THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
June, 1 9 1 3 
250 
Rosa mulutlora, the original Chinese prototype which has given us in part the modem 
Rambler Rose 
the Rose been employed in the 
breeding of garden Roses. 
Thus, leaving completely aside 
the innate tendency to varia- 
tion on the part of Roses of to- 
day, it is obvious that Rose 
breeders and specialists have 
still a wide untrodden field in 
which to experiment. It can- 
not be expected that every 
species will be found useful in 
the advancement of the Rose, 
yet at the same time only ex- 
periment, long continued, can 
decide which are useful or use- 
less. Beit remembered that our 
present-day Roses owe their 
principal origin to forms cul- 
tivated, we know not how long, 
by the flower-loving Chinese. 
The prototypes of the Bengal 
and Tea Roses have single 
flowers, and blossom but once 
a year. When these forms 
gave rise to “monthly bloom- 
ing” Roses, or how the latter 
originated is unknown. Pos- 
sibly, it was some erratic sport 
or maybe it was due to a 
radical change in environment 
caused by the removal of the 
parent plants to a region where 
the seasons were less fixed or 
winter unknown. However, 
be this as it may, a Rose with 
a decided tendency toward 
perpetual blooming was the 
most marked advance in the 
genus, from a garden view 
point, that had occurred up to 
that time. How modern hybridists have 
taken advantage of this variation needs 
no comment. 
YELLOW ROSES 
All Rose breeders have their ideals but 
in striving after size, form, color, freedom 
of blossom and of habit, after good foliage, 
hardiness, constitution, keeping qualities of 
the flowers and the like, fragrance should 
not be lost sight of. We want Roses good 
in all points. We want fragrant Roses in in- 
creasing quantities. We want a Rambler 
Rose with pure white flowers as large and 
as freely produced as in the Crimson 
Rambler. Also we want yellow Ramblers, 
yellow Hybrid Perpetuals, more yellow 
Hybrid Teas and Tea Roses. 
Where can we look for these yellow Roses? 
Now, of wild Roses with clear yellow flowers 
there are only known seven species: the 
Simple-leaved Rose ( R . persica ), Austrian 
Briar ( R . foetida), Sulphur Rose (R. hemis- 
phaerica), Mrs. Aitchison’s Rose ( R . Ecae) 
— all natives of Asia Minor and Persia to 
central Asia (Austrian Briar is also found 
in the Crimea) — Father Hugh’s Rose (R. 
Hugonis ) and Lindley’s Rose (R. xanthina) 
natives of northern China. The latter, 
though named in 1820 from a Chinese draw- 
ing and long cultivated in Peking where 
double and single-flowered forms occur, 
was only introduced to cultivation a year 
ago by F. N. Meyer of the U. S. Department 
of Agriculture. Father Hugh’s Rose was 
raised at Kew in 1899. The others have 
been known for a long period and some have 
been and still are being used by Rose 
breeders. The Double Sulphur or Yellow 
Provence Rose has been known since the 
seventeenth century. The Yellow Persian 
was brought back from Persia in 1838, by 
Sir Henry Willock and is presumably a form 
of R. foetida. The Harrison Rose is either 
a form of this or more probably a hybrid 
between it and R. spinossisima. All these 
Roses will doubtless play an important part 
in the future, but, personally, I am of the 
opinion that the yellow and buff-colored 
forms of Rosa gigantea are the Roses that 
will be found of greatest value in the evol- 
tion of the yellow Roses of the future. The 
rampant growth and sparseness of blossom 
may be urged against them, but who can 
say how much these characters may be 
modified under cultivation and by the 
hybridist? Forms of the Scotch Rose ( R . 
spinosissima ) have nearly yellow flowers 
but the only other really yellow Roses 
known are R. Banksiae var. lutea and the 
single-flowered R. Banksiae var. lutescens, 
neither yet known in a wild state. 
Wild Roses are pretty and charming 
plants, yet it cannot be claimed that their 
beauty transcends that of other groups of 
wild flowers. Nevertheless, the Rose holds 
a unique place in the thought 
and estimation of civilized 
man. In poetry and prose 
its beauty has been extolled 
far and wide in many tongues. 
The old Persian poet, Omar 
Khayyam, in the eleventh 
century sang its praises and 
a Damask Rose now grows 
on his grave and also on that 
of his first English trans- 
lator, Edward Fitzgerald. 
A UNIVERSAL NAME 
The Rose is the one flower 
whose name is common to 
the polyglot people of this 
land. In English, French, 
German, Danish, and Nor- 
wegian its name is Rose; in 
Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, 
Russian, and Latin it is Rosa; 
in Swedish it is Ros, in 
Dutch Roos, in Bohemian 
Ruze, in Hungarian Rozsa 
and in Greek Rhodon. Is 
not this both remarkable and 
significant? It is the national 
flower of one great race, 
but it is loved by all and is 
the monopoly of no one race 
nor creed. In one internecine 
war it was used as an em- 
blem by opposing factions. 
In this country’s Civil War 
the Cherokee Rose was often 
planted as a memorial on 
the graves of fallen heroes 
by their surviving comrades. 
And to-day, the sight of the 
white flowers of this Rose wells up from 
the heart of many a veteran scenes of 
carnage and strife and brings back mem- 
ories of comrades laid to rest beneath its 
shade. 
In this and other lands the Rose has 
societies devoted to encouraging its ad- 
vancement and rightly so. But in some 
ways the Rose of all flowers least needs the 
help of special societies. It is the one 
flower which for some inscrutable reason 
has never lost its popularity and by this 
same token never will. 
The story of the Modern Rose is a story 
of progress and as such holds a peculiar 
fascination over all. The Near East gave 
the first fruits to the West; the Far East 
in due course added its bounty. Europe 
began the improvement, and soon this 
country took up a share. The peoples of 
Asia, Europe, and North America have 
evolved the Modern Rose. With the rapid 
advance in the science of hybridizing and 
the introduction of species and forms from 
far and near new races will be evolved 
and new eras in the development of the 
Rose will arise. The story here briefly 
sketched is but the prelude to the full 
story of the Rose which the future will 
gradually unfold. 
[The next article of Mr. Wilson’s series, to appear 
in the July number of The Garden Magazine, 
will be entitled “Consider the Lilies.”) 
