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The Legendary Malmaison

By Jim Marshall first published in the NCCPG local newsletter.

‘Malmaisons are wonderfully opulent, with deeply fimbriated petals bursting from jade calyxes like bosoms of Edwardian beauties and as powerfully scented’ Peter Coates.

The original cultivar, Souvenir de la Malmaison (also known as ‘Old Blush’), with flesh pink flowers, came to this country from France in the early 1860’s. By 1876 it had produced three sports, ‘Lady Middleton’, ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison Crimson’ and Princess of Wales. However this was only the beginning, as no fewer than 20 sorts were soon in cultivation, with colours ranging from white, through cream, champagne, blush pink, coral and crimson to burgundy. Combine their large flowers with an incredible spicy scent and you can understand why they became the cult flower for the Edwardian Summer Season. It was traditional to display them with Asparagus fern in crystal vases. They were also the fashionable choice for corsages and buttonholes. A Malmaison flower, dyed green, was almost certainly the carnation Oscar Wilde wore in his buttonhole.

Sadly by the 1940’s, mainly because of lack of vigour and the difficulty in propagation, both caused by viruses (see below) they were largely replaced by the modern perpetual flowering carnation. I first became aware of Malmaisons over 30 years ago at two Scottish gardens, Belhaven house near Dunbar and Manderson near Duns. My interest was rekindled through my work with the National Trust in the early 1980’s, when I was asked to find some flowers for the late Queen Mother for her visit to Lanhydrock in Cornwall, to reflect their presence in a vase on a table for her previous visit in the 1930’s. Sadly I failed, but I did manage to obtain some rather poor plants of five cultivars, Souvenir de la Malmaison, Princess of Wales, Thora, Duchess of Westminster and Tayside Red. I was now completely hooked and at every opportunity visits were made to the R.H.S. Lindley Library to find out more about their history and cultivation. These five cultivars were given the status of a National Collection and I first exhibited one vase of flowers at the Hampton Court Flower Show in 1992. Exhibits continued at Hampton Court and then the June R.H.S. London shows resulting in Silver Gilt, Silver and Bronze medals.

As mentioned above Malmaisons, in common with all Dianthus, are extremely prone to virus diseases. While there are twelve different viruses that attack Dianthus in the U.K. only three are of major importance to carnations grown under glass. Therefore, if I was to maintain a healthy collection and at the same time bulk up young plants to meet the demand for cuttings, micropropagation was the only way forward. With the help of John Whetman of Dianhthus and Pink fame a micropropagation programme was set up in 1993 at Seale Hayne Agricultural College (now part of Plymouth University), to supply healthy young plants and virus free mother plants. Subsequently Marmion, a ‘Perpetual Malmaison’, and a number of old, scented, cultivars were added to the collection. A sport from ‘Princess of Wales’, having pink flowers, stripped red has now been named and registered ‘Lady Windermere, and a striped mutation from ‘Old Blush’ has also recently occurred, could this be a re-occurrence of the original ‘Lady Middleton’?

Our search for other remaining original cultivars continues with visits to gardens both in this country and Europe. I have been told that we should visit India, Portugal and Poland where there might just be some Malmaisons still being grown. I would be interested to hear from anyone who is intending to visit gardens in any of these countries in case they come across any of the twenty or more lost Malmaisons.

Sadly Malmaisons are difficult to breed from as they produce little or no pollen. We have however sent plants to America, the Far East and Japan to help in the aim of reintroducing scent to modern day perpetual Carnations.

Unfortunately our present stock plants are again showing signs of virus infection, possibly bought in with the Perpetual Carnations, so with our move to Shelley we have again had to concentrate on the maintenance of virus free plants. We will no longer grow any Dianthus, Pinks or Sweet Williams to reduce the chances of cross infection. We will only grow Malmaisons and Perpetual Flowering Carnations propagated from virus free mother plants. These are now being produced by micropropagation in a laboratory in Dundee and we should get our first batch of virus tested plants early in 2006. We are also investigation the cost of keeping stock of each cultivar ‘in vitro’ in the laboratory, thereby ensuring there is no possibility of re-infection of the stock by plants growing in our glass house and garden, or even when our plants are taken to shows.

Today our plants for cut flower production are over-wintered in a frost free glasshouse, with ventilators open whenever possible, normally at temperatures above 5 centigrade. We use a peat-free, soil-less compost, but most free draining composts with appropriate fertiliser are suitable. All young plants are stopped at the sixth joint, and we allow a maximum of four shoots to flower in the year after propagation. The plants usually flower from June to August. Healthy plants are kept for a further year and can produce up to ten flowers. Plants are always stood out during the summer months after flowering, this reduces problems from pests and diseases. We also successfully kept plants in pots outside last winter, so they will obviously survive some frost, it is clear they are hardier than previously thought, but no conclusions yet as to exactly how hardy.

Any National Collection needs to develop, and with such a rich and fascinating history our aim is to perfect production so that Malmaisons will once again become a popular and elegant cut flower.

A display of Malmaisons