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Laffay, Jean

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  Listing last updated on 28 Mar 2024.
Bellevue-Meudon,
France
Jean Laffay or Laffey (August 17, 1794 Paris - April 15, 1878 Cannes), son of Jean Lafay and Jeanne Pagotay, married Apollonie Fournier on February 28, 1829 (1800-1887 Cannes)
Jean Laffay is generally recognized as the creator of the Hybrid Perpetuals or, as he knew them, the Hybrides Remontants. Perhaps his greatest triumph is the rose 'La Reine'.

Laffay was born in Paris in 1794 and began his horticultural career as gardener to a nurseryman by the name of Ternaux. His main period of activity was from 1837 to 1855 in Bellevue-Meudon, near Paris, where he raised hundreds of thousands of seedlings each year in an effort to obtain hardy, repeat-blooming roses.
His early introductions were mostly Chinas and Teas such as 'Bengale d'Automne' (1825) and 'Mme. Desprez' (1835), his later ones mostly Hybrid Perpetuals, Bourbons and Mosses of which 'Great Western' (1858) and 'Gloire des Mousseux' (1852) are still widely grown.

[From Les Roses, by Thory, Vol. III, 1824, p. 104:] Cest encore dans les pepinieres de M. Ternaux qu'est née cette belle variete. Son jardinier en chef (1) , dont les amateurs ont apprecie, depuis long-temps, les connaissances et le gout, nous a dit l'avoir obtenu, l'an passe (1822), de la semence des graines du Rosier Noisette commun. II a ainsi signale comme espece ce bel arbrisseau , que nous navions presente que comme hybride.  (1) I. Laffay. Il cultive specialement le Rosier dans une pepiniere independante du jardin de M. Ternaux. Les curieux de Rosiers rares pourront s'en procurer chez lui.

[From L'Horticulteur française, ou le jardinier amateur, 1re supplément, by Pirolle, 1826, p. 114:] ...j'ai admiré à cette amateur [Lelieur] ...nombre de bengales nouveaux très-précieux, tant de ses propres semis que de ceux de M. Laffey, cultivateur à Auteuil. Le mardi 21 juin dernier....Avant sept heures du matin, nous étions déjà descendus à Auteuil, dans les cultures de M. Laffey. Cet habile cultivateur nous a montré sa précieuse collection, aussi robuste qu'elle est riche de toutes les belles variétés qui nous étaient déjà connues, et de celles qu'il a obtenues tout récemment de ses champs de semis.

[From Annales de la Société d'Horticulture de Paris, 1827, p. 26:] Membres fondateurs ...Laffey, Propriétaire, à Auteuil (Seine). [Founding members' listing cut-off on August 22, 1825]

[From Journal de la Société d'Agronomie Pratique, January 1829, p. 27:]  LAFFAY, cultivateur de roses, à Auteuil.

[From Catalogue descriptif, methodique et raisonné, by Prevost, 1829, p. xij] Pépinières de M. Laffay, à Auteuil

[From Annales de flore et de pomone, September 1833, p. 360:] ...à Auteuil chez M. Laffey-Fournier, cultivateur instruit. Sa collection de roses commençait à entrer en fleurs, et la partie de son jardin située entre la porte et la maison, offrait déjà un coup d'œil enchanteur par le mélange agréablement varié d'une nombreuse masse de rosiers de Bengale, thés et noisettes, parmi lesquels se faisaient remarquer une assez grande quantité de pivoines de Sibérie à fleurs doubles (pœonia albiflora). 

[From Revue Horticole, October 1833, p. 336:] Parmi les établissements marchands, oû à l'instar de celui de M. Vibert, on ne cultive que des roses, nous indiquons...M. Laffay, à Auteuil, près Paris.

[From Zur Geschichte, Cultur und Classification der Georginen, by W. Gerhard, 1834, p. 22:] Mr. Ternaux was also given an assortment of dahlias for his garden at Auteuil by the Jardin Fleuriste of the castle at St. Cloud. Laffey, Mr. Ternaux's gardener, planted the tubers, collected their seeds, and was fortunate enough to obtain, in the following year, a large number of semi- and whole-double varieties, while the sowings of St. Cloud's garden continued to yield only single ones. Lelieur looks for the reason for this phenomenon in the difference in the soil of the two gardens. At St. Cloud's Garden the soil is firm and substantial, while at Auteuil it is light and lean. [Between 1807-1817]

