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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



Departments of Foreign Exchange and Book Reviews 



(IIIIIIHI ' 



DARLINGTON ON THE ROSE 



IT is always interesting to hear what a man who thoroughly 

 knows a subject has to say upon it, so as I was in London I 

 took the opportunity of going to hear Mr. Darlington (the pres- 

 ident of the National Rose Society and the author of "Roses" in 

 the Present-day Gardening series of horticultural manuals) lec- 

 ture at Vmcent Square on June 29, and I was rewarded for my 

 trouble by a clear and concise ex cathedra sort of statement upon 

 the present position of garden Roses and what remains to be 

 done for their improvement. Mutatis mutandis we heard a 

 modern George Glenny laying down what were the correct 

 properties which the ideal garden Rose of the future should 

 possess. It was most interesting, and I take this opportunity 

 as a note-taker of congratulating him on the simple and the 

 clear way in which he put his facts and his views before his 

 audience. The following is a short resume of his ten points: 



;^(,,-,„._Raisers of new varieties of garden Roses should aim 

 at high centres and shapely reflexing petals. The Hybrid Teas 

 as a whole show the greatest advance. Much remains to be 

 done in the yellows, which originated with the old Persian 

 Yellow. 



Carriage of Flowers on the Stalk.— The flower must not hang 

 its head as in the case of Bessie Brown, nor should it be too 

 stiffly upright. The golden mean between the two extremes 

 should be aimed at. 



l_ pi^ir. — The lecturer mentioned McGredy and Pernet-Ducher as 

 two raisers who had done much to improve color, which should 

 be (a) clear, bright and decided, and (b) fast._ Sunburst is an 

 example of a Rose with a bad color "property." 



Continuous Flouvring.— This is what most of all distinguishes 

 the modern from the old-fashioned Rose. It is the greatest gain 

 that hybridizers and seedling raisers have wrested from Xature. 

 The old Hybrid Perpetual bloomed once a year only. General 

 McArthur blooms periodically. Mme. Edouard Herriot goes on 

 uninterruptedly from July until the frosts come and cut it 

 down. 



Freedom of Flowering. — Some very beautiful varieties are not 

 free. We want the freedcm of Richmond, Red Letter Day, and 

 Mme. Edouard Herriot in all new varieties. 



Fragrance. — If new Roses have gained in perpetualness, they 

 have lost in fragrance. The Hybrid Perpetuals were sweet at 

 any rate. Perfume, the lecturer said, can be improved, and he 

 hoped that before very long it would be, as quite half of our 

 modern varieties are scentless. Even in the yellows there are 

 signs of better things. A yellow Rose shown by Mr. Henry 

 Waller on June 29 had a slight touch of perfume. In both 

 climbers and Dwarf Polyanthas there were but few varieties 

 with much scent. Evangeline among the tir.st-named class and 

 Ellen Poulson in the second are exceptions. A point to notice 

 about perfume is that the true Rose scent, as it is frequently 

 called — the scent of the ancient eentifolia and the old-as-the-hills 

 Damascena — is by no means the only type to be found in the 

 genus Rosa. There are Tea types, fruity types and Musk types, 

 and I have read that one or two species almost rival the very 

 doubtful nasal delights of Stapclia blooms. 



Growth. — It is a fact that some varieties will not grow. Mrs. 

 Charles L. Pearson was cited as an instance. Now, as the lec- 

 turer said with that Delphic smile of his, "A plant must grow." 



Garden Habit. — There are greater differences than many 

 imagine. It is important to know which varieties to choose 

 for particular purposes. For example. Hybrid Teas as a rule 

 do not make good pillar Roses. Again, varieties which make 

 long flowerlcss shoots are best used where these can be pegged 

 down in the following year. 



Good Foliage. — A Rose with but scanty foliage is not suitable for 

 bedding, as too few leaves produce a bare effect. Then the 

 character of their surface must be taken into consideration. 

 A smooth shining surface is a distinct and valuable asset. 



The Life of a Plant. — This should always be taken into ac- 

 count, and if catalogs would mention this in their description 

 of varieties it would be a great help to both young and old 

 rosarians ; it makes a considerable difference in the trouble and 

 cost of a Rose garden. At the present moment a good deal 

 remains to be found out. Mr. Darlington instanced three beds 

 of Richmond in his own garden. One was si.xteen. one was 

 twelve and a third five or six years old. He had more renewals 

 to make in the youngest than in the oldest, and he could not 

 account for it. He tilted at overpropagation, and said he had 



read of a case where a single strong plant in the February of 

 one year became 18,000 in the September of the year following. 

