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A fine shadow sneaks among the roses, jasmine, camelias and irises. With her delicate green thumb, she awakens the dazzling fragrances of a garden with an imperial destiny. Josephine de la Page was born in Martinique on June 23, Her love of flora and fauna had its roots in the fertile soil of this small island paradise.
The young Creole was raised on a sugar plantation surrounded by a generous, abundant nature. She loved observing flowers as she wandered through the green forests filled with delicate fragrances. But at 16, she had to leave her beloved land behind to get married in France. Unfortunately, her husband was guillotined during the French Revolution and she became a widow, but not for long β¦ After two years in mourning she met General Bonaparte who fell hopelessly in love with her so Joesphine got married again.
While her new husband criss-crossed Italy and Egypt with the French army, Josephine looked for a home they could settle down in once the wars were over. She bought a charming chateau in Rueil Malmaison where she created a sinuous, free-spirited Garden of Eden. Nostalgic for her native land, she wanted to grow plants whose scents reminded her of the Americas. Her olfactory memory played a key role in the creation of her unusual garden. She grew plants that reminded her of the French West Indies such as the purple-flowered magnolia - her fetish tree.
She ordered the construction of expensive greenhouses where the over two hundred plants she introduced to France such as camelias, phlox or dahlias flourished. Daisies, tuberoses, peonies, lilacs, nasturtiums, narcissuses, hydrangeas, lilies, chrysanthemums, tulips, hyacinths or roses : no flower escaped his talented brush.
