IRISH GARDENING 



VOLUME XVI 

 No. 187 



Editor -J. W. Besant. 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 



SEPTEMBER 

 1921 



Roses at Rostrevor House* 



)V \\'. Phylis A] 001; 



~~:\ It is refreshing to 

 ' Hud that in some 

 ! uiudens the craze 

 I toi- the so-called 

 ■• perfect Rose," per- 

 teet apparently in 

 the eyes of the 

 raisers and judges, 

 even if the first 

 essential of a good 

 Rose, scent, be miss- 

 ing, has not yet 

 , penetrated, and that 

 j the old " garden 

 ; ,. Roses" are grown 



t— -^ ^-^ J and prized. Many 



will be inclined to 

 include among these " ii:arden Roses " the de- 

 lightful and graceful single and semi-double forms 

 which have so nuich to recomipend them — and to 

 these now may be added the new and wonderful 

 Chinese single Roses which are such an addition 

 to the family. 



In Sir John Ross of Bladenburg's garden the 

 Roses of " east " and " west," the " old " and 

 the " new " are fully appreciated. On entering 

 the garden proper, the first plant one sees in 

 bloom in jukl-June is a large clump of the old 

 Damask York and Lanraxtvr Base, with its 

 l)rightly striped red and white petals, reminders 

 of old unhappy far-off things and battles long 

 ago. On tlie other side of the path is the Apothc- 

 (■(iii/'s Bnsr or liosa (iaUlca , stiff, erect growth, 

 and flowers varying from bright rose to crimson. 

 It is very sweet; the petals have been used 

 medicinally from time immemorial, hence its 

 name, the Apothecary's Rose. It is one of the 

 Roses grown in Turkey for making Attar of Roses. 

 A little further up the path on a trellis of Larch 

 poles a single climbing Rose of unusual colour 

 and shape is flourishing. Some years ago Lady 

 Ross saw this remarkable Rose in a small market 

 garden at Vaveno in Italy and wisely brought 

 home a plant. The petals are bright pink with 

 crimson shadows, the flowers are not the usual 

 cupped shape, but flattened with undulating petals, 

 something like liose AurmDiie, but flatter. The 

 stems are very slender with delicately shaped 

 ^ .leaves. It was flowering so freely one wondered 

 ^where the cuttings so generously promised l)y Sir 

 ■r—John Ross were to come from, but they //'/'■' 

 arrived. The name ot iiiis (k-liglitiiii Rose is 7?. 

 ^^Tipo hUale 



Ov)' 



On the hillside Sir John Ro,ss has planted a 

 number of single Roses, and left them to grow as 

 they please. The result is a most lovely group- 

 strong, branching sprays, attractive at all seasons. 



Bum Muyesii. stands out as queen of them all, 

 by virtue of her rich ruby flowers, that no other 

 single Rose can rival in colour or texture — and 

 when in the autunui the ruby flowers are recalled 

 by the large ripe hips it will be nearly as attrac- 

 tive. 



Some seedlings of H. Muyesii, although very 

 bright, have not the intense colour of the parent 

 plant. 



Hush " Iba nyonki/'—A strong grower with 

 clusters of white flowers, the petals large and far 

 apart, the calyx and stems dark red. This Rose has 

 one virtue liosa Muyesii lacks— a very sweet 

 scent. Chinese. 



Busa pumifeni, more upright in habit than the 

 last-named; glaucous foliage and a bright pink 

 flower, contrasts well with its neighbour, a Chinese 

 Rose which, so far, is only known under the col- 

 lector's number— a lovely golden yellow, with very 

 bright shining leaves. 



Busa Willmuftiie.—'DelicatelY fine in branches 

 and flowers, one of the most lovely of Chinese 

 Roses; bright red thorns showing clearly on the 

 grey green stems, the leaves small, each leaflet 

 set far apart; the small, soft pink flower in keep- 

 ing with the whole petite character of the plant. 



Base ruijusa.—A strong grower in any soil, bids 

 fair to be a timber tree at Rostrevor. It is eight 

 or nine feet high; red and white, planted in a 

 group, in leaf, flower and fruit it is beautiful. 

 The leaves are dark green, very strong and rough 

 on the upper surface, the wonderful scent of the 

 flowers a distinctive perfume which this species 

 has handed down in a marked way to all its off- 

 spring. It is a long and ptrsistent bloomer, and 

 when the secondary flowers come with the glowing 

 orange-red fruits in the autumn, it is a sight of 

 great beauty. The leaves turn yellow in late 

 autumn, the ripe fruits of the secondary flowers 

 among them (blackbirds permitting) give a pro- 

 longed interist and attraction to tliis Rose. Bosa 

 Beijeliana and Busa Kanitsclidfira are forms of 

 this species. 



Among these flaunting foreigners there is a 

 greatly treasured modest little plant. Bush 

 Hibeniint. I find in Cyhele llihernica Dr. David 

 Moore, in 1864, descrilies the Irish Rose as " veiv 

 rare, and only recorded in the North-east of Ire- 

 land, ranging from sea level to 1.000 feet on Ben 



CO 



