American Gardening 



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MARCH, 1892 



No. ^ 



A SOUTH CAROLINA ROSE GARDEN. 



rarest varieties. 



'"^j URING the long blooming sea- 

 I son, one of the most curious 

 and attractive sights in 

 I Charleston is Prof. Shepard's 

 -J rose garden on Meeting St. 

 Seldom does a passer-by fail 

 to stop to admire the won- 

 derful wealth of roses and 

 rose-vines of the richest and 

 Along the street a trellis about 

 40 feet in length and 12 feet in height is heavily 

 laden with the most resplendent and fragrant beau- 

 ties, including Marechal Niel, Marie Henriette, 

 Devoniensis, Cloth-of-Gold, Madame Eugenie Ver- 

 dier and other aristocratic relations, so that the 

 whole front of the garden is obscured yet bright- 

 ened by the lovely display. All, however, draw 

 life and nourishment from a common parent — a 

 Lady Banksia stem about 50 years old and a foot 

 and a half in diameter at the base. From 12 to 15 

 feet from the ground, among its branches, may be 

 seen the bulbous formations where the budding or 

 grafting was so skillfully performed. With all the 

 added vines the tree now covers not only the 40-foot 

 trellis along the street with a profusion of beauty, 

 but the vines have been trained up on the piazza, 

 which is about 65 feet in length and 45 in height. 

 The square area of the piazza is covered, and the 

 topmost shoots are making their ambitious way to 

 the roof. On the east side of the piazza is another 

 trellis with almost as large an area s that cn Meet 

 ing street, and that, too, is completely hidden by the 

 progeny of the grand old tree. On this latter trellis 

 the vines cling fearlessly to copper wires. Though 

 Prof. Shepard had been informed that copper wire 

 would be the death of his roses, he risked the ex- 



periment, and the hundreds of gorgeous roses and 

 the healthy green of the vines demonstrate every 

 season that the theory about the death-dealing 

 property of copper wire is a botanical fallacy. 



In another part of the garden Blairii No. 2, a 

 standard rose, has contradicted the general impres- 

 sion that standard roses cannot be satisfactorily 

 grown in that section. Its stem, on Manetti stock, 

 is three feet in height and from three to four inches 

 in diameter, while the almost round grafted rose 

 which rests thereon has a diameter of at least 

 seven feet. 



The climbing Madame Eugenie Verdier has 

 proved a great success, especially when budded on 

 Lady Banksia and Manetti stocks. True, it blooms 

 only in the spring to any considerable extent, but 

 its great beauty and profusion of flowers make it a 

 very valuable acquisition. It has a fairly vigorous 

 growth, and is suitable for a trellis or pillar. The 

 best stocks for budding upon in that climate are the 

 Lady Banksia and Manetti ; indeed, they are prob- 

 ably the only ones. The former should, if possible, 

 be planted in the spot where it is intended to grow 

 the rose, and be allowed to get well established be- 

 fore the budding is attempted. It does not tolerate 

 moving about after attaining any size. 



In Charleston the most remunerative roses are of 

 the climbing Noisette class, and none is more so 

 than the chaste and elegant Devoniensis, which is 

 easily the queen of Charleston gardens. When 

 properly budded it grows with great vigor and yields 

 its exquisite buds or fully developed roses in the 

 greatest profusion. Cloth-of-Gold is very difficult 

 to bring to perfection, but is superb when success- 

 fully grown. Reve d'Or blooms freely, particularly 

 in autumn, when the large size of its flowers and 



