By most accounts, the first Bourbon rose was an accidental cross between 'Old Blush' (then called 'Parson's Pink') and 'Autumn Damask' (then called 'Quatre Saisons'). As the story goes, the director of the island's small botanical garden permitted the two "parent" roses to intermingle, they cross pollinated (bees doing what they do, and all), and the result was a rose the islanders called 'Rose Edouard'. After a few years, the island had many specimens of this lovely deep pink, repeat-blooming rose.
In 1817, the director collected seeds from one of his plants and sent them to many of his friends in Europe, one of which, the rose caretaker of the Duc d'Orléans in France, immediately saw the economic and horticultural potential of this new rose class. He named the new rose 'Bourbon Rose' and used it (as did many of his fellow nurserymen) as breeding stock for a whole new class of roses. By the middle of the nineteenth century, Bourbons were all the rage in Europe.
The original 'Rose Edouard' was considered extinct as late as 1985, but specimens have since been found in Germany and may be purchased mailorder from antique rose producers here in the US.
Interestingly, Bourbons carry the characteristics of both their parents. Some varieties exhibit the scarcity of thorns and pliable "wood" of the Chinas, while other exhibit the prickly, stiffer growth of the Damasks. According to Peter Beales, author of Classic Roses (Henry Holt and Co., New York; 1985), the best example of the China characteristics is 'La Reine Victoria'. The most popular rose showing the Damask lineage is 'Souvenir de la Malmaison'.
However, as any antique rosarian can tell you, the Bourbon Class has a variety of growth habits and identifying characteristics - meaning it's not always easy to identify a Bourbon because they vary so widely in foliage form and texture and well as prickle formation. Some grow quite large and can be trained as climbers or sprawled out to form pegged garden specimens. Others are climbers in their own right. Still others are small and compact shrubforms.
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