Mme Isaac Pereire: Bourbon Rose

Mme Isaac Pereire

related pages: photo gallery of bourbons

class: Bourbon
breeding: Garçon, 1880
photographed by Daphne Filiberti in her garden

Mme Isaac Pereire is a voluptuous rose clothed in purple velvet petals, and blessed with one of the most potent fragrances in the rose world. The canes are lax and very suited to be trained as a small climber or on a pyramid. Liz Druitt and Michael Shoup recommend pegging the rose in Landscaping with Antique Roses. The theory of pegging the rose is that the five to seven foot canes are the perfect length to pin to the ground. The horizontal training feeds the canes more evenly so that there will be a blossoming of roses along the canes, as well as extra foliage. Jack Harkness joked about Mme Isaac Pereire stating that it was a perfect rose to plant on a fence facing an annoying neighbor. He felt that the roses colors were too strident and the foliage was too prone to fungal disease. The rose will certainly benefit from good air circulation. It is advisable not to train the rose on a fence for this reason. The color of the rose appeals to many and is disliked as well. I think the deep, cerise-rose color matches the scent of the rose, which is a powerful bouquet of ripened fruit. The petals are tightly packed, whorled and quartered in the center. These weighty blooms open from small rounded buds, and sometimes the buds do not open. As the flowers age they become a smoky cerise gray with an intimation of Concord grapes. Many rosarians have commented that the blooms are at their best in the spring or fall.