A WONDERFUL ROSE GARDEN : THE RIVAU ESTATE

The rose collection of Château du Rivau

Château du Rivau is the kingdom of roses. Our gardens host a unique collection of fragrant roses: 512 rare varieties and more than 1,600 rose bushes. Old, modern, climbing, or English roses intertwine, climb, or blend with the many flowering plants in the estate’s fifteen gardens.

This collection is certified as a Perfumed Rose Conservatory by the CCVS (Conservatoire des Collections Végétales Spécialisées). Far from debates between supporters of old or modern roses, the Rivau roses are selected for their fragrance. Their common feature is that they perfume the gardens with intoxicating scents.

The Fairy Path is bordered by highly fragrant Gallica roses. The Garden of Love Potions immerses visitors in the imaginary world linking roses to potions and spells. The Secret Garden delights with its checkerboard of English roses. The Little Thumbling Garden enchants with its yellow rose bushes, while the orchard fruit trees surprise visitors with climbing roses…

Fragrant rose collection at the Château du Rivau

Yellow roses

‘Fruhlingsgold’ is one of the first roses to announce the arrival of fine weather. This large shrub is covered in May with countless pale yellow roses with golden stamens, with sporadic repeat flowering throughout summer. It is followed by ‘Golden Wings’, whose large, pale yellow wild roses with prominent orange stamens release a fresh and invigorating scent.

‘Maigold’ blooms early in the season with semi-double amber-yellow roses in clusters, and flowers again later in the season, just like ‘Crown Princess Margaret’, with its magnificent soft apricot-yellow double blooms.

A true enchantment for the senses, is it ‘The Pilgrim’, with its tea and myrrh fragrance and saffron-coloured petals, more captivating than ‘Golden Celebration’? The latter opens with a tea scent that evolves into lemon and then blackberry over time.

‘Ghislaine de Féligonde’ is a historic French rose. Its small flowers, gathered in abundant clusters, change from chamois yellow to bright apricot, shifting daily and ending in creamy tones, creating remarkable colour gradients.

‘Sunny Knock Out’, with semi-double saffron-yellow fragrant flowers, blooms continuously from June until frost. It has received the Grand Prize of the SNHF (French National Horticultural Society). Its gentle fragrance, with hints of rose water, spice and fruit, adds to its charm.

One of the jewels of the collection is ‘Buttercup’ by English breeder David Austin. Its semi-double cup-shaped flowers reveal beautiful orange stamens and release a strong tea fragrance.

Many other yellow roses complete this palette, including the climber ‘Mermaid’, the shrub ‘Jude the Obscure’, the landscape rose ‘Yellow Fleurette’, the legendary English rose ‘Graham Thomas’, ‘Académie d’Orléans’ introduced by André Eve, and ‘Michelangelo’.

Collection de roses parfumées Château du Rivau

Red roses

From the beginning of the rose season, red climbing roses illuminate the hedge known as “Cassinina”, named after the mythical garden of the loves of Zeus and Mnemosyne, muse of memory. Take time to admire the beautiful blooms of ‘Red Parfum’, ‘Sympathie’, and ‘Grave de Vayres’.

Many red roses can be found throughout the gardens, along the Fairy Path, in the Garden of Love Potions, or around the Gargantua Vegetable Garden. Climbing roses such as ‘Etoile de Hollande’, ‘Allen Chandler’, ‘Souvenir de Claudius Desnoyel’, ‘Dublin Bay’, and ‘Guinée’ captivate visitors with their vibrant colours, rich fragrances, and elegant forms.

The shrub rose ‘Europeana’ produces abundant clusters of bright red flowers. At Rivau, it is placed at the head of the ancient vine rows, where it serves as an indicator for vine health. ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ surprises with black buds opening into crimson flowers with an aniseed scent.

‘Cherry Bonica’ flowers continuously throughout summer, producing generous clusters of semi-double cherry-red blooms. ‘Dortmund’, a vigorous shrub rose, displays bright red single flowers with white centres.

Gallica roses

One of the treasures of the Rivau rose collection is the border of Gallica roses. Flowering in early June, these roses — with incomparable fragrances and deep pink, purple, or dark violet tones — line the Fairy Path.

‘La Revenante Gallica’, ‘Surpasse Tout’, ‘Belle Isis’, ‘Ipsilante’, ‘Dis-moi qui je suis’, ‘Ambroise Paré’, and ‘Rosa Gallica Officinalis’ (the Provins rose) intoxicate visitors with their exquisite scents.

Some of these varieties were already present in the gardens of Empress Joséphine in the early 19th century. Joséphine de Beauharnais developed a passion for roses and planted nearly 250 varieties at Malmaison between 1804 and 1814. Most of this first major French collection consisted of Gallica roses. Many of them, immortalised by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, the “painter of the Empress’s flowers”, are cultivated at Rivau as they are now endangered.

Historical varieties such as ‘La Belle Sultane’, ‘Bizarre Triomphant’, ‘Évêque’, ‘Cerise la Jolie’, ‘Aimable Amie’, ‘Belle sans Flatterie’, ‘Belle Hélène’, ‘Bouquet de Vénus’, ‘Pourpre Charmant’, and ‘Ornement de la Nature’ are preserved in the gardens.

White roses

Equally enchanting are the white roses that illuminate the “Allée des Senteurs”. Mythical for their perfection, ‘Mme Hardy’ and ‘Mme Legras de Saint Germain’ delight lovers of old roses. Their immaculate petals fold like Japanese fabric around a green heart.

‘Blanche Moreau’, a moss rose, has buds wrapped in fragrant moss that open into pure white petals. Also remarkable are the Moschata roses, developed by the late Louis Lens in Belgium: rare in France, varieties such as ‘Pleine de Grâce’ and ‘White Magic’ punctuate the scented path.

The Allée also features modern varieties essential for repeat flowering, including ‘Midsummer’, ‘Annapurna’, ‘Crème Chantilly’, ‘Jacqueline du Pré’, ‘Queen of the Musk’, and ‘Jardin de Bagatelle’.

The arches of the Allée are adorned with the rose ‘Château du Rivau’, created by André Eve in 2003. This climbing rose, deeply cherished at the château, blooms abundantly in June with luminous white flowers and golden stamens. It climbs walls, arches, and structures throughout the estate.

Other notable white roses include ‘Mme Alfred Carrière’, a vigorous Noisette rose with highly fragrant clustered blooms, often mingling with fruit trees in the orchard — a perfect place to lie in the grass beneath their scent.

English roses

The famous breeder David Austin has chosen the Rivau gardens to showcase his English roses, known for their myrrh and fruit fragrances.

Among the pink varieties, ‘Gentle Hermione’ offers a delicate tea scent with a hint of myrrh. ‘Eglantyne’, one of the most beautiful English roses, also releases this characteristic fragrance. ‘Redouté’ and ‘Mary Rose’ combine tea notes with honey and almond. ‘Geoff Hamilton’ adds a touch of apple to the tea scent. ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ has perhaps the strongest rose fragrance, while ‘Harlow Carr’ rivals it closely.

‘Jubilee Celebration’ offers lemon and raspberry notes, while ‘Queen of Sweden’ carries the rare musk fragrance.

Flowering in late June, these English roses bring exceptional beauty to the gardens, especially in the Secret Garden, where pink varieties are true stars.

Discover the other botanical collections of the Rivau Gardens