22 



CLIMBING EOSES. 



The rose grower must never confound 

 together the idea of a climbing with 

 that of a pillar rose, for the simple 

 reason that they are very distinct in 

 their characters, and to a great extent 

 require different treatment. Climb- 

 ing roses may be grown on pillars, and 

 vice versa, but a genuine climber is 

 not best adapted for a pillar, nor is a 

 genuine pillar rose best adapted for a 

 trellis or wall. But as the leading 

 principles of their respective cultiva- 

 tion agree in some points, and as for 

 decorative purposes they very closely 

 assimilate, there would be a strict 

 propriety iu considering them to- 

 gether, if we could afford room to do 

 so, especially as the treatment needed 

 by one would serve to illustrate and 

 explain that necessary for the other. 

 As a rule, fast-growing roses, of 

 pendulous and rambling habit, such as 

 Boursault or Hampante, for instance, 

 make the best climbers, but these 

 generally produce inferior flowers, 

 though when seen en masse, their ap- 

 pearance when in full bloom is de- 

 lightful. But for pillars, varieties of 

 the highest floral excellence may be 

 choseu, such, for instance as Jules 

 Margottin, or Mdlle. Haiman, and 

 others, which bear inspection individu- 

 ally, and exhibit characters consistent 

 with the important and conspicuous 

 places assigned them. Bearing these 

 differences in mind, let us consider 

 now the uses and abuses of climbing 

 roses. 



The object first sought is to cover 

 the wall, trellis, or arch quickly, but 

 not with such haste as to prejudice the 

 future well-doing of the tree. For 

 all the better class of climbers, the 

 first thing requisite is to prepare the 

 soil so that when planted they will 

 have every help to free growth. No 

 matter what the position or the cir- 

 cumstances in which the roses are to 

 be planted, the soil should be deeply 

 stirred and liberally manured some 

 time before planting takes place ; for 

 these roses are hungry, and if starved 

 the shoots get hard in the bark, and 

 are reluctant to make side-shoots ; 



and instead of making a vigorous 

 growth at one effort, there is a 

 succession of spasmodic efforts at 

 growth all through the season, espe- 

 cially after rain, that prevents the 

 formation of flower-buds. But for 

 Ayrshire roses no great preparation 

 is necessary unless the soil happens 

 to be a poor peat, sand, or chalk, in 

 which case some good loam must be 

 introduced at the stations where they 

 are to be planted. In nearly every 

 case of planting climbing roses, plants 

 on their own roots are to be preferred. 

 If not on their own roots they should 

 be on short briar stocks. Some kinds 

 seem to do as well worked as on their 

 own roots, and for the first year or 

 two grow quicker. I remember once 

 covering a great breadth of wall with 

 one plant of Grevillea, in three years, 

 the plant being worked on a briar 

 about six inches from the ground ; 

 and another plant on its own roots, in 

 a similar position close by, had not 

 made more than half that growth in 

 the same period, but after the third 

 year there was no great difference be- 

 tween them. 



Like other roses, they may be 

 planted at any time between November 

 and March if they have been pre- 

 viously growing out of doors, and as 

 many of them are precocious in their 

 movements in spring, autumn plant- 

 ing is to be preferred. But in any 

 case of planting out of pots, if the 

 plants have been sheltered or grown 

 for some time under glass, it will be 

 best to wait till April, and then turn 

 them out carefully, loosening the ball 

 of earth, but not stripping their roots 

 entirely. 



It will depend entirely on the 

 varieties planted how they are to be 

 dealt with from the day of planting. 

 Ayrshire and Sempervirens roses 

 require very little pruning at any 

 time, whether in youth or age, but 

 Boursaults, Bosomenes, Teas, and 

 Noisettes, require careful pruning to 

 insure a regular distribution of the 

 flowering wood, and prevent increase 

 of altitude at the expense of growth 



