Article (newspaper)  (Aug 2011)  Page(s) 2.  Includes photo(s).
 
Patricia Routley: In 1863 Monsieur Laffay in France had named one of his new moss roses after Henri Martin, 1810-1883 historian and author. Henri Martin devoted his life to recording the history of France up until 1789 and the Avenue Henri-Martin in Paris is named after him. He was also one of a French group of intellectuals who created the Statue of Liberty and later presented it to the United States in 1886. I have been able to trace back the provenance of my Henri Martin rose to the Sunningdale Nurseries in Surrey – the nursery that Graham Stuart Thomas made the most beautiful nursery in the U.K. Ross Roses, SA, imported ‘Henri Martin’ in 1961 from there. Over in Kojonup, Rose Marsh received ‘Henri Martin’ from Ross Roses sometime in the late 1980’s and sent me over cuttings through the post, years later in 2000. Sometimes I am amazed at the journeys these roses take, but as it was bred in 1863, just imagine the journeying it took for the hundred years before it even came to Australia. In the literature the French Henri (pronounced Onree for gawsake), is likely to sometimes be spelt Henry. It all depends on which heathen is writing the text, but since 1955, the authors seem to have stabilised on Henri. ‘Henri Martin’ is a full rose, flowering in clusters with blooms about 6cm wide, red, opening flat and very round, sometimes showing its stamens and all the while pretending it is a neat imbricated camellia. It only blooms in spring so I look forward to it all year. It has dark foliage and there is not much moss on the buds, but certainly enough to tell you it is a moss rose. The moss is green and when you get green moss framing a red, red rose, the effect is just delightful. The bush sets lots of hips, which are also mossed and the moss then turns red with age. The hips look like Fred Flintstone’s clubs in the Helpmefind.com photos, but I have so far never seen any hips on my bushes. The bush is said to grow about six feet, but mine only hit two feet with thin wiry stems and the whole bush is quite lax. My first bush must have been very lax in the early years (it was planted in too much shade I admit) for Rob didn’t take care and just stomped through the garden bed once and made it even more lax. I struck another one in 2005 and got it out into more sun and safety. Moss roses are a superb tactile plant to have in a garden where children (and adults) play. Not only is the bloom perfumed, when you take your fingers off the stem, you find they are a little sticky with resin and there is a different perfume to this moss – a sort of piney resinous smell as well. Two perfumes from the one rose. Something to stand and wonder over.

Book  (2008)  Page(s) 106.  Includes photo(s).
 
Henri Martin (1810-1883) is best known in academic circles for his monumental Histoire de France, originally published in fifteen volumes between 1833 and 1836….But history may remember him better as a leader of the group of liberal intellectuals and artists who conceived the idea of creating the Statue of Liberty …. [which] was finally installed in New York Harbour in 1883.

Book  (Aug 2002)  Page(s) 47.  
 
Henri Martin
Moss 1862
Rated 8.7

Book  (2001)  Page(s) 49.  
 
Henri Martin Moss, medium red, 1862. Rating: 8.7

Book  (Mar 1998)  Page(s) 42.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa x centifolia muscosa 'Henri Martin' ('Red Moss') Description... this rose has stems, buds, and fruits covered with straight bristles rather than moss... an unusual bright red...

Book  (1997)  Page(s) 161.  Includes photo(s).
 
Henri Martin ('Red Moss') Moss. Laffay (France) 1863. Description and cultivation... flowers: bright crimson... Well worth growing for the sheer quantity of flowers produced...

Book  (1995)  Page(s) 106.  Includes photo(s).

Book  (Nov 1994)  Page(s) 64.  
 
Henri Martin Moss. Laffay (France) 1863. Description... the clearest and most intense shade approaching crimson among the Moss Roses...

Book  (Sep 1993)  Page(s) 214.  Includes photo(s).
 
Henri Martin ('Red Moss') Moss. Laffay 1852. Description... red or deepest pink... there is not a great deal of moss on the buds... named for the popular historian, one of the circle that promoted the gift of the Statue of Liberty from France to America...

Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 242.  
 
Moss (OGR), medium red, 1863, ('Red Moss'); Laffay. Bud sparsely mossed; flowers shining crimson, semi-double, medium blooms in clusters of 3-8.