54 



FLORA AND SYLVA, 



Shaded Yellow 

 Flowers. 



the best, is Ear/swood Beauty ', a flower 

 of primrose colour with a distinct green 

 disk and slightly drooping petals — 

 quite the best of its shade. Pretoria is 

 of deep yellow and showy, with a con- 

 spicuous green eye. The small yellow 

 flowers of Miss A. Holden, the pretty 

 sport from Ma?y A?iderson, are charm- 

 ing in sprays, early, and lasting. Two 

 peculiar flowers areZ/<? Sokil, with long 

 tubular florets set as diverging rays, and 

 Mrs. James Carter, a flower suggestive 

 of Sweet Sultan; both are a little lack- 

 ing in colour, but differ in form from all 

 others. 



The choice of these mixed shades 

 is not large, but includes a few beautiful 

 flowers. First amongst 

 the seedlings is Wimiie 

 Sherriug, a robust mid- 

 season plant of good habit with flowers 

 well displayed. These are large and 

 show their finest colour when thinned, 

 coming 4 to 5 inches across, with petals 

 of deep orange shaded red beneath, and 

 on the inside towards the centre ; if not 

 disbudded the blooms are much paler. 

 Miss I?ia Money, with large crimson- 

 shaded flowers upon long stems, is good, 

 but should not be closely thinned ; its 

 later flowers are finest in colour, the first 

 Dften coming pure yellow. Mrs. A. J. 

 Solley is distinct in its shade of light 

 Indian-red, but the long narrow petals 

 are so flat and stiff as to give it almost 

 an artificial look. Older sorts, in which 

 shades of orange and crimson combine, 

 are Ear/swood Terra-cotta, a good plant 

 for all purposes, dwarf, and profuse ; 

 Mrs. Baillie, late in flower and a fine 

 shade of chestnut-red ; and Mrs. Ker- 



monae, a beautiful and strangely-formed 

 flower in which a single row of florets 

 are first narrow and tubular, opening 

 out flat at about half their length with 

 the prettiest effect. 



THE BANKSIAN ROSES. 



Even though under our northern skies the 

 Banksian Roses cannot equal in beauty those 

 of southern Europe, it is possible by careful 

 planting to get results, in many parts of the 

 south and west of England, which make these 

 fine climbers well worth growing. In all but 

 the bleakest situations south of the Thames 

 Valley the yellow Banksian Rose may be ex- 

 pected to bloom freely in normal seasons, and 

 even as far north as the Menai Straits a well- 

 protected plant has not only reached a great 

 size but has flowered well every year. In more 

 northern and colder districts the tenderness of 

 the Banksian Roses make them too uncertain 

 for the open, but they will do well on a back 

 wall and amongst the rafters under glass, and, 

 being very free in growth, may be used for 

 budding other kinds, e.g., Cloth of Gold, which 

 so rarely flowers well out of doors, but often 

 blooms abundantly when grafted. One of the 

 most striking collections of Roses I ever saw 

 was composed of a great number of ingrafted 

 branches inserted upon a very long stretch of 

 Banksian Rose used to mask one of the terrace 

 walls so common on the Mediterranean coast. 

 Many of the best kinds in cultivation had been 

 thus brought together and in the height of the 

 season hung in rich clusters with great effect. 

 But the commonest use for Banksian Roses in 

 the south is to ramble over trees, and, for the 

 sake of their beauty in such conditions, some 

 attempt should be made to grow them in this 

 way in quite the warmest parts of our shore- 

 lands. In the south of Europe pruning, which 

 with us often helps the ripening of the shoots, 

 is unnecessary ; the Rose is planted at the foot 

 of the tree, with no more than an occasional 

 tie to keep it in place until it is fairly started. 

 In due time the first thin shoots appear at the 

 top of the tree, increasing each year in length 

 and vigour, until they dominate all else and fall 

 to the ground in weeping trails covered each 

 spring with myriads of flower-clusters. When 



