ROSA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ROSA. 



693 



easy to describe. Excellent for trellis 

 or as a single bush, or for any purpose 

 for which a wild rose can be used. Native 

 of W. China, it was found by Mr A. E. 

 Pratt on the Thibetan frontier at an 

 elevation of over 9,000 feet. Men talk 

 of getting fine things by crossing this, 

 but they will never get anything so good. 

 There should be little or no pruning, 

 the plant flowering on the previous 

 season's growth. 



R. POLYANTHA (Garland R.). A ram- 

 pant climber, which will quickly climb 

 a tree, cover a building, or, away from 

 any support, spread into an enormous 

 bush. It has long, spineless shoots 

 clothed with glossy green leaves, blooming 

 early in June ; a mass of white flowers 



parent of the Ayrshire Roses. It is a 

 free-growing plant, but requires some 

 support to get it off the ground at first. 

 We train it up stout Oak branches, and 

 get it a few feet high, then let it ramble 

 at will. For covering roots, banks, 

 mounds, pillars, etc., these are excellent, 

 forming at last huge tangled masses 

 of the greatest beauty and elegance in the 

 wild garden. The flowers are white or 

 pale pink. 



R. RUBIGINOSA (Sweet Brier). It is a 

 native Rose, but also distributed through 

 much of Europe and Asia, and, although 

 often planted, is scarcely ever made 

 enough of in country places. It is most 

 useful for forming fences with Quick or 

 even by itself on good banks, as it is so 



The Austrian Coppet Brier. 



crowded in a pyramidal truss, with a 

 powerful scent. The variety grandiflora 

 is an improvement, with very large 

 flowers and its leaves almost evergreen. 

 It has all the vigour of the type, and its 

 flowers cluster in an immense truss, pure 

 white and sweetly scented. 



R. POMIFERA (The Apple R.). Among 

 the Roses which claim our notice for the 

 beauty of their fruits, none equal this old 

 but neglected species. It is worth growing 

 for its bright red fruit. Each fruit is i 

 to 1 1 inches long, apple or sometimes pear- 

 shaped, covered with bristles and sur- 

 mounted by a crown of large glandular 

 sepals. 



R. REPENS (or R. arvensis) is the wild 



spiny that cattle, which do so much harm 

 to almost every other kind of hedge plant, 

 do not touch this, so that it swings careless 

 in the field where they are. The plant 

 ought to be grown by the thousand, and 

 anybody with a few bushes of it can save 

 the seed for this purpose. 



R. RUBRIFOLIA (Red-leaved R.) should 

 have a place for its lovely-tinted leaves 

 and shoots ; it has a rambling or climbing 

 habit, but also grows into a large self- 

 supporting bush or spreads nicely when 

 pegged down. The flowers are red and 

 small, the fruits purplish-red with soft 

 flesh. Its chief charm, however, is in the 

 colour of shoots and leaves. The young, 

 strong shoots are purple-red overlaid with 

 a pale grey bloom, whilst the leaves are 



