ROSA. 



274 



with stones in rock-work, which has 

 been already pointed out. — See 

 Rock-work. 



Ro'SA. — Rosacece. — The Rose- 

 tree. — Of all flowers none are more 

 beautiful than Roses ; and none bet- 

 ter reward the care of the culti- 

 vator. Roses are natives of Europe, 

 Asia, Africa, and America, but 

 none have yet been found in Austra- 

 lia. The number of Roses is al- 

 most incredible ; above a hundred 

 distinct species have been described, 

 and there are above two thousand 

 named varieties 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 par- 

 ticulars of the more remarkable 

 species. The best known and most 

 common kind of Rose is the Cab- 

 bage or Provence Rose {Pi,bsa centi- 

 folia). This species is a native of 

 Eastern Caucasus, 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 distin- 

 guished by their close cabbage-like 

 form, the curving inwards of their 

 petals, and their slender footstalks, 

 which give a peculiarly graceful and 

 drooping appearance to the full- 

 blown flowers. The Moss Roses 

 are all varieties of the Cabbage. 

 All the Cabbage Roses may be 

 grafted standard high on Briars of 

 the common Dog-rose ; and they all 

 require a richly-mauured soil, and 

 an open situation. The French or 

 Provins Rose {Eosa gdllica) is a 

 compact erect-growing plant with 

 large open flat flowers bome 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 is 

 grown on a large scale near the little 



town of Provins, in the department 

 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 hun- 

 dred varieties of this Rose. The 

 French Roses do not require a rich 

 soil, and they are never grown as 

 standards. Eosa damascena, or 

 the Perpetual Rose, differs from E. 

 centifolia, in the large size of its 

 prickles, the greenness of its bark, 

 its elongated fruit, and its long re- 

 flexed 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 fi-agrant, and 

 they continue blossoming till No- 

 vember. As the Perpetual Roses 

 are of very luxuriant growth, and 

 as they produce abundance of 

 flowers, they should be grown in 

 very rich soil, and their shoots not 

 cut in. Eosa indica, the Cliinese 

 or ]\[onthly Rose, is the parent of 

 another large family of Roses, com- 

 prising upwards of two hundred 

 varieties and hybrids; the most 

 interesting 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 yellow Chinese Roses; it is 

 generally considered that they are 

 rather tender, 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 verandah of our house 

 at Bayswater, grafted on a common 

 Briar, and growing in the ordinary 

 garden soil, which is splendid. 

 Many cultivators take these Roses 

 up in November, and keep the roots 

 in a pot in a greenhouse, or laid in 

 mould in a shed, tiU spring, when 



