THE ROSE AS A CLIMBER 89 



Rose, and one, too, which displays to great advantage 

 the beauty and grace of the stronger growing forms. 

 This is as a climber for covering old or valueless trees, 

 which so many of the species and old-fashioned garden 

 Roses will do with the most delightful effect, adding a 

 loveliness indescribable to some gnarled tree, and cover- 

 ing it with a cloud of fragrant and exquisite flowers. 

 On these trees such Roses as the old Ayrshires and 

 Boursaults may be trained, if it is justifiable to call that 

 training which practically consists in giving them 

 freedom to develop and to ramble on and over the 

 branches in their own way. 



Another use of the Rose as a climber is not so much 

 adopted as might well be. This is to establish it in 

 some semi-wild spot by planting it freely among the 

 copses and rough places which are to be found on so 

 many estates. Many a beautiful glen, valley, or copse 

 might be made more charming still were the best of 

 these climbing Roses planted freely and plentifully so 

 as to roam here and there ; rambling over trees, trailing 

 up or down banks, or over some great rock. For this 

 some of the species are admirable, but among the old 

 garden forms there is no lack of "choice, and one can 

 hardly go wrong among them, though the original 

 species appear to be more in unison with these surround- 

 ings. Polyantha, Brunoni and such free species are 

 glorious things when left to grow almost untrammelled 

 in such a place. These Rose species would well repay 

 the search of some who would seek them out and use 

 them in the wilder parts of their grounds, for apart from 

 the flowers, there are charms of colouring in the 

 autumn tints of the leaves of many, as well as interesting 

 and beautiful hues in the stems or the prickles which 

 serve as the support of the Roses. Fine, also, are the 

 fruits, whose bright colouring often shows on the 

 bushes until far into the winter time. 



