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HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



ROS 



States, and of easy culture, well adapted to be 

 grown either as dwarfs or standards, and can 

 with the greatest certainty be forced into 

 bloom during winter and spring. Of the Gen- 

 eral Jacqueminot alone, which is a well-known 

 representative of this class, probably ten acres 

 of green-house surface are used for forcing 

 the flowers for winter for the city of 

 New York alone, and in nearly like pro- 

 portions all over the Union. The parent- 

 age of the Damask Perpetual family is diffi- 

 cult to trace. It is generally credited in a 

 great measure to the old white and red 

 Monthly Roses. There is no authority for 

 this supposition, and no hint even as to the 

 other Roses with which they were crossed. 

 They are perfectly hardy, exceedingly fra- 

 grant, and free flowering. The Perpetual 

 Scotch (R. spinosissima) are hybrids, supposed 

 to have been produced by crossing the Scotch 

 Roses with the Damask Perpetuals. But little 

 success has attended hybridizing these fami- 

 lies, as there are but one or two varieties 

 worth cultivating. The Bourbon or Isle de 

 Bourbon Roses (R. Borboniana) are remarkable 

 for their autumnal flowering, as they do not 

 flower well until the first of September, after 

 which they are in continuous bloom until 

 checked by heavy frosts. They derive their 

 name from the Isle de Bourbon, where they 

 originated. The type of the race is said to have 

 been an accidental seedling from a quantity 

 that were planted for a hedge by one M. 

 Peirchon, an inhabitant of the island. From 

 many of its characteristics it is a supposed 

 cross between the common China and one of 

 the old Damask Perpetuals known as the Red 

 Four-season Rose. The first plant was intro- 

 duced into France in 1822, and at once attract- 

 ed the attention of the leading Rose-growers 

 at Paris, who commenced its cultivation exten- 

 sively. Its tendency to vary was such, that 

 within a short time a large number of seminal 

 varieties were produced, from which some of 

 our most desirable Roses have originated. 

 Souvenir de la Malmaison, a light blush color 

 (introduced about 1840), that has yet no equal 

 as an autumnal flowering Rose, and the 

 well-known Hermosa, pink, belong to this 

 class. The Bourbons are distinguished for 

 their fine foliage, compact habit of growth, 

 and for the profusion and long-continuance of 

 their blooming. They require a dry soil, only 

 moderately rich. They are not perfectly 

 hardy north of Washington, unless under very 

 favorable circumstances. Of the perpetual 

 Moss (R. centifolia) class, there are but few 

 entitled to the name, and those only in the 

 sense in which the Hybrid Perpetuals are ; 

 that is with grains of allowance, which 

 will be cheerfully granted for the pleasure 

 a Moss Rose in autumn affords. This sec- 

 tion is a cross between the old Moss and 

 some of the autumn-blooming varieties. The 

 continuous, or rather second- flowering, has 

 been produced at some sacrifice of the moss. 

 As a class they are poor growers, requiring a 

 strong, deep, rich soil. A well-known type of 

 this class is James Veitch, deep crimson. 

 The Musk Rose (R. moschata) is one of the 

 oldest Roses in cultivation. The original is a 

 native of Madeira, Persia, and the north of 

 Africa. The plants are rapid growers and 

 profuse bloomers, in habit resembling the 

 Noisette, requiring the same protection in 



ROS 



winter, and the same treatment in growing. 

 They are late in flowering, not coming into 

 bloom until about the first of September. 

 They receive their name from the fact of their 

 having a peculiar musk-like scent. They are 

 not very hardy in most Rose-growing countries 

 and, consequently, have received but little 

 attention from growers. The China Rose 

 (R. Indica) and the Crimson China Rose (R. 

 semperftorens) are so nearly allied that their 

 history, description, and treatment are the 

 same. They are both natives of China, and 

 were first introduced into Europe in 1789. The 

 two species are the parents from which a rather 

 extensive and interesting family of Roses have 

 sprung. They are of comparatively small 

 growth, which is a distinctive feature in all 

 their progeny. They are very generally known 

 as Bengal Roses. In our climate they are not 

 sufficiently hardy north of Washington to en- 

 dure the winters without the most careful pro- 

 tection. As garden roses they are very desir- 

 able, beingabundantandcontinuous bloomers; 

 but for cut flowers they cannot be highly re- 

 commended, although the deep crimson color 

 of some of the varieties, as Douglas, for 

 example, makes them grown to a considerable 

 extent, even though the buds are small. The 

 Tea-scented China Rose (R. Indica odorata), 

 the type of this section, is a native of China, 

 introduced into England in 1810, and, with 

 the Yellow China or Tea-scented Rose previ- 

 ously introduced into France, became the 

 parents of the best known and most exten 

 sively cultivated class in this country. They 

 range through all the shades of yellow, 

 orange, white, blush, pink, purple, and crim- 

 son, and have nearly all a marked tea fra- 

 grance. From the hundreds of varieties that 

 have been produced it is difficult to determine 

 the varieties that can be named as best. 

 Those we name under the head of " Winter 

 Culture of the Rose," are, perhaps, the best 

 at the date of writing. Until 1877, no true 

 striped Rose had been known to exist ; but in 

 that year a sport from the crimson-colored 

 Bon Silene came distinctly striped crimson 

 and white, and has continued to hold to this 

 peculiar and beautiful form. It has been ap- 

 propriately named the "American Banner." 

 and created quite a sensation in Europe 

 from its decided novelty of coloring. The 

 whole class of Teas are the most tender 

 of the great Rose family. There is no sure 

 protection for them in the open border 

 without more trouble and expense than the 

 plants would be worth in spring time. Most 

 amateurs have very sensibly given up " pro- 

 tecting " this class of Roses, and have found 

 the more sure, easy, and inexpensive way to 

 get Tea Roses is to procure young plants in 

 spring, not more than four inches high, 

 grown in thumb-pots ; these, if planted in a 

 good, strong, rich soil, will produce more 

 flowers during the summer and autumn 

 months than double their number of old 

 plants "kept over." At the present writing 

 we have of the many varieties of Teas several 

 thousands ; plants that, when put out in 

 April, could not be seen half-way across the 

 nursery rows, but which are now (October) 

 averaging two Roses a day from each plant, 

 and have been for the past two months. For 

 out-of-door culture, treat Tea and all other 

 tender Roses the same as any bedding plant ; 



