DEC0KAT1VK TEA ROSES AND HOW TO GROW THEM. 555 



DECORATIVE TEA ROSES AND HOW TO GROW THEM. 



By Frank Cant, F.R.H.S. 



My subject under the above heading is open to the question, " Are not all 

 Tea Roses decorative?" They are! but with some it is a matter of 

 degree, very infinitesimal. For instance, while the lordly ' Souvenir 

 d'Elise,' ' Comtesse de Nadaillac,' ' Cleopatra,' and a few others, which are 

 so frequently in evidence in the winning boxes of Roses at shows may be 

 termed decorative in a way, they can in no way compare with ' Maman 

 Cochet,' White Maman Cochet,' ' Madame Lambard,' ' Marie Van 

 Houtte,' and many others for garden decoration. I draw this comparison 

 for the purpose of conveying to the minds of my hearers an idea of what 

 the chief characteristics of a true Decorative Tea Rose must consist. In 

 the first place, I take it, those who grow or wish to grow decorative Tea 

 Roses do so with some object in view — either for the ornamentation of 

 their gardens, or for cutting for embellishing their houses ; and naturally 

 for either purpose none would desire to plant any varieties of Roses which 

 produced few flowers (however magnificent the individual blossoms) or 

 puny growth. Therefore it is all- important, keeping the above objects in 

 view, that a Decorative Tea Rose should have the following qualifications 

 in order to rank as such : — Freedom of growth ; strong constitution ; early, 

 continuous, and late blooming ; practically, as far as possible, indifferent 

 to wet, with great power of reproduction ! This would appear exacting, 

 but it can easily be realised, even amongst what were termed in the 

 earliest days of my Rose-growing experiences " delicate Tea Roses," which 

 are now discovered to be as hardy as, if not more so than, many of the so- 

 called Hybrid Perpetuals. 



I have never liked the term which has been given to these beautiful 

 Tea Roses. To describe them as mere " Decorative Tea Roses " inade- 

 quately describes them, or the place they should occupy. I think, if they 

 were described as " Roses for the garden," the description would convey 

 to the uninitiated some idea of the purpose for which they are most 

 suited. The "Exhibition Roses " and the "Roses for the garden," or, 

 putting it another way, "A garden for a Rose" and "Roses for the 

 garden," reminds me of the "men who ride to hunt " and the " men who 

 hunt to ride." There is just the difference, and each should be used for 

 their most fitting positions ; the one to be protected from rain and dirt 

 for show, the other— just to grow as it pleases. For one the soil and 

 treatment must be rich and liberal (no gates or double ditches) ; for the 

 other soil matters little, and the situation and district less. Tastes difi'er, 

 and of that there can be no doubt ; it is only right and proper they should ; 

 but a taste has developed to a most remarkable extent for the free and 

 continuous blooming "Roses for the garden," be they Teas, Hybrid Teas, 

 Chinas, Rugosas, or any other varieties answering that description, so 

 much so that I almost tremble when I think of the Hybrid Perpetuals 

 ceasing to find a place in many gardens, excepting a very limited number 



