ROSES AND THEIR CULTURE 225 



are usually blossoms here and there over a bush, 

 all summer long — and the fragrance of even a 

 solitary flower is sufficient to be noticeable in 

 passing the plant. Its scent indeed is excep- 

 tional in that it seems to be so abundant without 

 being strong. In which connection it is in- 

 teresting to know that it was used a thousand 

 years ago by the Japanese court ladies in the 

 preparation of a perfume; and it has always ap- 

 parently been accorded recognition in its native 

 land, and been high in favor. 



As a natural hedge the rugosa rose is splendid, 

 where there is space' to allow it free growth. 

 The individuals sucker freely, however, and 

 cover a space fully four feet wide, hence 

 should not be used where space is limited. But 

 no shrubbery border ought to miss its excep- 

 tional contribution; and it can as a matter of 

 fact be kept in check by pruning back very 

 much as any sheared hedge is pruned. Handled 

 in this way it becomes an absolutely impene- 

 trable thicket, owing to its spines and its habit 

 of suckering — that is, throwing up endless 

 shoots direct from the roots, as the lilac does. 



The wichuraiana rose came to us in 1893 also 

 from Japan, introduced by the late Jackson 

 Dawson of the Arnold Arboretum; and it is the 

 progenitor of a great number of the loveliest 



