The Roses of Malmaison: A Love Story in Bloom

Joséphine’s Legacy in Bloom

Nestled just west of Paris in Rueil‑Malmaison, Château de Malmaison was more than a romantic retreat, it became the epicentre of rose cultivation in early 19th‑century Europe. Under the devotion of Empress Joséphine Bonaparte, a French‑Caribbean visionary who cherished natural beauty, this estate came alive with petals, fragrance, rare and exotic plants and animals, and artistic inspiration.

Imagine stepping through the wrought-iron gates of this quiet estate just outside Paris.  The air is heavy with the perfume of roses, not the neat rows of a formal French parterre, but wild, romantic drifts of colour spilling across gravel paths.  This is Château de Malmaison, and two centuries ago it was the heart of one woman’s great love affair nature, in particular ~ Roses.

Josephine’s Garden Dream

Empress Joséphine Bonaparte, wife of Napoleon and a woman of remarkable spirit, longed to create more than just a garden.  She dreamt of a living tapestry, a sanctuary of beauty that gathered the world’s most exquisite plants and animals together in one place.

By the time of her passing in 1814, her vision had blossomed into a collection of almost 250 different roses,the largest and most admired in Europe.  The Gallicas, old European roses with velvet petals and rich perfume, were said to be her favourites; she grew more than 160 varieties of them.  Joséphine's curiosity stretched far beyond France.  Rare roses arrived from China, the Middle East, and it is believed they even slipped through British blockades to reach her hands.

Every new arrival was a treasure, planted not as a specimen, but as a story.  Each rose carried with it the mystery of distant lands, the scent of travel and the thrill of discovery.

The Empress and the Artist

It wasn’t enough for Josephine simply to grow her roses, she wanted them immortalised.  She turned to Pierre‑Joseph Redouté, the celebrated botanical artist, whose soft watercolours would later earn him the title the Raphael of flowers.

Between 1817 and 1824, he painted the roses of Malmaison with extraordinary detail for his now‑famous book Les Roses.  Most of those delicate illustrations were painted within Josephine’s garden at Malmaison, each stroke of his brush preserving a bloom that may no longer exist today.

A Quiet Revolution in Bloom

What Josephine created at Malmaison was far more than a private pleasure.  She invited experts to experiment with cross-pollination, inspiring some of the earliest rose hybridisation in Europe.  Some say, Josephine even hosted what many call the first-ever rose exhibition in 1810, allowing her guests to wander amongst the fragrant roses and marvel at the beauty she had curated.

Her devotion transformed roses from humble cottage flowers into the elegant, ornamental favourites we adore today.  Decades after her death, new rose varieties were still being named in her honour, most famously, the romantic pale-pink ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’, a rose as soft and luminous as Josephine’s own legend.

Her roses were more than flowers, they were a love story.  A love for beauty, for the natural world, and for the simple, timeless pleasure of a bloom unfurling at dawn.

And that is Josephine’s true legacy: not just a garden, but a reminder to slow down, breathe deeply, and fill our lives with things that make us pause and smile.

Visiting Malmaison Today

When we briefly lived in France, our family made the pilgrimage to Malmaison.  Driving through the quiet streets of Rueil-Malmaison, it felt almost surreal to turn into the long driveway, imagining carriages sweeping up to the vestibule, their wheels crunching over gravel as guests stepped down in silks and feathers.

Though time has changed the gardens of Malmaison, it’s impossible not to feel her presence there.  If you close your eyes, you can almost imagine her, gliding through the paths in her muslin gown, pausing to cup a bloom in her hands, talking to her gardeners about the next new variety to plant.  The gardens today are smaller than they were in Josephine’s time, and her famous hot houses are long gone, yet there is still a quiet romance to wandering among the surviving garden.  

Inside the house, history lingers in every room, the Empire-style furnishings, the soft light filtering through tall windows.  Our little Mietta managed to get lost for a brief (and stressful!) moment, which felt almost fitting, for a child to lose herself in a house so full of stories.  It was a day that felt both deeply personal and steeped in history, a reminder that Josephine’s love of beauty still echoes here, even after two centuries.

Bringing a Little of Malmaison Home

Though most of us can’t stroll Josephine’s garden daily, we can still create our own quiet moments of French-inspired romance at home.  A linen-draped table, a single rose in a ceramic vase, soft candlelight in the evening, simple rituals that echo Josephine’s belief that beauty is meant to be savoured. We are 'whether we know it or not' echoing Josephine’s dream.

Because beauty, as she showed us, is meant to be savoured.

Inspired by Josephine

Her roses were more than flowers, they were a love story.  A love for beauty, for the natural world, and for the simple, timeless pleasure of a bloom unfurling at dawn.

And that is Josephine’s true legacy: not just a garden, but a reminder to slow down, breathe deeply, and fill our lives with things that make us pause and smile.

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If you would like to learn more about Josephine's garden you can visit Malmaison's website and watch ABC's Gardening Australia's A Distant Affair, where Jane Edmanson speaks with NGV's Amanda Dunsmore, Curator of Napoleon: Revolution to Empire.

Images courtesy of Château de Malmaison,  Malmaison & Taschen