Barbra Streisand's Rose Garden: "Won't you come into my garden? I would like my roses to see you"

Barbra Streisand (born April 24, 1942) is a singer-actress-film producer and director whose talents have been recognized with countless awards, including two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, and four Emmy Awards. Barbra’s worldwide popularity was recognized in June 2007 with her induction into the prestigious French Legion of Honor.

More recently Barbra added authorship and photographer to her stellar accomplishments. Her first book, My Passion for Design, with many of the photographs taken by Barbra, was released by the Penguin Group in November 2010. In addition to revealing Barbra’s involvement in the design and construction of an east-coast-styled mansion ("the barn") to house her extensive collection of antiques at her compound in breathtaking Malibu, California, the book also shared the entertainer’s passion for roses.

Barbra’s rose garden presents a profusion of colors. ‘Ambridge Rose’ (cultivar ‘AUSwonder’) flowers are pale pink, somewhat ruffled outer petals, with pastel centers of apricot and mother-of-pearl, framed by dark green semi-glossy leaves and emitting a strong, sweet fragrance like myrrh. The pointed, red buds of 'Angel Face' open into a ruffle-edge display of lavender pink, mauve, or red violet and emit a strong, lemony aroma. ‘Lavender Pinocchio’ roses boast lavender outer petals with inner petals that offer beguiling shades of chocolate, gray, mauve, orange, or tan and with a fragrance that has fruity hints. ‘Louise Odier’ roses have pink flowers that darken towards the center with a rich, sweet fragrance.

Barbra indicates that she matches the roses that she grows with specific rooms in the buildings on her property. The cream living room in the main house welcomes the accents of light and dark pink roses. Her off-white bedroom receives off-white roses. Butterscotch roses contrast with the blueness of the barn’s lounge.

As with everything that concerns Barbra, she clearly has amassed considerable knowledge, and, just as her endearing character in “Yentl,” she keeps thirsting for more, always willing to go the distance towards perfection, which means being the best that you can be.

Meet three of Barbra's roses

Barbra Streisand's rose garden is photogenic because it is well laid out and because the variously hued cultivars present a harmonious palette. Barbra names at least seventeen of her roses. Of these, three are profiled for their intrinsic beauty --- 'Barbra Streisand', 'Ingrid Bergman', 'Frédéric Mistral' --- and also in recognition of their namesakes and of their brilliant creators.

These three marvels all belong to the hybrid tea group of cultivated roses, which is the oldest cultivar group among modern garden roses. Hybrid tea roses enjoy great popularity because of their form and their colorings. Hybrid teas have long, upright stems with well-formed buds. Their flowering occurs repeatedly, that is, constantly, during the season, unlike the single flowering of most wild roses and some other hybrids. Colors that are displayed by hybrid tea roses shimmer through the color spectrum and present rainbows of colors from petal edges to deep into the rose's center.

Photographs and words convey much visually about roses. Unfortunately, a rose's fragrance, which exudes the very essence of its wondrous flowers, eludes depiction. The fragrance can only be remembered and imagined.

In 2001 Tom Carruth of Weeks Roses introduced a dreamy hybrid tea rose, cultivar name ‘WEKquaneze’, honoring Barbra Streisand. The parentage of this pastel confection is [Blue Nile x (Ivory Tower x Angel Face) x New Zealand].

The American Rose Society color classification for the Streisand rose is light pink. Flowers often have a lavender blush. Weeks Roses describes the intensely fragrant, long-stemmed beauty as "rich lavender blushing darker." Each flower has 26 to 40 petals. The flower itself measures 3.5 to 4 inches (8.89 to 10.16 centimeters) and blooms in small clusters.

Wafting generous doses of olfactory pleasure, the fragrance of the Streisand rose is derived from 'New Zealand' (cultivar name 'MACgenev'), a large-flowered, soft creamy pink rose renowned for its honeysuckle fragrance; 'Blue Nile' (cultivar name 'DELnible'), a deep lavender rose with large olive green leaves and a fruity aroma; and 'Angel Face', a deep mauve-lavender rose with ruby blushed edges and an intense citrus fragrance.

Large leaves are a glossy dark green.

This rosebush grows to a height of 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 meters).

