NEW PILLAR ROSE 



W. Van Fleet 



A 



MOST promising new hardy pil- 

 lar or low-climbing rose of com- 

 posite parentage, a result of 

 applying pollen of a vigorous 

 hybrid between the new Chinese Rosa 

 Soulieana and R. setigera, the wild 

 Michigan or Prairie rose, to the stig- 

 mas of an unusually hardy seedling of 

 R. Wichuraiana that had the Tea rose 

 Devoniensis as its pollen parent. All 

 other seedlings of this crossing have a 

 tinge of pink imparted by R. setigera, 

 but the blooms of W. S. i8 are pure 

 white, relieved by the prominent yellow 

 stamens that characterize three of the 

 four species involved in its production. 

 The flowers are borne in graceful clus- 

 ters covering the whole plant, as shown 

 in the illustration, and are succeeded 

 by an equal number of good-sized deep 

 red fruits that endure with little change 

 in coloring all winter. The blooms are 

 over 2 inches across, of perfect form 

 and great substance, remaining in good 

 condition for several days and are so 

 thickly set that the petals nearly touch 

 over the whole surface of the foliage, 

 which is thick, firm and of a pleasing 

 bluish-green shade. The canes are 

 strong, arching, with heavy side-shoots 

 bearing the great flower clusters, and 

 are naturally so well arranged that 

 little support or pruning appears to be 

 needed. The plant proved entirely 

 hardy during the past test winter that 

 killed many supposedly hardy roses to 

 the snow line. 



The season of bloom at Washington 

 is early June, and there is considerable 

 fragrance of the character usually asso- 

 ciated with the musk rose, to which 

 Rosa SonUeaua belongs. JV. S i8 has 

 not yet reached its full development 

 and will probably grow 10 or more feet 

 higher in favorable situations, and 

 doubtless will find its greatest utility 

 as a specimen tall bush or pillar rose, 

 in open situations rather than as a 

 porch climber. It is hardy and vigor- 



ous and appears resistant to all foliage 

 and cane diseases that affect roses in 

 this climate. 



Rosa Soulieana was discovered about 

 1895 by the French explorer Pere 

 Soulie growing in fair abundance along 

 the upper reaches of the Yalung River 

 in Southwest China and was soon after 

 established in England, where it is re- 

 garded as perfectly hardy and grows 

 in the open perhaps more vigorously 

 than any other rose species. It was 

 brought to this country in 1909 by the 

 Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Intro- 

 duction, and has turned out to be only 

 doubtfully hardy about Washington, 

 but otherwise well worth growing as 

 an oriental wild rose. It is very florif- 

 erous when not too severely injured 

 by winter, the creamy-white flowers, an 

 inch or more across, being disposed in 

 dense terminal corymbs, while the buds 

 are pale yellow just before expanding. 

 The strong canes grow 7 or 8 feet high 

 in a season, and the abundant bluish- 

 green foliage appears rarely troubled 

 by insects or disease. The tendency to 

 kill back in winter, however, has made 

 it desirable to interbreed this interesting 

 newcomer with other rose species and 

 varieties of undoubted hardiness, and 

 JV. S. i8 is at this time the most prom- 

 ising outcome, though many attractive 

 seedlings, some of dwarf growth with 

 double blush and white blooms borne 

 throughout the growing season, have 

 been secured. Rosa Soulieana, blended 

 with desirable hardy rose species and 

 varieties, appears likely to prove a val- 

 uable acquisition to the equipment of 

 the breeder of garden roses. 



In W. S. i8, Rosa setigera appears 

 only to have contributed hardiness, R. 

 Soulieana habit, foliage and abundance 

 of bloom, while R. Wichuraiana and 

 Devoniensis (R. odorata) size, sub- 

 stance and finish of the individual 

 flowers. 



1 Rosa Soulieana X W. S. i8, Raised Bell Experiment Plot, Glendale, Maryland, 1915. 

 136 



