Mme Isaac Pereire

MADAME ISAAC PEREIRE

Le Bienheureux de la Salle, Garçon 1877

The largest of all Bourbon roses and probably the most fragrant rose in the world (although that's very difficult to check)

Mme Isaac Pereire is big in all aspects: Growth, leafs, flowers, hips and perfume. She's sometimes regarded as a shrub but that's not the ideal way to grow her. She's much more comfortable if she can spread her branches horizontally against a wall or fence. She can reach 300 cm easily. The first two years she will throw thick branches vigorously. These branches are important and must be preserved at all costs. They are her framework for the next five years. If you train them horizontally she will grow many lateral branches and these will flower year after year. In February you prune these lateral branches back to 15 cm of the main branches. After five years it's time to remove the oldest main branch 🌿 and the next year another one. This way she is stimulated to grow new healthy main branches without giving her too much stress.

Her foliage is big, as if it's a Hybrid tea and grey green. In my garden she's very healthy but as with all repeat flowering roses of that age she can get blackspot and mildew but it's rare. I'm just being honest.

Her buds are round and open into Huge carmine /fuschia /red quartered flowers. When the bloom has opened completely the outer petals turn back giving them a wonderful touch. They exude a very strong raspberry old rose fragrance. Not only during day time but also at night. Not many roses have that. Her petals are, together with Mme Boll and Paul Neyron, best suited for making rose confiture or jam. 

When fully opened she shows her golden stamens and bumblebees play joyfully in them. You can hear them clearly as it sounds like a miniature plain propeller lol.

The May/June flush is very abundant and glorious. Make sure to deadhead her spilled flowers. Then it's time for her to recover and throw new growth. So don't expect a second flush in July or early August, it won't happen.

In August however you'll see new buds getting formed and when September arrives she rewards us with her most beautiful flowers especially in that September light.

Mme doesn't love too hot afternoons so a bit shade in the afternoon is appreciated.

A light pink sport was discovered and is called Mme Ernest Calvat. She has the same shape and fragrance but is light pink. 

Consensus: Mme Isaac Pereire is a rose legend and together with Peace and Souvenir de la Malmaison and maybe Pierre de Ronsard (Eden rose) one of the best known rose varieties.

She's a baroque, sumptuous queen with glorious big blooms and an overwhelming fragrance. She takes time to rebloom and can get blackspot in really wet summers but my God what a beauty. My favorite rose and I'm gonna get a photo realistic tattoo on my arm. My first tattoo but Mme Isaac Pereire and I are inseparable.