Weeks Roses: a reputation for excellence in California

In 1938 wholesale rose producers Ollie and Verona Weeks founded Weeks Roses in Ontario, a thriving agricultural community in the southwestern corner of San Bernardino County, which is located in southeastern California. The company's success was further secured with an added commitment to breeding Weeks roses. Today Weeks Roses offerings total over 300 popular and unusual cultivars. The company has an internationally respected reputation for excellence in breeding and research. About 1,200 acres (about 486 hectares) of growing grounds are located in Wasco, in the northwestern part of neighboring Kern County in the highly productive San Joaquin Valley in south central California. The research department has moved from its original location in Upland (formerly North Ontario) to its current favorable location, along with hybridizing greenhouses and test/display gardens, on the Cal Poly Pomona Campus (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona), which is in the southeastern corner of Los Angeles County.

Tom Carruth has worked at Weeks Roses since 1988 and is widely respected for his healthy and innovative approach to rose breeding. Every year Weeks Roses Research Department produces 250,000 seedlings from about 50,000 hand-pollinated roses. Three to four cultivars are introduced after a rigorous eight- to ten-year evaluation period.

Ingrid Bergman (August 29, 1915-August 29, 1982) achieved worldwide appreciation as an exquisitely beautiful, graceful, intelligent, and talented actress. Winning three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and one Tony Award, she is recognized by the American Film Institute as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema. Ingrid Bergman was viewed as a classic beauty with her perfect skin, subtly expressive eyes, and sculptured features. Her voice was well modulated. The tonality of her native language, Swedish, was charmingly revealed in her laughter, which was unforgettably infectious with its natural ripples and gentle lilting.

Some of the most cherished memories that Ingrid’s daughter, actress Isabella Rossellini (born June 18, 1952), has of her mother pertain to their shared love of the mundane tasks of housecleaning and dishwashing. Ingrid’s advice, “Never leave a room empty-handed,” referred to the daily journeys that possessions make throughout a house: a glass in the living room needs to be escorted to the kitchen sink or dishwasher, a magazine in the bedroom needs to be returned to the coffee table in the living room.

One of Ingrid’s cherished roles was in the 1948 film, “Joan of Arc.” Ingrid collected a small library of books on her saintly heroine (ca. 1412-May 30, 1431), and she also always kept with her a little packet of earth from Orléans, the city in north-central France where Jeanne d'Arc arrived on April 28, 1429, to lead France to a major victory against England in the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453).

In perfect symmetry, Ingrid passed away on her birthday. At her bedside, a treasured book, The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (June 29, 1900-July 31, 1944) was lying open, with the poignant passage in Chapter XXVI, just before the prearranged biting of the little prince by the snake, marked recently by Ingrid:

“. . . .I shall look as if I were dead, and that will not be true. . . .I cannot carry this body with me. It is too heavy. But it will be like an abandoned shell. There is nothing sad about old shells.”

In accordance with Ingrid’s wishes, her ashes were scattered into the North Sea that crashed in blue-white waves around Dannholmen, a two-acre island off Sweden’s southwest coast that was owned by her third husband, Swedish theatrical producer Lars Schmidt. The urn containing her ashes was buried next to her parents’ graves in Norra begravningsplatsen (Northern Cemetery) in Stockholm, Sweden.

"And yet what they are looking for could be found in one single rose"

Earlier in Saint-Exupéry’s masterpiece, the little prince spoke of men who

“. . .raise five thousand roses in the same garden --- and they do not find in it what they are looking for. . . .And yet what they are looking for could be found in one single rose. . .”

One single rose was named in honor of Ingrid Bergman, and that single rose has garnered worldwide appreciation and respect, to the extent that the World Federation of the National Rose Societies inducted the Ingrid Bergman rose into the Rose Hall of Fame in 2000.

In 1984 Poulsen introduced a hybrid tea rose, cultivar name ‘POUlman’. Its exhibition name was Ingrid Bergman®. Its parentage is ‘Precious Platinum’ x seedling.

The American Rose Society color classification for the Ingrid Bergman rose is dark red. From elegant buds that almost seem black, the urn-shaped flower opens into deep red perfection.

Flowers usually are borne singly. Floral size is 3.9 inches (10 centimeters). Flowers have 35 to 40 velvety petals.

Medium-sized leaves are semi-glossy dark green.

This rosebush grows to 2.7 feet (80 centimeters). Its horizontal spread reaches 2.3 feet (70 centimeters).

The Bergman rose has a sweet fragrance of spice.

