A Rose Named Peace
How is a particular rose distributed throughout the world? I’ve always wondered. This book provides the story of one rose, the result of years of breeding, cross-pollination, growing, selecting, strengthening, and patience. You may know of it or have it in your garden: the Peace rose.
Of interest to gardeners, of course, but there is a good deal of history entwined with this true story. The author introduces Francis Meilland during his childhood in France, where his family grew fruit trees, vegetables, and roses for sale to the public.
Once there was a boy who loved roses.
Fat rosebuds unfurling under the warm summer sun. Petals, soft as lambs’ ears, between his fingers. Perfume, light and sweet, floating on the breeze.
In his seventeenth year, Francis visits a rose grower in a nearby town, where he learns about cross-pollination. Now he is committed to years of experimentation and waiting for results.
For children and adults who enjoy gardening, the details here may excite their own passion for creating new cultivars, not only of roses but other flowers as well. The melodious language and the illustrator’s realistic paintings are inspiring. Perhaps we could do this as well?
In September 1939, when Germany marches into Poland and World War II begins, Francis packages cuttings of his 3-35-40 rose and sends them to “rose growers he knew in Germany and Italy and to Robert Pyle in the United States.”
Meilland’s family tears out their rose gardens to grow fruit and vegetables to support the French soldiers and their neighbors. Francis retains one small rose bed.
The growers to whom he sent those cuttings keep his special rose growing and thriving. As the author reveals the events that lead to the rose’s distribution and the naming of the rose, I felt goosebumps. I believe we need to know the background of art, nature, song, history … to fully appreciate them.
Bagram Ibatoulline’s illustrations are outstanding. From tranquil paintings of the farm to vivid illustrations of tanks and warplanes, his details transport us into Meilland’s world. The pitted and slivered workbench, the period-appropriate hairdos and clothing, the gorgeous inset of the very special rose … these complete our immersion into this time and place.
Back matter elucidates the process of patenting a flower, how plants are propagated, and a useful glossary of plant parts along with a labeled drawing of a rose.
This is a book for the gardeners in your life, the children who are striving to understand their world, the historians who gobble up little-known true stories.
When I read this book, I swear I smell the perfumed scent of roses. That’s the power of story.
A Rose Named Peace: How Francis Meilland
Created a Flower of Hope for a World at War
written by Barbara Carroll Roberts
illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
Candlewick Press, 2022
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What a unique and fascinating subject for a picture book!
Fascinating...and what a beautiful way to support those in war zones ~ growing food and flowers for them!