CHAPTER XIX 



ROSE HEDGES 



He who plants a hedge of roses, expecting it to grow 

 thick and bushy like privet, and, like privet, to keep 

 neat and trim, will be woefully disappointed. The nearest 

 approach to a rose hedge of this kind is furnished by 

 the China or Monthly and the dwarf Polyantha roses, 

 though still a great gulf divides it from the ordinary 

 hedge. Though you cannot obtain a close, firm screen 

 with roses, they may be used most appropriately to 

 encircle the rose garden, or to give informal dividing 

 lines where such are needed. And if they fail to afford 

 the privacy that is one of the essentials of a real hedge, 

 they compensate fully by producing blossoms as well as 

 leaves. So many roses are suitable for growing in this 

 form, that all tastes may be suited. One may plant a 

 high hedge with the luxuriant wichuraiana, Sempervirens, 

 or Ayrshire, or with varieties of all three classes com- 

 bined. The multifiora roses which are not quite so ram- 

 pant are also suitable for the same purpose; so, too, 

 are the Penzance and Japanese Briers (Rosa rugosa 

 varieties), while climbing Hybrid Teas and Noisettes 

 may be pressed into service. For hedges of some three 

 to four feet high, such vigorous dwatf roses as Caroline 

 Testout, Frau Karl Druschki, Hugh Dickson, or Mrs. 



136 



