Cardinal de Richelieu

class: Gallica
breeding: Parmentier, before 1847
photographed by Daphne Filiberti in her garden
another photo of Cardinal de Richelieu

I had an early bloom from Cardinal de Richelieu. The rose has wonderful chameleon qualities in color and scent. The freshly picked purple rose reminded me of the Bourbon rose Maggie in a way, a little peppery, possibly balsamic, and with a scent I can only describe as being like rose geraniums. This morning my dried, early in the season rose was scented of wine. I am reminded of Paris with its overcast skies and the fruity lively tones of Beaujolais Nouveau. There is a chic decadence of romance and moods n Paris streets. There always seems to be a grey sky, except in September. The grey skies come in many shades evoking subtleties of the imagination. For moments I long for those smokey purple colored roses that will come later in the season, when these vibrantly colored roses fade. Cardinal de Richelieu lingers for a pleasant time through the season, and is quite a character-never the same...an interesting combination in a rose-seeming to be simple, yet fantastically complex and sophisticated. The rose benefits from some support in my garden. It is not a pure Gallica, but has some China ancestry. Purple colors in the landscape are complemenary to Cardinal de Richelieu, as well as other Gallicas of similar coloring like Tuscany.