[From Annales de Flore et de Pomone, Vol. 4, December 1835, p. 93:] M. Lafay, horticulteur, rue Rousselet-Saint-Germain, a introduit en France plusieurs plantes remarquables que nous croyons devoir signaler à l'attention de nos lecteurs. On sait que cet habile cultivateur est un des premiers qui se soient occupés de former de riches collections de roses dont le bon choix , joint aux gains superbes que lui produisent ses nombreux semis, l'a placé au premier rang des collecteurs et lui a fait une réputation justement méritée. Sa collection est en effet une des plus brillantes , et il est vrai de dire qu'il ne néglige rien pour la rendre telle; il fait de fréquens voyages à l'étranger, et surtout en Angleterre, pays avec lequel il entretient les relations les plus suivies , et ses nombreuses correspondances s'étendent à tous les points du globe qui peuvent lui offrir quelque nouvelle merveille.
Toutefois il ne s'est pas exclusivement consacré à la seule culture des roses; il entretient également un grand nombre des belles plantes du Cap et de la Nouvelle-Hollande , et chaque voyage est pour lui une occasion d'augmenter ses richesses sous ce rapport.

[From Annales de Flore et de Pomone, Vol. 5, December 1836, p. 68:] M. Laffay, horticulteur, rue Rousselet, à Paris...

[From Geschichte und Kultur der Georginen, by Adolph Friedrich Magerstedt, 1843, p. 24:] The first double Georgines [dahlias] were see in France, in Auteuil, in the garden of M. Ternaux, which was at the time headed by Laffey.

[From Séance Publique de la Société d'Agriculture, Commerce, Sciences et Arts du Département de la Marne, 1843, p. 89:] M. Lelieur donna en même temps des graines à Laffey, jardinier de M. Ternaux, à Auteuil ; ses semis produisirent beaucoup de fleurs doubles, ce ne fut qu'en 1817 qu'on obtint, à Saint-Cloud, un résultat pareil. M. Soutif, vers cette époque, mit dans le commerce plusieurs variétés hollandaises, il fut aussi très heureux dans ses semis. C'est donc de 1817 que date en France l'introduction du Dahlia à fleurs semi-doubles et doubles dans les collections.

[From The American Agriculturist, 1844, p. 22:] The principal rose growers about Paris are....M. M. Laffay, à Bellevue, mont des Capucins...

[From The Botanic Garden, by Benjamin Maund, Vol. XIII, 1847, tab 1243:] M. Laffay, the French rose-grower, has raised upwards of two hundred thousand rose seedlings in a year...

[From The Rose Garden, by William Paul, p. 16:] His residence at Bellevue, near Paris, where these Roses were raised, was a most enviable one; he lived surrounded with Roses and Chestnut trees, and his garden, though not extensive, commanded a wide and most agreeable prospect. The soil was a stiff -- I had almost said rank -- clay, and never appeared to have had much labour bestowed on its amelioration.
[From Ibid, p. 17: Laffay wrote to Paul in 1847 and said] it is very possible that I may yet offer you some good Roses, especially of the Hybrid Moss, for I intend to make a sowing of several thousands of seeds of these varieties... The Mosses will soon play a grand part in Horticulture..." Laffay's labours were chiefly visible among the Hybrid Chinese and Hybrid Perpetuals.... I should think one-half of the Hybrid Perpetual Roses known up to the year 1850 originated with M. Laffay; he may indeed be said to have originated this group, one of the earliest of which was the 'Princesse Helene'...
[From Ibid, p. 17: Laffay writing to Paul in the fall of 1847] It is my intention to cease cultivating the Rose, in a commercial sense... it is very possible that I may yet offer you some good Roses, especially of the Hybrid Moss, for I intend to make a sowing of several thousands of seeds of these varieties... I am persuaded that in future we shall see many beautiful Roses, which will efface all those that we admire now. The Mosses will soon play a grand part in Horticulture."
[Ibid, p. 116:] raised many of his splendid Hybrid Perpetuals from 'Athelin' and 'Celine' (Hybrid Bourbons), crossing them with the free-flowering varieties of Damask Perpetual and Bourbon.

[From Cannes en poche...Guide historique de Cannes et ses environs, by Ferdinand Jacob, 1876, p. 57:] Laffay, propriétaire de la Villa Apollonie.

