CHAPTER XXVIII 



FOURTH WEEK IN JULY 



MANY beautiful roses have been added to our lists 

 during the last few years, and no group of these 

 plants has been more strongly reinforced than the 

 climbing roses, for not only have there been valuable and 

 conspicuous additions amongst the larger flowered varieties, 

 but also a number of hybrids of the Wichuriana rose, and 

 also of the sweetbriar class have been introduced. 



The original type of Rosa Wichuriana (a Japanese rose 

 introduced in 1893) is small, with single white flowers, a 

 plant of prostrate habit, suitable specially for draping the 

 rock border ; but this plant, having been hybridised with 

 certain roses of larger size and brilliant colour, has produced 

 very beautiful cluster roses, double, semi-double, and single. 

 All the Wichurianas are distinguished by a mass of shining 

 foliage (which in many cases is evergreen), and also by a 

 habit of throwing up a quantity of tall stems yearly from 

 their base, which has given them the name of the fountain 

 roses, as these growths, if tied to a stake to the height of 4 

 feet from the ground, take the form of water thrown up 

 from a jet. 



The best of these hybrids are also luxuriant enough to 

 imb high and cover an arch with their clusters of bloom, 

 Dorothy Perkins, 1 an American introduction, being the 

 prettiest of them all, with innumerable clusters of well-shaped 

 double flowers in a specially clear shade of shell-pink. This 

 plant is quite hardy and remarkably robust, so that it may 

 be trusted to cover an arch rapidly with proper cultivation. 



1 See p. 2. 

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