Book  (2001)  Page(s) 207, plate 97.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rose Pourprée Charmante
Listed as R. provincialis in Schelhase, Kassel. Gustave Heynhold describes it as a Gallica cultivar in his "Nomenclator botanicus hortensis" of 1840...
Gravereaux mentions it as having been in Malmaison, with the synonyms 'La Magnifique', 'Grande Pompadour', Regulus', 'Rouge admirable'. He planted this gallica in L'Haÿ-les-Roses in 1909; it is still there today. It can also be found in Sangerhausen...

Book  (Dec 1998)  Page(s) 521.  
 
Rouge Admirable Vibert (France) 1825. Description... a plant at the Sangerhausen rosarium bears this name, but does not match the old description...

Book  (Jul 1998)  Page(s) 105.  Includes photo(s).
 
Pourpre Charmant Before 1811. Synonyms: Archevêque (according to Guerrapain, 1811), Grand Pompadour (at Rouen, according to Prévost, 1829). La magnifique (at Rouen). Regulus (at Rouen). Rouge admirable (Vibert)....This variety is listed for the first time in the Almanach of Guerrapain in 1811, who describes it as: "The wood, the foliage, the calyx and the bud do not have remarkable characteristics, but the bloom , the largest of the class, are 3 to 4 pouces [8.1 to 10.8 cm] in diameter; the petals are large, rich, glossy, of a beautiful dark purple, velvety; they have a sweet fragrance". 'Pourpre charmant' was in the collection of Du Pont, and consequently, was probably also in that of Malmaison in the times of the Empress Joséphine.
We do not give a description of this variety as it is uncertain whether it is still in culture. It is not present in the collections of L'Haÿ or Sangerhausen. At L'Haÿ it is more purple-pink than "velvety dark purple" and therefore seems doubtful. At Sangerhausen it is very dark purple, but clearly striped, a characteristic which is not mentioned in any source of the era. Perhaps it is ...'Pourpre charmant strié' which Desportes lists in his "Rosetum gallicum" (1828,, no. 1459) and which he attributes to Hardy, chief gardener of Luxembourg.

Article (newsletter)  (1996)  Page(s) 45.  
 
Pourpre Charmant Dupont in Paris had, in 1813, a collection of 218 species and varieties of roses, of which 60 were Gallicas. Of his 60 Gallicas, this is one of the twelve that still exist.

Book  (1986)  Page(s) 43.  
 
Pourpre Charmant (1825) Tall, fragrant, double, purple-red

Book  (1936)  Page(s) 572.  
 
Pompadour, Grande (Provins) ? ? ; purple-violet = La magnifique.

Book  (1936)  Page(s) 627.  
 
Rouge admirable (Provins) Vibert before 1835; vivid velvety purple, medium size, well double, flat, fragrance 6/10, once-blooming, growth 7/10, upright, bushy. 1 m. = Grand Pompadour; Magnifique. Sangerhausen

Magazine  (1844)  Page(s) Vol. 3, n.19, p. 42.  
 
Exposition de Fleurs de la Fête-Dieu 1843. Catalogue des variétés exposées...
M. L. Legris , amateur à Angers.....
la reine des roses. la nubienne. le bon pasteur ou Napoléon. la gloire de la France. grande Pompadour. violette de Belgique. capitaine Sissolet. Dessaix. Hersilie. ornement de parade. Ninon de Lenclos. Léda. Saudeur. rose œillet. Mordant. Boula de Nanteuil (provins). Camille Boulan (alba). colonel Fabvier. hybr. remontante de Neuilly. Hortense (thé). Parquin (lle-Bourb). Augustine Margat (lle-Bourb). multiflore de la Grifferaye (semis).

Book  (1842)  Page(s) 275.  
 
R. gallica....Varieties....with velvety blooms, whose dark colour has a velvety sheen in sunlight (R. gall. holosericea)....pourpre charmant, glossy purple-red

Book  (1842)  Page(s) 274.  
 
R. gallica....Varieties....with carmine-red, purple-red and red blooms...rouge admirable, purple-red