Joseph Rambaux (1820–1878) was a gardener and rose breeder from

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He is considered the patriarch of the legenday Meilland family, award-winning rose breeders for six generations. The rose variety he is best remembered for is the

Polyantha Garden roses are predominantly Hybrid (biology), hybrid roses that are grown as ornamental plants in private or public gardens. They are one of the most popular and widely cultivated groups of flowering plants, especially in temperate climates. A ...

, 'Perle d'Or', introduced in France in 1883. 'Perle d'Or' was granted several awards, including the Lyon Gold Medal in 1883, and the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

in 1993.

Biography

Philippe Jean-Baptiste François ("Joseph") Rambaux was born in

Dracy-le-fort Dracy-le-Fort () is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Gallery File:DracyLeFortChateau.JPG, Chateau File:DracyLeFortSquare.JPG, Square File:DracyLeFortCentre.JPG, Town center ...

, France, on March 18, 1820. He was a gardener at

Parc de la Tête d'Or The Parc de la Tête d'or (English: "Park of the Golden Head") is a large urban park in Lyon, France, with an area of approximately . Located in the northern part of the 6th arrondissement, it features the Jardin botanique de Lyon, as well as a l ...

. In France, in the 1830s and 1840s, rose breeders begun to practice the

hybridization Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

of roses and this quickly became the preferred method of developing new rose varieties. The cities where rose breeding was most practiced at the time was

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, Lyon, and

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Rambaux became interested in rose breeding in 1850 and started breeding new roses at home, from crosses of roses from the gardens where he worked. The rose varieties that Rambaux developed during his career were mostly Hybrid Perpetuals, and all his new rose cultivars were introduced after his death on July 30, 1878. Rambaux left his rose breeding business to his wife Claudine (née Grappelou), daughter Marie and son-in-law,

Francis Dubreuil Francis Dubreuil (1842–1916) was a French rose breeder and nursery owner from Lyon, France. He was the second generation of the Meilland family to breed and grow roses. He introduced over 64 rose varieties during his career and was the founding ...

(1842–1916). Rambaux's rose varieties include, 'Perle d'Or, 'Madame Marie Finger' 'Monsieur Rambaux', 'Madame Pauvert', 'Monsieur Druet' , and 'Jean Chevalier'. Claudine Rambaux developed six new rose varieties under the name of "Veuve Rambaux" (Widow Rambaux), including Tea rose, 'Souvenir du rosiériste Rambaux' (1883) and Hybrid Perpetual, 'Madame Rambeaux' (1894). Dubreuil introduced two of Joseph's rose varieties: Polyanthas, 'Perle d'Or' (1883), and 'Anna Maria de Montravel' (1897). Perle d'Or' was granted several awards, including the Lyon Gold Medal in 1883, and the

in 1993. Rambaux was the first of six generations of a family of awarding-winning rose breeders. They grew from a small family nursery in the mid-1800s into a large international rose growing business by the 1940s and have produced hundreds of award winning and popular roses, including 'Peace' ('Mme Antoine Meilland'), the rose that made the Meilland family famous after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The Meilland rose breeders include, Francis Debreuil, Claudine Rambaux, Antoine Meilland, Francis 'Papa Meilland', Louisette Meilland, Alain Meilland, and Michelle Meilland Richardier.

Rose varieties

Joseph Rambaux

* 'Madame Marie Finger' Hybrid perpetual (1872) * 'Monsieur Rambaux', Hybrid perpetual (1872) * 'Madame Pauvert', China rose, (1876) * 'Monsieur Druet', Hybrid perpetual, (1876) * 'Jean Chevalier', Hybrid Perpetual, (1879) * 'Anna Maria de Montravel', Polyantha (1897) * 'Perle d'Or', Polyantha, (1883), introduced by Dubreuil

Claudine Rambaux

* 'Marie Rambaux', Tea rose, (1881) * 'Rosa polyantha remontant', Polyantha, (1879) * 'Ornement des Jardins', Polyantha climber * 'Souvenir du rosiériste Rambaux', Tea rose, (1883) * 'Madame Rambaux', Hybrid perpetual, 1881 * 'Anna Marie de Montravel', Hybrid perpetual, (1879)

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rambaux, Joseph Businesspeople from Lyon Rose breeders 1820 births 1878 deaths