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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



Departments of Foreign Exchange and Book Reviews 



NEW ROSES 



New Roses are always the most popular feature of the National 

 Rose Society's shows. No fewer than 19 varieties were submitted 

 to the Committee, but, exercising a wise restraint, they awarded 

 only two Gold Medals and three Certificates of Merit. Opinion 

 was divided as to whether one at least of the certificated varieties 

 should not have had the highest honor, but all seemed agreed as 

 to the Gold Medal Roses. In respect to this, it was interesting 

 to note that the several varieties on view, which had previously 

 been certificated received no further mention, and indeed, as shown 

 their merits did not warrant further recognition. 



Cnurtncy Page. — This will undoubtedly be a great Rose of the 

 future, for it is the finest crimson H.T. Rc«e that has yet been 

 shown. The bloom is of perfect, full form and of large size with- 

 out the slightest suggestion of coarseness. The rich crimson color 

 has a fascinating darker shading in the "heart" of the flower, 

 which has a sweet fragrance, and it possesses sufficiently long, 

 stout stalks. 



Una Wallace. — This is another e.xcellcnt H.T, Rose that should 

 have a great future, and it is also of splendid shape with large 

 size. It is recommended for all purposes. The color is a beauti- 

 fully clear, cherry-rose, and the variety is said to be -unusually 

 free flowering. Both of these Gold Medal Roses were raised and 

 shown by S. McGredy & Sons. 



Certificates of Merit were awarded: Mrs. Jnhii Iiiglis. — Avery 

 handsome H.T. Rose of light cerise color and broadly conical 

 shape. The petals are large and stout and the foliage is dark 

 green. It is recommended for all purposes. Raised and shown 

 by Messrs. S. McGredy & Sons. 



J. G. Glassford- — This attractive H.T. Rose was admired by 

 many at the Regent's Park show. It is of large size and has 

 broad, stout petals of a bright brick-red color, shaded with crimson 

 towards the base. Raised and shown by Mr. Hugh Dickson. 



Coral Cluster. — A very dainty little Polyantha variety which 

 sported from Orleans. It is very free flowering, and the indi- 

 vidual flowers, which are perfectly formed, average Ij^ inch across. 

 The color is a pale coral-pink. Shown by Mr. R. Murrel — 

 Gardeners' Chronicle (British). 



FRAGRANCE OF ROSES 



Had Shakespeare lived today I question if he would have 

 written those famous words: "What's in a name? That which 

 we call a Rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." I have 

 no desire to deprecate the work of our great hybridisers, for being 

 a raiser myself, I know how hard it is to condemn a novelty be- 

 cause of its lack of fragrance, but I could wish this delightful 

 attribute of the queen of flowers were kept more in view when 

 raisers are making their crosses. I have rarely known it to 

 happen that when two fragrant Roses are crossed that the off- 

 spring are scentless. I know it does occur if only one of the 

 parents possess perfume. Now we instinctively expect fragrance 

 in red or crimson Roses, but why should we? Probably it is 

 owing to the fact that most of the old-fashioned red Hybrid 

 Chinese and Galicia Roses were fragrant and from these came 

 the fragrant red Hybrid Fcrpetuals. Well, then, what is to pre- 

 vent us using these charming Hybrid Perpetuals as the basework 

 of our crossing? What rich fragrance is found in such old Roses 

 as Louis Van Houtte, Victor Hugo. Charles Lefebvre, and Gen- 

 eral Jacqueminot, and yet in such as Duke of Edinburgh the scent 

 is absent. I fancy we could trace the absence of fragrance in 

 some of our bright colored novelties to the influence of this latter 

 Rose. 



There arc some Roses in which we do not expect to find 

 fragrance, such as white varieties and cream colors ; I do not 

 know why we should not. Pnit when we come to reds and 

 crimsons our first act is to search out their perfume. We naturally 

 imagine that if such as General Mc.Arthur, Hugh Dickson, Had- 

 ley. Lieutenant Chaure, Florence H. Veitch are fragrant, so will 

 all crimsons be: and yet many are scentless, or at the most, have 

 a very faint perfume. 



W c have much to learn yet as to why one Rose is fragrant and 

 another is not, but I do urge upon raisers to do their utmost to 

 use fragrant Roses in their hybridising, and then, perhaps, the 

 stigma of scentless novelties will vanish. — The Garden. 



