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Rose Maréchal Niel
Why is the most feminine rose called after a soldier? Adolfe Niel fought at Sebastopol and Solferino, became a Marshall of France and finally Minister of War to Napoleon III, when he tried in vain to bolster the French army against the Prussians in the disaster of 1870.
He also loved roses. The breeder Henri Pradel of Montauban named his most precious creation ‘Maréchal Niel’ in 1864; a rare favour, since his other customers had to buy twelve plants before he would let them have this rose at all. Its ancestry may include the more famous ‘Gloire de Dijon’ (which in all honesty is a better rose for hardiness and repeat flowering). But this China beauty smells so sweet and droops her ravishing head so demurely that every year in April I fall in love with her again. She needs cosseting; in the east of England that means a conservatory.
The books say she hates a pot and needs open soil. Our plant has lived in the same 14 inch pot for over 20 years, and this year had 40 blooms. There will be a few later, in summer, but April is the big month. There is no describing the clear smoky sweetness of the smell, except in relating it to china tea.
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