THE BANKSI^E ROSE. 103 



ROSA BA.ItfXSI.7E. 



Group XXL— THE BANKSLE ROSE. 



The Banksiae Rose, so named in compliment to Lady Banks, is a complete de- 

 parture from the ordinary run of Roses : the flowers, indeed, resemble more closely 

 those of the double-blossomed Cherry. The White variety, which is deliriously 

 sweet, was introduced from China in 1807, and about twenty years later our gar- 

 dens were enriched by the arrival of the Yellow one. 



In "La Rose, &c, par Dr. Deslongchamps," we find mention of a remarkable 

 White Banksia Rose growing in the Jardin de la Marine at Toulon. It is now 

 about thirty-four years old. In 1842 the trunk was 2 feet 4 inches in circum- 

 ference at its base. It divided into six branches at a little distance from the 

 ground, the thickest of which was 12 inches in girth. Its branches covered a 

 wall 75 feet broad and 15 to 18 feet high ; and were there greater space it could be 

 covered, for the tree is subjected to severe pruning every alternate year to keep 

 it within bounds ; and the more it is pruned the faster does it seem to grow, often 

 producing shoots 15 feet long in a year, and as thick as the thumb. The flowers 

 are produced from the middle of April to the middle of May ; and at the time that 

 it is in full blossom it is calculated that there cannot be less than from 50,000 to 

 60,000 flowers on the tree. The effect is described as magnificent, almost magical. 



In the same Work is mentioned a plant of the same variety, growing at 

 Caserta, in the kingdom of Naples, the branches of which had climbed to the top 

 of a large poplar tree 60 feet high. The poplar was dead, killed probably by 

 the embrace of its insidious friend, whose branches almost exclude it from view, 

 presenting, at the epoch of flowering, a most lovely spectacle. 



There is now growing at Goodrent, Reading, the seat of Sir Jasper Nicholls, 

 Bart., a Yellow Banksiae Rose, planted out in the conservatory border. It pro- 

 duced last year above 2000 trusses of flowers, and there were from six to nine 

 expanded Roses on each truss. It is trained up a wire to an horizontal wire fixed 

 about three feet from the glass. There is a plant of the White variety in the same 

 house, but with very few flowers on it. — W. A. Baston in United Gardeners' and 

 Land- Stewards' Journal, Vol. 1847, p. 293. 



The Banksiee Roses are of very rapid growth, but they are not hardy, and can 

 only be grown successfully out of doors against a wall ; and if a dry warm border 

 can also be secured for them it is all the better. They should be pruned in summer, 

 immediately after they have flowered : the gross shoots, if any, should be cut out, 

 and the plants well thinned, merely tipping the shoots that are left : these will 

 then form new wood, which, cut back to three or four eyes in spring, will throw 

 an abundance of flowers. There have arisen lately several new varieties, but they 

 bloom indifferently in our climate, and we cannot say much in their favour. 

 Unfortunately, these elegant Roses do not thrive well out of doors in the atmo- 

 sphere of the metropolis. 



