GARDENERS' 



MAGAZINE. 



457 



TH 



QUEST OF THE BLU 



Rose 



has been justly described as one of the grand prodigalities of Nature ; 

 ..... onH romance of Europe and the Orient have awarded it the first 



The rose 

 and the p<- 



{Stol Srarp^rliarnynt-sitting, no doubt, in 

 rose was 



v * 



the month of roses 



us that it 

 that the 



oral nuuwuvui ' ^52! — * , . . _ . 



voted the Queen of Flowers. Man has ungrudgingly accepted her 

 but for ages seems to have been haunted by the idea of changing the 



xo»c m ~~ - - ^ ages 



^ Verel r g and colour'of her'diadem. Following in the footsteps of Baptista Porta 

 f° ntoU ks to a( jd yet another shade to the damask beauty whose natural graces are 

 A ^ed inadequate for exhibition and prize purposes- It goes for little that we 

 h^ad a " black damask " rose for so many years that it is quite out of date ; 



that we have many varieties whose splendid depth of colour seems to shade 

 fat blackness. A Russian rose-grower has, as all the world has just been assured, 



a Zt? U t0 al f Ut teD ; When * tegins to turn pink, until by five o'clock it is of 



ThZtt™ Kl Un * S f> CmS a pUy that k CanDOt Chan 8 e ^ blue by sundown 

 Then the - blue rose man" would be freed from the incubus of his quest, and 

 might in time learn to say with the poet— 4 ' 



" I'll take the showers as they fall, 

 I will not vex my bosom ; 



if at the end of all, 



Enough 

 A little garden blossom.'' 



B 



Roses 



■ tn blackness. fl iv^. .^- s . u ™ t . ^, » a .. u„ ju,, » S u lcU) • P J I 5 , e comrn 'ttee of the N.R.S., at their metropolitan 



iucc'eded at last in producing a black rose. The news may stand for what it is f? ow ' introduced _ a class for buches of roses suitable for button-hole* 



worth; and, leaving this particular flower of Erebus to the care of its cultivator, .^o doubt ray having had an unbroken record of success as an exhibitor 



u ;* * writer in the Globe so well states, more interesting to turn to the line of m this class from that time accounts for our esteemed FHiWc r . n .,^f 



th 



the Globe so well states, more interesting 



:ie aspiration for the rose that shall be "darkly, deeply, beauti- 

 fully blue." • 



Now, the rose-grower is subject to so many natural disquietudes that it would 



seem to be a sheer act of folly gratuitously to add to them. In some seasons the 

 M green fly " alone is enough to deprive him of his natural rest. Then there are 

 the recondite points of arbitrary excellence to which — if he aspires to fame — his 

 blooms must strictly conform. Finally, he falls under the potent spell of the 

 colour mania, in regard to which he realises the truth of the axiom that w Man 

 never is, but always to be blest." Though there is no authentic record of the 

 " issue " of a blue rose, it is not for want of the most strenuous and long-sustained 

 efforts on the part of the seekers. Considering that the quest dates at least from 

 the time of the Moorish dominion in Spain, and that the experimentalists are still 

 busy, few will grudge them the solace of hope. Moreover, the search may be 

 said to be animated by the impulse of perpetual youth, which manfully takes up 

 the running as the elders drop wearied by the way — 



** Youth, a breeze mid blossoms straying, 

 Where hope clings feeding, like a bee." 



The bee is admittedly the florist's greatest natural ally : but even his active indus- 

 try has not yet availed in hastening the era of the blue rose. Scientific men, 

 indeed, declare that the bee has an instinctive preference for blue flowers; 

 though he is too busy and practical an insect to attempt their production on his 

 own account. If any comfort is to be found in didactic quotation the rose-grower 

 may experience it in the assurance that " all thiDgs come to those who wait " 

 But, alas! it is not always the things waited fpr that come. A blue orchid has 

 been discovered, and a blue dahlia has long been an object of desire. But the 

 blue rose is admittedly the highest aim of the floral discolourist, simply because it 

 seems to be the most diflicult of attainment. 



Probably the quest has been pursued with the greatest assiduity in France. 