 Such a feat is possible, I have since been told in the United 

 States, where growing Roses from their birth to their grave 

 has been reduced to a fine art. In our climate such a feat is 

 most probably impossible, so we must not be unduly nervous 

 about what might happen, for propagation on the same grand 

 scale is unlikely here. 



The above heads are as it were the dry bones of an interest- 

 ing and instructive lecture. I have not the requisite knowledge 

 to comment upon it or to amplify it as I should like to have 

 done, but that does not in the least matter, for the ipsissiina 

 zrerba of the President are to be published in the next Royal 

 Hurticultural Society's Journal, so it will then be possible to 

 go to the rock from whence these notes have been taken, and 

 learn in addition what he had to say about the shifting of taste, 

 and study the lists of what in his opinion are the best garden 

 Roses. — The Rev. Josefh Jacob, in The Garden. 



A fine single yellow Rose, Mermaid. — We cannot always judge a 

 Rose by seeing it at a show for many reasons, especially as 

 regards its value for the garden. Having seen the above a few 

 days ago in vigorous health, and bearing freely its handsome, 

 large, yellow flowers, I am convinced that in this we possess a 

 Rose of great beauty. The specimen referred to was loosely 

 trained to a pillar, and was from 9 feet to 10 feet in height, 

 having made this amount of growth, I was informed, during 

 the past season. The lovely sulphur-yellow flowers, each 5 

 inches to 6 inches across, at once arrested attention. The depth 

 of color in the petals was remarkable, the deep amber stamens 

 prcminenlly disposed after the maimer of the Macarfiey Rose 

 (/?. bracteata), which surely was one of its parents. The large, 

 glistening leaves, turning bronze with age, have that clean, 

 healthy appearance we admire in a good Rose. Messrs. W. 

 Paul and Sons were awarded the Gold Medal of the National 

 Rose Society in 1918 for this fine introduction. — Gardening 

 Illustrated. 



HYBRID DELPHINIUMS 



Judging by the number of flowers whose names have some 

 connection with bird form, in the minds of nature lovers of long 

 ago there must have existed some fanciful association between 

 the two. The curious spurred nectaries of the Delphinium, which 

 give the flower its peculiar quaintuess, suggested a dolphin's head 

 and then came the name Delphinium from delphin — meaning a 

 dolphin. 



Today no garden is complete without a representative collection 

 of the Hybrid Forms of these beautiful flowers and the old strains 

 have been so much improved and developed that they would 

 scarcely recognize some of their descendants. When we consider 

 the numberless varieties it our disposal in A.D. 1920, it is rather 

 instructive to read in one of the most reliable catalogues published 

 in 1817, that the species and varieties at that time totalled nine. 



This will serve to show us the leaps and bounds with which 

 delphinium cu'ture has proceeded and how much better off we 

 grumbling gardeners are today than people were at the time of the 

 Battle of W'aterloo. Then the flowers had narrow petals so 

 crowded together that much of the beauty, both of color and 

 form was lost and one cannot help wondering what the gardeners 

 of long ago would say could they see the modern stately spikes 

 with their large blossoms ranging through all the most delicious 

 shades of purple, to heliotrope blue, lavender and sky blue, for- 

 get-me-not blue, gentian blue and azure — so the grand color sym- 

 phony goes on. D. calil. from Afghanistan, has pale yellow flowers 

 D. moerheimi pure white, and besides these there are the crimson 

 flowered species. 



D. datum, the Bee Larkspur, was introduced into European 

 gardens from Siberia over 300 years ago and to it we no doubt 

 owe those varieties with bee-like centres to their flowers which we 

 have today. It would be difficult to trace back the origin of the 

 new forms which are constantly being raised, so much crossing 

 and inter-crossing has gone to create these achievements of the 

 florist's art. All are hardy and quickly establish themselves in any 

 well-cultivated border. There is a great variety of color and 

 form — some have donlile flowers, some single, some are tall, some 

 dwarf. .\ mixed bed of hybrids with the taller ones planted in 

 the middle may be made a thing of great beauty. Is not the 

 delphinium patch invarialily the brightest spot in the garden? 



