ROSA. 
varied by greenhouse plants with 
the pots concealed. 
A very common error in the use 
of roots, is that of mixing them 
with stones in rockwork, which has 
been already pointed out.—See 
Rockwork. 
Rosa. — Rosdcee.— The Rose- 
tree. Of all flowers none are more 
beautiful than roses ; and none bet- 
ter reward the care of the cultivator. 
Roses are natives of Europe, Asia, 
Africa, and America, but none have 
yet been found in Australia. The 
number of roses is almost incredible, 
above a hundred distinct species 
have been described, and there are 
above two thousand named varie- 
ties to be procured in the nurseries. 
In this chaos, all that can be done 
in a work like the present is to give 
a slight sketch of the different kinds 
of roses grown in British gardens, 
with a few particulars of the more 
remarkable species. The best 
known and most common kind of 
rose is the cabbage or Provence 
rose (Rosa centifolia). This spe- 
cies is a native of Eastern Cauca- 
sus, whence it was brought at a 
very early period. ‘There are more 
than a hundred varieties of it; all 
very beautiful and very fragrant, 
and all distinguished by their close 
cabbage-like form, the curving in- 
wards of their petals, and their 
slender footstalks, which give a pe- 
culiarly graceful and drooping ap- 
pearance to the full-blown flowers. 
The Moss Roses are all varieties of 
the cabbage. All the cabbage roses 
may be grafted standard high on 
briers of the common dog rose ; and 
they all require a richly manured 
soil, and an open situation. The 
French or Provins rose (Rosa gal- 
lica) is a compact erect-growing 
plant with large open flat flowers 
borne on stiff erect flower-stalks ; 
thus forming as strong a contrast as 
possible to the cabbage rose. This 
rose is found wild in France, and it 
* 
355 
ROSA. 
is grown on a large scale near the 
little town of Provins in the depart. 
ment of the Seine-et-Marne, and 
also at Fontenay-aux-Roses near 
Paris, for the purpose of making 
conserve of roses. There are more 
than a hundred varieties of this 
rose. ‘The French roses do not re- 
quire a rich soil, and they are never 
grown as standards. Rosa damas- 
céna, or the perpetual rose, differs 
from R. centifolia, in the large size 
of its prickles, the greenness of its 
bark, its elongated fruit, and its 
long reflexed sepals. There are 
above a hundred varieties of these 
roses, the most beautiful of which 
is Lee’s Perpetual or the Rose du 
Roi. ‘These roses are very fragrant, 
and they continue blossoming till 
November. As the perpetual roses 
are of very luxuriant growth, and 
as they produce abundance of flow- 
ers, they should be grown in very 
rich soil, and their shoots not cut 
in. Rosa indica, the Chinese or 
monthly rose, is the parent of an- 
other large family of roses, com- 
prising upwards of two hundred va- 
rieties and hybrids; the most in- 
teresting of these are the tea-scented 
roses, and the Noisettes. The tea- 
scented roses are delicate little 
plants, with large drooping flowers, 
and they are supposed to be hybrids 
between the common and the yel- 
low Chinese roses; it is generally 
considered that they are rather ten- 
der, and that they should be grown 
against a south wall in a raised 
border composed of equal parts of 
vegetable mould, light loam, and 
sand, but we have one against the 
veranda of our house at Bayswater, 
grafted on a common brier; and 
growing in the ordinary garden soil, 
which is splendid. Many cultiva- 
tors take these roses up in Novem- 
ber, and keep the roots in a pot in 
a greenhouse, or laid in mould in a 
shed, till spring, when they may be 
planted out again into the open gar- 
& 
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& 
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