Poulsen Rosenplanteskole: Producing exquisitely beautiful, classic roses

In 1878 Dorus Theus (D.T.) Poulsen founded Poulsen Nursery with a greenhouse in the capital city of Copenhagen (København). Interested in rosebreeding, Dorus sent his oldest son, Dines (1879-1940), to study for a year with renowned rosarian, that is, rose cultivar expert, Peter Lambert (June 1, 1859-February 20, 1939) at Peter’s rose nursery in Trier, Germany’s oldest city, located in the west central state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Dines also spent time learning from rosarians in England. Poulsen Rose Nursery (Poulsen Rosenplanteskole) was established in 1907 on the northeastern coast of the Danish island of Zealand (Sjælland), about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Copenhagen. This is the scenic area in which are located Fredensborg Palace, the Danish Royal Family's spring and autumn retreat on the eastern shore of Lake Esrum (Esrum Sø), and Kronberg Castle in Helsingør, the star-shaped coastal fortress known as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's great tragedy, "Hamlet."

Introducing its first rose in 1911, the company has maintained a reputation for exquisitely beautiful, classic prizewinners. The Bergman rose exemplifies this company’s enduring artistry.

The Bergman rose was introduced by Mogens N. Olesen and his wife Pernille, D.T.’s great-great granddaughter.

Poulsen has also established the lead in the house plant sector of the rose industry by supplying two-thirds of the worldwide demand.

Gerlev Rosenpark: A vibrant history of all Poulsen roses

Located on the eastern coast of Roskilde Fjord near Frederikssund on the northeastern coast of Zealand, Gerlev Rosenpark features a garden that serves as a complete living history of all Poulsen roses. Roses are planted in free-form beds according to the year of their introduction.

Frédéric Mistral (September 8, 1830-March 25, 1914) was a French writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1904

“. . .in recognition of the fresh originality and true inspiration of his poetic production, which faithfully reflects the natural scenery and native spirit of his people, and, in addition, his significant work as a Provençal philologist.”

Frédéric’s family were affluent landowners who had settled in Provence (southern France) in the sixteenth century. Although he studied law in the nearby university city of Aix-en-Provence, receiving his law degree in 1851, Frédéric’s true passion was writing poetry in Provençal, or Occitan, the lyrical, poetic Romantic language of southern France with a literary history dating back to the tenth century. Thus, Frédéric decided to focus his life’s efforts on reviving and standardizing Provençal as a literary language. In addition to his narrative poems, Frédéric compiled a dictionary of Provençal, Lou Trésor dóu Félibrige, which was published by Félibrige (Provençal: félibre, “pupil, follower”), a literary society which he co-founded with six other poets on May 21, 1854.

Frédéric’s flowing poetry reflected the harmonious rhythms of southern France, the area which enchanted Impressionists with its special sunlight in the last half of the nineteenth century. Southern France was the area that leading Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (February 25, 1841-December 3, 1919) loved best. Auguste purchased land there to prevent the destruction of an olive orchard that he loved to paint, naming it Les Collettes (“a region of hills”). His wife, Aline Victorine Charigot Renoir (May 23, 1854-June 27, 1915), established a formal rose garden there, with many of the roses coming from the rose-breeding nursery established nearby in Cap d’Antibe in southeastern France by the Meilland family.

To his association of Provençal poets, Félibrige, Frédéric gave the motto, “Lou soulèu me fai canta” (“The sun makes me sing”).

It could be easily said, as well, that roses make the world sing.

In 1993, the Meilland family introduced a hybrid tea rose, cultivar name ‘MEItebros’, that honored the renowned Provençal poet with its exhibition name, Frédéric Mistral®. Another popular synonym is the Children's Rose. Its parentage is 'Perfume Delight' x 'Prima Ballerina'.

The American Rose Society (ARS) color classification for Frédéric Mistral is light pink. Flowering generally occurs singly but sometimes presents clusters of three to five. The flower size is about 3.5 inches (9 centimeters). Flowers have 26 to 40 petals.

Large leaves are semi-glossy dark green.

In a hot climate, this rosebush may soar to a height of 6.6 feet (2 meters). Frédéric Mistral has a horizontal spread of about 3.3 feet (1 meter).

