Albert Barbier (May 2, 1845 Orléans - March 1931 Orléans), nurseryman, politician, Mayor of Olivet (1896-1919) established Barbier et Cie in 1894 together with his brother
Eugene Barbier and his sons
René Barbier (1870-1931)
Léon Barbier (b. 1878).
Albert Barbier worked at the nurseries of Pépinières Transon Fréres and D. Dauvesse in Orléans, partnered with Paul Transon and later in 1892 took over the management of the Transon nursery. Barbier et Cie was mainly in the Business of fruit trees, but also cultivated up to 800 varieties of roses. The nursery closed in 1972.
[From Les Amis des Roses, January-February 1928, p. 3:] Des semeurs français, MM. Barbier, d'Orléans, annonçaient vers la même époque, 1900 à 1902, une série d'hybrides à fleurs jaunes, crèmes, rose cuivre et orange rosé qui venaient combler cette lacune. Ces variétés résultaient d'un croisement avec des rosiers thés, du Rosa Wichuraiana...elles furent le point de départ pour MM. Barbier pour les coloris à fond jaune comme les variétés précédemment citées le furent pour Walsh dans les coloris Rouges et roses.
[From Les Amis des Roses, May-June 1928, p. 61:] ...MM. Barbier & Cie, d'Orléans, qui se sont faits les propagateurs de cette belle race des hybrides de Wichuraïana. Leur persévérance a obtenu des merveilles très appréciées. Déjà, en juin 1909, lors d'une visite a Bagatelle, le comité des dames patronnesses de la Société française des Rosiéristes, sous la présidence de Mme la marquise de Ganay, leur avait décerné la médaille d'or des amis des roses, surtout pour leurs différents hybrides de Wichuraïana. Depuis, régulièrement, de nombreuses variétés ont été éditées par celle vieille maison d'horticulture...
[From Les Amis Des Roses, May 1931, p. 52:] Le grand vieillard dont une foule considérable accompagnait le mercredi 18 mars, la dépouille mortelle de l'église Saint-Marceau-d'Orléans, au cimetière de la commune d'Olivet ...Fils de jardinier, il avait débuté lui-même comme ouvrier jardinier dans le val de Loire. Puis, par son activité, son labeur acharné, ses qualités de technicien, il était devenu contremaître et directeur général de la maison Transon Frères, dont il devint propriétaire, il y a une quarantaine d'années.
[From The Rose Manual, by Jean Henri Nicolas, 1933, p. 36:] ...I am told that Monsieur Barbier got his inspiration from a visit at the Manda nursery.
[From A Rose Odyssey, by Jean Henri Nicolas, 1937, p. 77:] Anyone familiar with the hardy climbers may have noticed the difference between the above-named Barbier varieties and climbers from other sources. The Barbier strain has heavy pithy canes, wood purplish red, and foliage highly varnished. But it is not altogether as hardy as many others. In 1925 I inquired from the Barbiers about hardiness and one of the Brothers confided that the type of Wichuraiana they were using was its upright ally, R. luciae.
[From History of the Rose, by Roy E. Shepherd, 1954, p. 50:] The interest of Barbier et Compagnie of Orléans, France, antedated the General Distribution of the first American originations [of hybrid wichuranas] in Europe, and was first aroused in 1900 when a representative of the Company visited the test field of M. H. Horvath at Cleveland, Ohio. Their introductions form a somewhat distinct Group, and most are characterized by their comparative lack of hardiness, sturdy purplish-red canes, and more lustrous foliage. This combination of characters is traceable to the fact that the Barbiers often used R. Luciae, a closely related species, rather than R. Wichuraiana as a parent.
[From Climbing Roses Old and New", by Graham Stuart Thomas, 1965, p. 80:] The Barbier firm produced 'Albéric Barbier', 'Paul Transon', 'René André', 'Léontine Gervais', 'François Juranville', 'Alexandre Girault', and 'Auguste Gervais', in that order from 1900 to 1908, and the species used was R. luciae, which is sometimes considered a form of R. wichuraiana, or vice versa.
[From The Quest for the Rose, by Phillips & Rix, 1993, p. 128:] From 1900 onwards Barbier & Cie of Orleans, France, raised a group of beautiful, large-flowered Ramblers using Rosa luciae, a trailing species from Japan, as the source of the climbing habit and for its glossy, dark green, evergreen foliage, and various Tea and Hybrid Tea Roses to provide size and colour in the flowers. Barbier's Ramblers include 'Albéric Barbier' (1900), 'Paul Transom' (1901), 'Alexandre Girault' (1909), and 'Albertine' (1921).
[From The Ultimate Rose Book, by Stirling Macoboy, 1993, p. 181:] there is some evidence that M. Barbier raised his Ramblers not from the Japanese R. wichuraiana but from its Chinese counterpart, R. luciae.
[Ibid, p. 458:] An early twentieth-century French firm, based near Orléans and responsible for some fine Ramblers, officially derivative of Rosa wichuraiana but thought by some to have been bred from R. luciae...
[From Botanica's Roses, p. 70:] The Barbier nursery in Orleans produced the most popular Ramblers of the century, including 'Albertine', 'Alexandre Girault', and 'Francois Juranville'. He created 23 Climbers and Ramblers.
[From Roses: Species and Varieties; Description and Photographs, by Van Dijk and Kurpershoek, p. 14:] the Orléans firm of Barbier et Cie specialized in climbing roses so beautiful that they are still being grown...
[From Roll-Call: The Old Rose Breeder, by Brent C. Dickerson, p. 12:] Barbier frères & Cie., 16 Route d'Olivet, Orléans, France. Succeeded Dauvesse
[From Climbing Roses, by Stephen Scanniello and Tania Bayard, pp. 86-88:] [Barbier] fertilized the flowers [of R. wichuraiana] with the pollen of roses of several classes... Barbier used [less hardy roses than his American counterparts] many tea roses, which were common in French gardens... All of [Barbier's] hybrid wichuraiana climbers combine flowers that resemble those of the pollen parent with the extreme vigor and disease resistance of the species rose... A nearly complete collection of [Barbier's] climbers grows in the gardens at La Roseraie de l'Haÿ-les Roses, near Paris... René Barbier was renowned for the climbers he created in the early part of the [20th] century
