Women in My Rose Garden: The History, Romance and Adventure of Old Roses

Nurturing roses with names such as Empress Joséphine, Grace Darling, and Aimée Dubucq de Rivéry naturally left author and gardener Chapman (Trinity Farm Living Rose Museum; Missionaries, Wives, & Roses) curious about their female namesakes. First published in Australia in 2012, this volume is an illustrated encyclopedic exploration of the women behind 34 varieties of old roses. Each rose is allotted its own section exploring the history and the mythology of its name alongside a sidebar with its botanical attributes. Photographs, illustrations, and when appropriate, images from art history complement each section. Unfortunately, while Chapman's writing has the air of authority, she is oddly cavalier about the citation of her sources. In the introduction, she apologizes for neglecting to include all of her "700 or so" sources in a bibliography. There are also no in-text citations; however, the title does supply a list of picture credits.