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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



should not be pruned until the huds begin to grow. 

 While it is especially necessary that the above three 

 classes of roses should be grown in special beds or in a 

 rose garden separated from other features of the ground, 

 there are many others which are very useful for general 

 planting and for other purposes. At the same time if one 

 has room enough he can have his rose garden sufficiently 

 large to grow a selection of these latter kinds as well, and 

 along these lines a rose garden can he made into an ex- 

 tremely interesting museum of roses. The shrubbery 

 roses can be grown in the outside border and the climbers 

 at the intersections of, or along the main walks. 



Among these other classes the freest bloomers are the 

 Polyantha or Baby Rambler class. These form dwarf 

 spreading bushes suitable for use in the foreground of 

 shrubbery, or in groups as part of a herbaceous perennial 

 border. They produce their flowers in large sprays which 

 are upon long enough stalks for cutting if soil is good 

 and well prepared. As with all ever-bloomers they pro- 

 duce more flowers when flower stalks are kept removed. 



Part of the shrubbery itself may well be devoted to 

 roses. Some of the single wild ones are exquisite, 

 and thev are ornamental in Winter by reason of their 

 red hips. 



Among the shrubbery roses the Rugosa kinds are per- 

 haps the best known as they are very good for the pur- 

 pose, being always handsome even when not in flower 

 as their dark green leathery foliage is ever fresh-looking 

 and their extra large fruit is extremely decorative. They 

 make new upright growth from the roots and pruning 

 is generally confined to removing old wood and shorten- 

 ing the tips of the new. to make them branch freely. 



-Among others, the Sweet Briar, Rosa rubiginosa. 

 should always have a place found for it if possible on ac- 

 count of the delicious fragrance from its foliage, which is 

 especially noticeable just after a shower. This has been 

 hvbridized with other species, and while the process has 

 increased the size of the flowers, the fragrance from the 

 leaves has been reduced. Most of these hybrids are. 

 however, worth growing, as they have abundant foliage 

 which is both vigorous and healthy. They should have 

 plenty of room as they form large spreading bushes ; 

 pruning is confined to cutting out old wood down to 

 the ground. 



The Prairie Rose, Rosa sctigera, produces a great pro- 

 fusion of single pink flowers, and is very valuable for 

 covering dry banks, trailing over rocks, etc. The Scotch 

 Ro.se. Rosa sf'iiiosissiiiia, is a low shrubby kind with 

 spreading branches : the type has pink, white and yellow 

 flowers, and some of its numerous varieties are some- 

 times classed as distinct species. A very handsome free- 

 flowering species. /?. Hiigonis, a native of western China, 

 has yellow flowers and very ornamental deep scarlet 

 fruit. It is extremely hardy and deserves to be more 

 widely grown. 



A very hardy kind for mixed planting is the .Austrian 

 briar, Rosa fartida (named for the somewhat unpleasant 

 odor from its flowers). It is not api)arcnt why tlie com- 

 mon name of Austrian has been given it, as it is a native 

 of China. It does best in a dry soil where it can get 

 plenty of air. This stands very little pruning as its 

 flowers, which vary from yellow to coppery, are borne on 

 the ends of the old w'ood. This is more interesting for 

 distinctiveness than showiness. There are other native 

 and exotic roses of shrvibby characters which, together 

 with those mentioned, should be made more use of in 

 general land>ca])e i)lanting as tending to lift the usual 

 shrublxTV from the region of commonplace, in which 

 much of it lies. 



It is a pity that so many old-time roses which used to 

 take such an inijiorlant ])art in bcatUifying the home sur- 



roundings of the early settlers, roses which they brought 

 with them from the gardens of the old country, have 

 been practically lost from the gardens of today. 



Perhaps the sweetest of all in its perfume was the old 

 Cabbage Rose, Rosa ccniifolita, of which a woman writer 

 said : "Its ordor is perfection, it is the standard by which 

 I compare all other fragrances.'' The petals of this rose 

 were the principal base of the also lost pot poiirri. An- 

 other old-time rose extremely rare today is the mottled 

 York and Lancaster. It is at least as old as the si.x- 

 teenth century, and Shakespeare wrote in the Sonnets: 



"The Roses fearfully in thorns did stand 

 One blushing shame, another white despair, 

 A third, nor red, nor white, had stol'n of both." 



This York and Lancaster rose, also delightful in its 

 perfume, was known as Rosa mtindi — the rose of the 

 world. A plant of it is, I believe, still growing in Haw- 

 thorne's old garden at Salem, and there is another reputed 

 to be nearly one hundred and fifty years old in the old 

 garden at \'an Cortlandt Alanor. Then there was the 

 cheerful Cinnamon Rose with its unique perfume. There 

 were others some of which formed small bushes, and 

 known as Fairy Roses, all of delightful ])erfume, and 

 the Sweet Briar was of course never absent. But most 

 of these are practically vanished Roses — entirely out of 

 cultivation. 



In the evolutionary process through which roses have 

 passed certain things have been gained in roses as flowers, 

 while other things such as perfume, beauty of plant form 

 itself, and permanency, have been lost. Certainly our 

 gardens, and through them, ourselves would benefit much 

 by the restoration of the Roses of Yesterday. 



"Each morn a thousand Roses brings, you say? 

 Yes, but where leaves the Rose of Yesterday?" 



Ouiay Khayyam. 



\'arieties of Roses — apart from species — are so numer- 

 ous, especially in the garden group, that it is quite im- 

 possible to enumerate all the good ones, the few men- 

 tioned being those which the writer considers the best in 

 each class and they are with one or two exceptions, all 

 comparatively old and well-tried kinds. New varieties are 

 continually being" produced, some of them doomed to be 

 soon forgotten ; others which may do well in one district 

 are of little account in others ; some mildew more in one 

 locality than they do in another a few miles away, and 

 so on. iMitbusiasts naturally desire to try out and to 

 grow new kinds, and it is interesting to have a trial bed 

 for this ])urpose. If a particular variety mildews badly 

 it is better to discard it for one less subject to this pest, 

 as in the worst season for mildew some are more immune 

 than others, although it may be kepi in check more or 

 less by the use of flowers of sul])hur. 



In the latitude of New ^'ork anil higher, it seems 

 scarcely worth while to take up nuich sjiace with Tea 

 Roses, but when they are desired the hardiest are Etoile 

 de Lyon, yellow; Maman Cochet, silvery rose: Maman 

 Cochet, white, and Duchess de Ih-abant. pink. 



Hybrid teas are the most numerous and every year 

 brings forth new varieties. The best for bedding is un- 

 doubtedly Gruss and Teplitz. It is the hardiest and 

 strongest growing variety of this class, .sometimes attain- 

 ing a height of five feet. It ])roduces great masses of 

 crimson flowers throughout the season. ( )ther good ones 

 are Mrs. .Aaron Ward, dark yellow: Killarney Brilliant, 

 deep ])ink ; I.;idy llillington. yellow; Jonkeer Mock, 

 bright ])ink : Radiinice, lirilli;mt rose: Mme. Jules ( Irolez, 

 satiny i>ink ; General Mc.Arihur, bright crimson; Rich- 

 mond, scarlet; Mary. Countess of llchestir, crimson: 

 Presiflent Taft, shell ])ink : Ophelia, salmon pink, .-uid 

 Kaiserin Augusta \'ictorin. white. 



