plant business all over the world, which enabled them to import nearly any plant they wanted. With such connections, Lee and Kennedy were able to supply the Empress Joséphine with many exotic rose breeds which she did not yet have in her garden.
Even after the Peace of Amiens failed and France was once again at war with Britain, Joséphine continued to do business with Lee and Kennedy, with the help of the Prince Regent. The Prince had heard of Joséphine’s garden at Malmaison and admired her determination to fill it with all the known species of roses. It was under the Regent’s auspices that John Kennedy was provided with a special permit which enabled him to travel back and forth between England and France, if it was on business with the Empress Joséphine. Up until shortly before her death in May of 1814, Joséphine continued to acquire new roses from Lee and Kennedy.
There were times when Lee and Kennedy shipped rose cuttings or seeds to Joséphine without the escort of John Kennedy. In addition, Napoleon’s order to the captains of French ships stood throughout the war with Britain. However, the Royal Navy was doing its best to blockade French ports. But again, at the direction of the Prince Regent, any ships carrying rose cuttings or seeds for the Empress were to be allowed to deliver their special cargo to Joséphine. The Royal Navy captains did have some leeway in how they handled those ships they stopped which were carrying roses for Joséphine. If the ships were English, they were usually allowed through the blockade. Any English ships known to be carrying roses for the Empress were allowed safe conduct to dock in French ports in order to deliver their precious cargo.
However, if the ships were French and there was any concern that allowing them into a French port would be a military risk, the Royal Navy captains would confiscate any rose cuttings or seeds they found on board. But even if the roses were confiscated by a Royal Navy captain, they were not lost to Joséphine. The captains would see to it that the seeds or cuttings were carefully packaged and sent on to the Empress, with their compliments, of course
Thus, regardless of the wars which raged across Europe in the early nineteenth century, the Empress Joséphine was able to fill her gardens at Malmaison with nearly every breed of rose known at that time. When she passed away at her beloved château in May of 1814, she had over 250 different species of roses growing in her famous gardens. Thanks in part to the help of some British gardeners and nurserymen, the Prince Regent and the Royal Navy.
About Deflowering Daisy
“She cannot remain a virgin!”
For so she was, after nearly a decade of marriage. When she was sixteen, Daisy had willingly, happily, married a man more than fifty years her senior, to escape a forced marriage to a man she abhorred. Though Sir Arthur Hammond had been a wild rake in his youth, he was so deeply in love with his late, beloved first wife that he never considered consummating his second marriage, certainly not with a woman he considered a daughter. But now, knowing he was dying and that he would be leaving sweet, innocent Daisy ignorant of the physical intimacies which could be enjoyed between a man and a woman, he felt that it was imperative she be given the knowledge which would prepare her for the life of a wealthy widow. Armed with the knowledge of physical intimacy, she would be much better prepared to deal with any fortune hunter who might try to seduce her into marriage for her money. And who better to initiate Daisy into the pleasures of the bedchamber than his godson. David had become nearly a recluse since a tragedy that occurred while he was serving the Crown against the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte. Prior to that, his skill as a tender and considerate lover had been bruited about in certain circles. Therefore, Sir Arthur believed that David was just the man to introduce Daisy to physical pleasure. And what might spending time with true and gentle Daisy do for David?
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About Kathryn Kane
Kathryn Kane is a historian and former museum curator who has enjoyed Regency romances since she first discovered them in her teens. She credits the novels of Georgette Heyer with influencing her choice of college curriculum, and she now takes advantage of her knowledge of history to write her own stories of romance in the Regency. Though she now has a career in the tech industry, she has never lost her love of the period and continues to enjoy reading Regency novels and researching her favorite period of English history.
Links
Kathryn’s Web Site
Kathryn Kane Romance
The Regency Redingote