MANURING ROSES IN WINTER. 



Manuring Hoses in the laie autumn with a view to affording 

 them protection in tnne of frost, is a duty which many growers 

 regard with importance, yet, notwithstanding, it is frequently done 

 in an imperfect manner. Of recent years, however, it has been a 

 difficult matter to procure manure, and, consequently, other 

 methods for mulching have had to be resorted to. Time was when 

 manure was "laid on thick" about the roots, and through lack of 

 air, and inevitablj warmth, plants succumbed in a hard Winter. 

 If it were possible to glean statistics of recent date we should find 

 that where leaves and strawy material have been employed as a 

 Winter dressing Roses have not failed to the same extent as under 

 the old method of laying masses of manure on the surface; indeed, 

 I venture to say that they have done better. It is the lighter 

 covering, which does not exclude air, that gives the best results, 

 and in this fallen leaves come to our aid. — Gardening Illustrated. 



LINN^ffiA BOREALIS 



-As he whn has \ isited Switzerland must be able to tell some- 

 thing about the Edelweiss {Leontopodium alpiniun), Switzer- 

 land's most popular plant, so will he who has been in Sweden 

 be able to tell about L'lnncva borealis. No wild plant in Sweden 

 (it is better to write in Scandinavia) is better known and loved 

 than Linncea borealis, and in our rockeries it certainly ought to 

 get a place. It is wrongly supposed to be difficult to cultivate. 

 A shady, moist place, facing the north, in sandy woodland soil 

 is the most suitable one. With its long, elegant, slender, upright 

 stalks, furnished with small leaves in opposite pairs, which are 

 green all Winter and remain on the plant, it creeps nearly un- 

 perceived over the ground. The flowers with which Linnwa 

 borealis is adorned continue from June until mid-October. The 

 richest flowering is, however, from mid-June till July. They 

 are campanulate, and the bells no longer than half an inch, while 

 the color is delicate white with pink veins and yellow honey 

 mark inside. They emit a very fine and strong perfume. 



But allowing the fact that Linncca borealis is a lovely rock plant, 

 which is wholly worth our admiration, it merits also our special 

 attention by virtue of its name, in which we immediately recognize 

 that of the famous and universally known Swedish botanist, 

 LinUi-eus. Linncea borealis is the smallest woody plant known, 

 and it was exactly this humble character which attracted Linnaeus 

 in his youth ; and the love of this little plant remained for the 

 whole of his life, because, later on, when Linnsus was raised to 

 the nobility we see Linncca borealis put in the place of honor in 

 his armorial bearings. 



Like the Dutch proverb which says "a lovely child has many 

 names," so also has Linncca been known under many names; for 

 besides that the plant is called by Linnaeus himself as Linniea 

 we find it back in different periods under no less than nine dif- 

 ferent names, of which Campanula serpy Ufoliuni and Riidbeckia 

 are the principal. In a day-book of Linnccus about his great Lap- 

 land journey in 1732 we find for the first time the name Linncea: 

 afterwards in several of his works we find the plant under other 

 names until in his book "Species Plantarum, 1753," the plant is 

 kept definitely to the name Linncea. 



Besides the scientific name, the plant in Sweden has also many 

 popular names according to the place where it is growing. 



The name borealis means northern, with reference to the plant 

 growing best and luxuriant in the northern countries. We find 

 it especially in the large forests of Lapland, Varmland and 

 Nedelpad, all Swedish provinces where Linncca borealis grows 

 very freely in the shade on peaty, w'oodland soil, with preference 

 for soil formed from the fallen needles of the pine trees. The 

 plant is also found in some parts of North Germany, the Alps, 

 and in many parts of Russia. 



.\ special study of Linmea borealis was made some years ago 

 in the Botanic Gardens at Stockholm and a book describing nearly 

 150 sub-varieties, the result of this study, was written by the late 

 curator of the garden, Prof. Wittrock. — Irish Gardening. 



ROTATION. 



-\ change of ground is as necessary in the successful cultivation 

 of flowers as in any other branch of gardening. .Annuals espe- 

 cially enjoy fresh ground, whilst Violas seldom thrive satisfac- 

 torily on the same unrenovated site for a long period. Suitability 