 Already our neighbours claim the " invention " of innumerable charming varieties, 

 including the striped and the so-called black or purple rose ; and paragraphs no 

 unfrequently appear m their newspapers announcing the advent of «< a nltural rose 

 of blue colour. But though the tint of a particular bloom may momentary 



of t C s r ult "tors 'N h r ? ,aDt Usdf ^ hithert ° dedined t0 COnfor ™ to 



I rL r > 0t ,OI l g Since an eminent French florist offered a prize of 



C r 7 h C e% 0 rm a s D rth i Wh0 ff C0U,d P' oduce a plant on which blue rose S P would 

 "fakers" of K °& Were ob / lousl y tended to eliminate the mere 



Ji a "° wers » who > b X m eans of chemical agencies, often temoorarilv 



K.£? 7? Sha l de - We know to ° wel1 how easily the ingenious purveyor 



a V° T dlfy the natUraI colour of mift- "Sky blue" fs auained bfa 

 ZeZtl T h ^ a - nd P at » arch ^l simplicity, that it is imposs blfnow toaie 



S> Frt^&Zt^sTnL solrtcSS 



on ' Thf occ a aJr Zl'n^ ^ ^l^ttrZ 



Nevertheless thf ln.h» 1 V Zoological Society exhibit their first phoenix. 



so longa pericd aslha7rV^ir a V- CIU .u UUS 01 ai J' , * ut no mania has persisted for 



men » B onlyShom it ^ haslnfe "i ft ? the , Mue r ° Se ' Nor » k " ^ 

 of l•rench^eminiscences « ^ of Member 18, 1840, a book 



He has discov3 IS b me ro J \- f l ? dinner ' He is ^ uite ™ d - 



and Belgian offer fr r a^a no , rticult «al Societies of London 



Happily Bak " La ' u- r l Ward ' and he Wl11 se » the seeds at c fr. each " 

 m mr, Balsac had something better to do, and left the roses to their untutored 



t^^i^Af^Z^S a " T e °»2- a »y green ; and 



have progressed Aro^h vefi /' r** a " d . C,, , mate S radua »y whitened, 



final greatness erf ^b ueand If™ Sut Co , m P a ' a f vel y &w have achieved the 

 But -nil desperandum' » h ; esneli V"i aVe a " ow f ed u 11 to be " thrust " upon them. 



Wue rose as in some Tort tK Kl 7 T"° ° f ft ,1orist ' who sti11 «gards the 

 year since Dr «SL?*,ft b,u 5 nband of the floral world. It is many a 



in this class from that time accounts for our esteemed Editor's request 

 for a few notes on the subject of " Button-hole " Roses. It is a pity that 

 other soc.et.es have not followed the N.R.S. schedule, for as with garden 



S'J ,OVe,y b , U , nches of these P° inted buds ' gracefully arranged, 

 make a charming addition to a show, and take off the stiffness created 

 by long rows of cut blooms. 



It must be admitted by all lovers of flowers that the rose is the 

 universal favourite button-hole flower. Of all classes of roses the tea 

 family, in my op.nion, take the lead for this purpose, and for many 

 reasons. They are almost the first to bloom, and are certainly the last 

 to leave us. Again, it having been proved of late years that their con- 

 stitutions are almost as hardy as many of the H.P.'s, they can be grown 

 in any garden where the soil is warm and dry without being coddled in 

 winter blankets, as was once thought necessary. Their many varied and 

 delicate tints of colour and long, pointed buds also commend them. In 

 giving a list of the varieties most suitable for button-holes I will not 

 weary readers with a description of each variety. That can be easily 

 obtained from any rose catalogue. " 



The following varieties are the best in the tea class : Amazone, Anna 

 Olivier Connna, Isabella Sprunt, L'Ideale, Ma Capucine-this Is pro- 

 bably the most beautiful of all the fancy coloured tea roses ; the colour is 

 very difficult to describe, being a bronzy yellow and orange-scarlet ; very 

 free-flowering, but a moderate grower-Madame Charles, Madame 

 Chedane Guinotsseau, Madame Falcot, ' Madame Hoste, Madame 

 Lambard, Madame de Watteville, Marie Van Houtte, Niphetos, the best 

 white for growine under glass, but very few succeed with it outside s 

 1 apa Gontier, Rubens, probably the best of its colour, with exquisite long 

 pointed buds, flowering and growing very freely with us ; Safrano, 

 Sunset, and W. A. Richardson (noisette), which is by no means to be 

 despised. 



The hybrid teas form a class that is rapidly coming to the front 

 among roses generally, and certainly containing a few varieties very 

 suitable for buttonholes, the following being the best : Camoens, Gustave 

 Regis, Madame Pernet Ducher, and W. F. Bennett. The latter variety 

 is very little known, but is a most reliable and early-flowering rose with 

 us. Among the polyanthas we have two of our most exquisite miniature 

 varieties, viz., Cecile Brunner and Perle d'Or. In the Chinas is found 

 one of the best varieties in Laurette Messimy. 



Coming to the H.P.'s, although this class cannot boast such a 

 variety in form and colour as do the teas, still we cannot afford to despise 

 them, as it is to this class we must go for those deep velvety-crimson 

 kinds so much admired, and among which the following are the best : 

 General Jacqueminot, Fisher Holmes, Victor Hugo, Prince Arthur, and 

 Prince Camille de Rohan. 



