Magazine  (Jan 2024)  Page(s) 23-25.  Includes photo(s).
 
Roses named after famous women: Madame de Sancy de Parabère (Bonnet, France, 1874?) 
Text by Roger Willeghems

... Boursault roses were considered as hybrids of Rosa pendulina (syn.: Rosa alpina) x a China rose. DNA analyses confirm this assumption of hybrids, but not of Rosa pendulina, but rather of Rosa blanda.....

Newsletter  (Nov 2018)  Page(s) 27-28.  Includes photo(s).
 
[From "Snow White & The Seven Women", by Darrell, g.h. Schramm, pp. 26-33]
‘Mme de Sancy de Parabere’ is usually assigned the date 1874, the year after the horticulturist Monsieur Bonnet of the nursery firm Bonnet & Fils acknowledged the rose on his property. The first record of this rose seems to be that in Journal des Roses of August 1885. According to this reference, nurseryman Ferdinand Jamain had seen the rose growing in Bonnet’s garden in 1973. Bonnet did not know what it was. Bonnet gave the rosebush to Jamain who, at the suggestion of Madame Bonnet, named the rose ‘Mme de Sancy de Parabere’. Subsequently, Jamain presented a bouquet of the flowers to the Central Society of Horticulture of France for identification, but none there recognized the rose. Later a Monsieur Bachoux observed that this was a rose cultivated for forty years on the property of a M. de Boismilon. Jamain concurred that this was an old variety. “It is without doubt some very old rose,” he wrote, “which could have been neglected and which would have been lost from sight.” The date of the rose, then, could be as early as 1845. In fact, as E. F. Allen wrote in the Rose Annual of 1973, “Until more evidence comes to light, the date of introduction must be altered to ‘before 1845’.” A Sleeping Beauty of a rose, now awakened.
This climbing rose produces the largest flowers of the Boursault class, in clear, cerise pink, very floriferous. The reverse side of the petals is a silvery pink. Within the circumference of the quite large, outer petals is nestled a ruffle of small petals. The flowers do emit a fragrance. The plant is vigorous, very cold hardy, virtually without prickles, and an exceptionally early bloomer. It grows to fifteen feet. To root it from cuttings is easy.
Of note is the name: Although the caption under the chromolithograph omits the first de in the rose’s name, the name throughout the article in Journal des Roses is ‘Madame de Sancy de Parabere’. The woman seems to have been Charlotte Lavinie Lefebvre nee Desouettes, de Sancy de Parabere (1815-1884). She was a Dame of Honor in Empress Eugenie’s court. Mme Bonnet, who suggested the name, must have been a friend or admirer.

Book  (Dec 1998)  Page(s) 379.  Includes photo(s).
 
Mme. de Sancy de Parabère ('Mme. Sancy de Parabère', 'Virginian Lass') Boursault. Bonnet (France) 1874... This variety is one of only two Boursaults cultivated today ('Amadis' is the other), a class of rose that originated in Paris... clear, soft pink blooms...

Book  (1997)  Page(s) 212.  Includes photo(s).
 
Mme de Sancy de Parabère Boursault. Bonnet c. 1874. Description... a beautiful rose of rich pink...

Book  (Nov 1993)  Page(s) 43.  
 
Mme. Sancy de Parabère Boursault. 1874... a vigorous thornless rose... with large flowers like a pink hollyhock...

Book  (Feb 1993)  Page(s) 88.  Includes photo(s).

Book  (1993)  Page(s) 263.  Includes photo(s).
 
Mme. de Sancy de Parabere. Boursault. ‘Virginian Lass’. It is a matter of taste whether you include the first ‘de’ in this rose’s full title, and a matter of dispute whether she was raised by the Nantes firm of A. Bonnet & Fils in 1874 or earlier. It is beyond dispute, however, that this is a most unusual rose. A shrubby Climber, it is one of the earliest roses to bloom, covering itself with large flowers in clear pink, against glossy olive-green foliage. Their form is unique; within a circle of large outer petals nestles a bunch of smaller ones, in what is known as an ‘anemone centre’. It is a common sight among camellias, but not among roses. Alas, there is little scent, and the display is once a year only. There are no thorns. Parentage unknown. Summer flowering.

Book  (1988)  Page(s) 78.  Includes photo(s).

Website/Catalog  (1986)  Page(s) 53.  
 
Mme. Sancy de Parabere (Boursault Climber).....

Website/Catalog  (1985)  Page(s) 33.  
 

Mme. Sancy de Parabere (Boursault Rambler) Large, double, saucer-shaped flowers with ragged edges of lavender pink......