20 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chap. 



the growth is extremely long, rapid, and slender. 

 Being very hardy and ready to grow anywhere, they 

 are better adapted for trailing over unsightly places 

 and ugly fences than for actual walls, which are best 

 reserved for more valuable and tender sorts. This and 

 the next group also form the best weeping Roses, bud- 

 ded on a tall standard, as the shoots are very pliable, 

 and trail gracefully downwards in a natural manner. 



Several of the Ayrshires have probably been slightly 

 hybridised, a mark of the true sorts being that the 

 flowers are not borne in clusters. Dundee Rambler, 

 Ruga, and Splendens or Myrrh-scented are among the 

 best known. The flowers are small, semi-double, and 

 mostly white or pink. The plants are quite hardy, very 

 rampant in growth, and most effective when allowed 

 to ramble at will, unpruned and untrained. Madame 

 Viviand Morel is a perpetual form. 



The Evergreen Rose (R. sempervirens). — This group 

 is very much like the last, but is not a native of Great 

 Britain; nor is it, strictly speaking, evergreen, but 

 some foliage is generally retained through most of the 

 winter. The flowers are produced in very large clusters, 

 mostly of white or light-pink colours. The plants are 

 thoroughly hardy, as strong in growth as the Ayrshn^e, 

 and useful for pillars, arches, weeping Roses, or cover- 

 ing waste places, the long shoots being left unpruned. 

 Banksiieflora, Felicite Perpetue, and Rampant are 

 perhaps the best known among them. 



The Bourscmlt Rose (K. alpina).— This is another 

 group of strong-climbing summer Roses, with very 

 characteristic smooth wood, not quite so pendulous m 

 habit as the two last named. This species is a native 

 of the Alps, thoroughly hardy, growing and blooming 

 anywhere in large clusters of reddish flowers. The 