In growing buttonhole roses, no particular care is required in their 

 culture ; one thing should, however, be remembered, and that is, do not 

 prune too hard, particularly such varieties as Marie Van Houtte, Madame 

 Hoste, Madame Lambard, &c, these being exhibition kinds. To those 

 who are not at all familiar with thegrowth and habit of any of the above varie- 

 ties, and who intend planting during the coming season, I would recom- 

 mend the following dozen as being very good, and certain to give good 

 results : General Jacqueminot, Fisher Holmes, Papa Gontier, Laurette 

 Messimy, Madame Lambard, Anna Olivier, Gustave Regis, Madame 

 Chedane Guinoisseau, Madame Falcot, Madame Hoste, Rubens, and 

 Marie Van Houtte. 



Oxford. 



J. R. Mattock. 



T 



Qu 



D 



J 



lee Cup for 



Roses 



year since Dr. Lindlev ■ told th. ^ a T u, n HoraI Wor,d - II is many 

 "d, though not to T vellow • h J^?* "if fl ° Wer wiH char g e to whit e - 



red, but never blue Nature i! in f \ 8 • 7 • fl ° Wer wiU ^come white or All the rosarians who read the Gardeners' Magazine, and they are legion, 



the main reason why the enthmW K P arsimoni ous m blue, which is probably will thank you for your representation of this handsome cup, which honours her 



blue rose has not yet arrived Preen S k!° lm Jf S1I l g *• B «t though the gracious Majesty the Queen as well as the winner. After a severe contest Mr. 



Uf these, however, beyond 'hei™ I > lil? a > exlnbited on several occasions. Benjamin R. Cant has won the cup for two years in succession, and is now able 



come ; and they are p^blv a 1 wo "der, nothing seems to have to place it for good in the chief place of honour amid his marshalled hosts of these 



And if by any possibility the huJl™* ™> G d . e 8« ne . rac y rather than advance. trophies that so richly adorn his beautiful home, environed on all sides with tens 



to revert to an early sta^e of i/<f ™t a obtained, it would seem more likely of thousands of roses. As an old friend and neighbour of Mr. Cant's for many 



should become fixed and development than that the imposed shade years in East Anglia, who has noted with intense interest and pleasure his rise, 



records some of the attemot, «f t Li a • t < ?^ nda ° t s. Gerard, the herbalist, progress, and brilliant success, will you kindly permit me thus publicly to congratu- 



Pause wj tn the S i gnificant r H em "^^ a „ f thls d,r ection 5 but he soon comes to a late him on this crowning victory of his great career. Most rosarians were 



Sl syphus' stone, or number th. » iecoant ™s experiments were to roll disappointed to find the honoured name of the veteran B. R. Cant omitted from 



The old-world A sancis. lL . _»j_h:»*_ tv u„ia j_ t..l.-, 1 ?. . 



t^nts, near the to? uX^h?? vT^t l °- pknt rue » or ot her ill-smelling 

 But the scientific Acuhurist whn f l^, lmparted to '* a sweeter P erfume - 

 byrnuch mo recoSme:^*^^^ X IT^fe*" ^ .^wers works 



"/ much more recondite m ™ t j r llluucnce in e colour of Mowers works 

 tory. His -stSaUve atnl » • »^ ° * P°, ttin g-^ed he requires a labora- 



"senic, ammonia, sulohurir ?t W m . c . de sev eral of the salts of iron and. zinc, and well-established varieties, seasoned here and there with such noveldes as 



Jjes Alum and iron fil Ls are' CnS^i 6 °i l he aniline series of Medea ' Golden Gate « IIe,en Kdler ' Mrs ' W ' ^ Grant > and that among the 



in y fr ^ eans » he has av^L r^^^ /^} 0 ^ 1 » nd by SOme of these ' or older varieties, with a history of twenty three years, was Prince Arthur, one of the 



n bestowing a M bludsh" tint ,Snn ^ a sIatv ^.e. and has even succeeded several fine roses introduced by Mr. Benjamin Cant, who always grew this, 



the treat m*^ * _ . unt upon other flowers which nnlv r«, r*u; n u t »c.n» u.v f avour ite seedling, as he did so many other roses, better than anyone else. 



12, Letter Row, Edinburgh. - D. T. Fish. 



however, a higher honour, and all his rose comrades and friends will join in 

 wishing him long life and better health to enjoy his last and highest as well as his 

 many other well-merited honours. In looking through the list of roses on page 

 417 one is delighted to find that the Queen's Cup, in the main, was won by old 

 and well-established varieties, seasoned here and there with such novelties as 



the treatment. AwSLJStSS fe r? which onI y too plainly resent 



natlve rose found m the Philippines is said to be pure white 



