WILD ROSES 



As in the case of many other florists' flowers, we have, in 

 cultivating the Rose and selecting and re-selecting 

 varieties in accordance with more or less artificial 

 standards, sacrificed something of the charm, grace and 

 delicacy of the original wild species from which our 

 varieties are descended. A large number of these species 

 are well worth cultivating, especially where they can be 

 allowed plenty of room for full and free development. 

 Our own hedges and fields furnish some of the most 

 beautiful of the wild Roses. Both the common Dog 

 Rose and the Field Rose, with their arched branches and 

 delicately coloured fragrant flowers, may well serve to 

 give the exhibition florists an idea of the real beauty of 

 Rose growth. The Macartney Rose, Rosa Bracteata, is a 

 beautiful evergreen species, a native of China, and pro- 

 duces abundance of creamy white single flowers late in 

 the season, the flowers being followed by large orange-red 

 fruit. Being rather tender, the Macartney Rose is best 

 grown against a south wall. Rosa Mtcrophylla is another 

 Chinese species, also evergreen, with very small leaves, 

 their edges fairly toothed. It bears double flowers, the 

 colour of which varies in the different varieties under 

 cultivation, but is usually rosy red or white tinged with 

 rose. Both this Rose and the Macartney Rose require 

 some pruning in April, the larger shoots being checked 

 by pinching out their soft tips, while weak shoots are 

 removed altogether. Rosa Kamtschatka represents another 

 group of wild Roses, to which also belongs the Hedge- 

 hog Rose, Rosa Ferox, from the Caucasus. Both these 



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