Its fragrance, which is intense and rich, is reminiscent of damask roses (Rosa x damascena), which are renowned for their superior aromas. Interestingly, the fragrance for Frédéric Mistral was derived from The McCartney Rose™ (cultivar: ‘MEIzeli’), which was introduced in 1995 by Alain Meilland in honor of Sir Paul McCartney (born June 18, 1942).

Meilland family: Creators of the world's most famous rose

The Meilland family rose business was started by Lyonnaise gardener Philippe Jean-Baptiste François Rambeau (known as Joseph Rambaux)(March 14, 1820-July 30, 1878) around 1850. In 1923 the company, in need of more space, moved to the quiet village of Tassin-la-Demi-Lune, about 3 miles (5 kilometers) west of Lyons. With the instituting of plant patenting by the United States in 1930, the company wisely expanded their business to the United States in 1932 through a contract establishing as their American agents Conard-Pyle Company’s Star Roses Nursery in West Grove, a town in the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania where the historic Red Rose Inn, established in 1740, famously was granted land from the commonwealth’s founder, William Penn (October 14, 1644-July 30, 1718), for the annual rental payment of one red rose.

On January 14, 1939 Joseph Rambaux’s great-great-grandson, Francis Meilland (February 20, 1912-June 15, 1958) married Louisette Paolino (1920-1987), in southeastern France at Cap d’Antibes, where Louisette’s parents, Marie-Elisabeth Greco Paolino and Francesco Giacomo Paolino, had established a successful rose growing business.

In 1948 the Meilland family moved their rosebreeding operations to Cap d’Antibes while retaining half-ownership in the Tassin property (including greenhouses, roses, etc.), which was reformed, exclusively for the production and sale of roses, with Lyonnaise rosarian Francisque Richardier as Roseraies Meilland Richardier. The main rose-breeding station is now located at Le Luc-en-Provence in the southeastern French department of Var. Test sites are maintained in central and southern France, northern Germany, and in West Grove, Pennsylvania and Wasco, California in the United States.

From 1935 to 1939, Francis focused on developing a rose which has become the most famous rose in the world. Introduced in 1945, Francis named the rose ‘Mme. A. Meilland’ to honor his mother, Joséphine Claudine “Claudia” Dubreuil Meilland (November 3, 1887-1932?). This remarkable yellow rose with rainbow edges of crimson, cream, and pink is known in English-speaking countries as ‘Peace’, in Italy as ‘Gioia’ (“Joy”), and in Germany as ‘Gloria Dei’ (“Glory to God”).

Barbra Streisand’s passion for roses finds expression in the visually and sensually pleasurable spaces that are devoted to these sweet-smelling flowers inside and outside of her home. She shares with her readers that, while each rose follows a daily cycle, with greatest fragrance around 11:00 a.m. and best picking time at around 4:00 p.m., there are no carved rules about roses because their fragrances and freshness respond to environmental happenings. Nevertheless, Barbra shares a ploy for activating a rose’s fragrance on our own: gently exhale or blow onto a rose and the breath’s warmth causes the rose to release extra fragrance.

A sign in Barbra’s garden generously invites visitors into the garden with the welcoming words:

“Won’t you come into my garden? I would like my roses to see you.”

With their sensitivity to their environment, roses may very well respond to visitors, certainly to admirers. And who can resist the perfect roseate charms of color and fragrance? Equally alluring is the special communication that occurs in the exchange between human breath and a spurt of rosy fragrance.

Vicarious trips into Barbra Streisand’s rose garden indeed confirm that

“. . .a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” (William Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet,” Act II, scene ii)

My special thanks to talented photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet:

*** Flying Jacket for June 2, 2007 photo of "Rose Ingrid Bergman" (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

*** Huhu Uet for June 10, 2008 Public Domain photo of "Rosa 'Frederic Mistral,' Rosarium Uetersen"

*** Hobbykafe for photo of 'Rose Mme A Meilland' (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

My special thanks, also, to Barbra Streisand for sharing her rose garden.

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Fell, Derek. Impressionist Roses: Bringing the Romance of the Impressionist Style to Your Garden. New York: Friedman/Fairfax, 2000.

Meilland, Alain, Gilles Lambert, and Louis Clark Keating. La Vie en Roses. Paris: Editions Solar, 1969.

Modern Roses XI: The World Encyclopedia of Roses. San Diego: Academic Press, 2000.

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Streisand, Barbra. My Passion for Design. New York: Penguin, 2010.

Copyright Wednesday, June 8, 2011 by Derdriu.