[From Le Nord-est agricole et horticole, August 15, 1878, p. 242:] Jean Laffay, né en 1795, est mort à Cannes, le 15 avril 1878...L'époque à laquelle il a commencé à cultiver les roses m'est [Eugène Verdier] inconnue, mais elle peut dater de 1825 environ; il les a cultivées à Auteuil, puis à Bellevue...où il est resté jusqu'en 1857, époque à laquelle il a cessé pour se rendre dans le midi de la France, puis à Kouba (Algérie); il y séjourna longtemps; et enfin à Cannes

[From Old Roses, by Mrs. Frederick Love Keays, p. 177-8:] Monsieur Laffay, of Bellevue, near Paris, who had been very successful in creating new China roses and Hybrid China varieties, developed, during the 1830's, several new roses of hybrid and remontant character which set the rose-world agog and agoing. He told William Paul that he used Hybrid Chinas, especially two of Bourbon variety, -- 'Athelin', a rose-crimson, medium-sized, double rose, and 'Celine', pale rose-color, very large and double, -- which he crossed with Damask Perpetuals and Bourbons. The six years from 1837 to 1843, the dates from Laffay's first to his great 'La Reine', gave birth to: 'Princesse Helene' (1837), 'Mme. Laffay' (1839), 'Queen Victoria' (1840), 'Duchess of Sutherland' (1840), 'William Jesse' (1840), 'Mrs. Elliott' (1840), 'Lane' (1842), and 'La Reine' (1843)... [p. 179] The persistence of the purple cast in the color through so many of the above is very interesting, as this color hung into the descendants for many years... [p. 180:] 'La Reine' became the head of a big family of which many survive. Her descendants have, generally, the semi-globular form, are very large, fragrant, and show lilac in the pink or rose-color...

[From Old Roses and English Roses, by David Austin, 1992, p. 96: William] Paul tells us that the French breeder Laffay raised up to 200,000 seedlings annually -- more than many large-scale breeders grow today...

[In The Old Rose Advisor, 1992, Brent Dickerson cites this from Choix des Plus Belles Roses, p. 29:] Mons Laffay, who has developed many novelties, always dedicates them to English princes."
[Ibid, p. 31:] Jean Laffay... Born at Paris August 17, 1794... died on July 14, 1852 (April 15th?)...
[Ibid, p. 120:] it is to Mons Laffay, horticulturalist of Auteuil, then at Bellevue, that we must allow the honor of having actually created the race of Hybrid Perpetuals... he raised many of his splendid Hybrid Perpetual Roses from 'Athalin' and 'Celine' [Hybrid Bourbons], crossing them with the free-flowering varieties of Damask Perpetual and Bourbon... [Laffay] developed, in 1837, 'Prince Albert' and 'Princesse Helene'; then, in 1839, 'Comte de Paris', 'Mme Laffay', and 'Louis Bonaparte'; in 1840, 'Duchesse de Sutherland' and 'Mistress Eliot'; finally, in 1843, that superb rose 'La Reine', his triumph...
[Ibid, p. 192:] It was in 1837 that Mons Laffay... sent to Mr. William Paul, his friend, the first cross-bred hybrid from the old Damasks...

[From The Ultimate Rose Book 1993, by Stirling Macoboy, p. 459:] A French raiser from the early and mid-nineteenth century, to whom the early development of the Hybrid Perpetuals is usually attributed. He used to raise seedlings in enormous quantities -- a couple of hundred thousand a year.

[FromThe Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book, 1994, p. 316:] Laffay, the well-known Rose breeder of Auteuil, introduced the first typical Hybrid Perpetual 'Princesse Helene' in 1837... From 1837 to 1843 Laffay produced eighteen Hybrid Perpetuals of merit...

[From Climbing Roses, by Stephen Scanniello, 1994, p. 45:] Jules Laffay [was] one of the preeminent French rose hybridizers of the early nineteenth century. Laffay was responsible for introducing at least thirty-nine new roses, and he is generally credited with having created the hybrid perpetual class. His hybridizing efforts were directed toward the creation of a rose that would be both hardy and remontant...

[From The Old Rose Adventurer, by Brent Dickerson, 1999, p. 519: Laffay's garden was established at Meudon on the outskirts of Paris in the early 1840s] on an elevated and airy spot, with a deep, rich, heavy loam... Laffay has had great success in raising roses from seed; his experiments have been mostly confined to the hybrid perpetual.

[From Roll Call: The Old Rose Breeder, by Brent Dickerson, 2000, p. 273:]
Jean Laffay
... began his career with Ternaux
1828:
Auteuil (near Paris), France
1840:
Bellevue-Meudon
c. 1860:
Cannes, France
... His grounds at Bellevue, overgrown with "brambles and chestnuts," were still intact in 1886, with his seedling roses "in a wild state."
... was in Africa c. 1851-1860, later in [Villa Apollonie] Cannes, France, where he is buried.

[From La Rose, une passion française, by François Joyaux, 2001, p. 83:] Pirolle, ancien rédacteur du Bon Jardinier , qui menait quelques amis visiter les collections de la région parisienne, le mardi 21 juin 1826... À sept heures, la compagnie était déjà à Auteil, dans les cultures de M. Laffay, chez M. Ternaux.






 
 
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