Joseph Bonaparte - Rosa 'A Shropshire Lad' bottom - middle- Rosa 'Buttercup' and top - Rosa 'Mary Magdalene - 25 September 2025

 

When I saw these fine roses blooming today I equated it with something my grandmother Dolores Reyes de Irureta Goyena often told me. It had to do with the remarkable memory of Spaniards. While my abuelita was born in Manila she was educated in Spain.

She would tell me how some people could be rude and that they would leave a party without saying goodbye. The expression was “despedirse a la francesa” or “to say goodbye French style”. The saying had all to do with the fact that in August 20 1815 Joseph Bonaparte (Napoleon’s older brother who was the king of Spain) left Madrid in a hurry when he noted that Wellington was close by and had defeated the French Army at Vitoria. Joseph left on August 20 1815 and by 1816 he settled in Bordentown, New Jersey.

My 3 English Roses are gently saying goodbye and would never disappear just like that. They might have buds in a few days that may not open. But they are gentle.

Because we humans are so, because of our ability to associate, I like to connect Joseph Bonaparte going to New Jersey with Mozart’s librettist starting grocery store in New York City.

Lorenzo Da Ponte left for the U.S. in 1805. He boarded an American packet boat, the Columbia, at Gravesend, England, on April 7th of that year. He emigrated with his family to escape creditors and establish Italian culture in America, eventually teaching at Columbia College and promoting Italian arts. But he first had that grocery store.