THE ROSE GARDEN. 45 



Weeping Roses form beautiful objects wben planted singly on lawns ; and it is 

 surprising that they are not more generally cultivated. Are they so rare that few 

 have yet witnessed them in complete beauty? It may be so. There is a Letter 

 now before me, from an Amateur in Devonshire, who purchased from here, three 

 years since, a plant of the Ayrshire Ruga eight feet in the stem. It has been 

 trained as a Weeper ; and the tips of its branches now rest upon the grass below : 

 an arbour is formed by it, and there is a seat within. The branches are, in the 

 flowering season, covered with blossoms from the head to the ground, and the 

 sight is described as magnificent. 



There are but few kinds naturally suited for this mode of growth ; although 

 many may, by a course of pruning and training, be brought to form handsome 

 specimens. Of natural Weepers, the Ayrshire and Evergreen are the best. 

 Of others, such of the Austrian, the Boursault, the Hybrid Chinese, the Hybrid 

 Noisette, the Noisette, and Bourbon, as are of pendulous growth, should be chosen. 

 The latter groups introduce a pleasing variety of character and colour, points well 

 worth gaining, especially if many Weepers are wished for. 



We cannot conceive a more beautiful object on a lawn than a Standard Rose 

 trained as a Weeper,* covered, in summer, with its thousands of blossoms, relieved 

 and admirably set off by the careless grace of its growth, and the agreeable colour 

 of the foliage. By a careful choice of varieties, and a judicious system of priming 

 (see article " Priming "), the long pendulous branches may be made to droop from 

 any moderate height to the ground, producing flowers their whole length. 



We should fancy that Roses of pendulous growth, worked on short stems, and 

 planted in vases, would have a pretty effect. Again, if the same kinds were 

 planted as Dwarfs, in raised baskets, on lawns or elsewhere, and their shoots 

 allowed to hang down on all sides, the effect of the masses of flower they produce, 

 if equalled, could not be surpassed. 



We occasionally see varieties of vigorous and straggling growth formed as plain 

 Standard or Bush Roses. We must confess we do not admire them as such ; and 

 think them better fitted to form Climbers, Pillars, or Weepers. And if the Rose 

 is more beautiful under one form than another, it is perhaps when fashioned as a 

 Pillar Rose. Every Rosarium, and indeed every Flower Garden, should possess 

 some of them. We have previously stated that they may be introduced to the 

 Rosarium, to form the boundary-line of the summer and autumn gardens. In the 

 Flower Garden they may be planted to form temples, avenues, singly on lawns, 

 or in groups of three, five, or more. If planted in a ring round a circular clump 

 on a lawn, at some distance from its circumference, we should conceive the effect 

 to be good. There is a collection here planted on both sides of a raised walk four 

 feet wide, at distances of three feet in the row. They form a complete grove or 



* Where any particular mode of growing Roses is recommended, a list of a select few suited 

 for the purpose will be given at the end of the work. 



