THE LADIES’ MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 329 
shire, Rosa arvensis ; and two of the finest are the Queen of the Belgians, 
a beautiful white rose, and Rosa ruga , a hybrid between the common 
Ayrshire and the tea-scented China, but quite hardy. This last is 
decidedly the best of all the climbing roses, from the beauty and fragrance 
of its flowers, and their great abundance. It is also of a very elegant 
habit of growth. The Ayrshire roses generally bloom a fortnight earlier 
than most other climbing roses; 44 they will grow where no other rose 
will existand they are admirably adapted for covering outhouses, or 
any walls that it may be wished to conceal; for making bowers; 
and for climbing up the naked trunks of trees. They may also be used 
as undergrowth. None of these roses should be pruned. 
The evergreen climbing roses are all varieties or hybrids from what 
Mr. Rivers calls 44 the climbing wild rose of Italy (Rosa sempervirens ).” 
These roses Mr. Rivers describes as follows :— 44 The varieties of Rosa 
sempervirens are of the easiest culture, as they seem to flourish in all 
soils and situations. In sheltered places and under trees they are nearly 
evergreen, retaining their leaves till spring. This makes them valuable 
for covering banks, trees, or walls. I know of no rose idea prettier than 
that of a wilderness of evergreen roses, the varieties planted promiscuously, 
and suffered to cover the surface of the ground with their entangled shoots. 
To effect this the ground should be dry, manured, and thoroughly cleaned 
from perennial weeds, such as couch-grass, &c., and the plants planted 
from three to five feet asunder. If the soil is rich, the latter distance wi\l 
do ; they must be hoed amongst, and kept clean from weeds after planting, 
till the branches meet; they will then soon form a beautiful mass of 
foliage and flowers, covering the soil too densely for weeds of minor growth 
to flourish. Those weeds that are more robust should be pulled out 
occasionally, and this is all the culture they will require; for temples, 
columns, and verandahs, their use is now becoming well known. They 
also form elegant and graceful standards; like the Ayrshire roses, their 
shoots are pendulous, and soon hide the stem, in a few years forming a 
pretty dome of foliage and flowers. They are also very useful for covering 
the naked stems of forest, or ornamental trees ; as their roots will not 
injure the tree which supports them ; and if strong copper wire is brought 
loosely round the trunk of the tree to support their branches, they will 
give scarcely any trouble in such situations. To make them grow 
vigorously, give them a supply of manure on the surface annually, in the 
autumn, to be carried to their roots by the rains of winter. In autumn 
or winter pruning, their branches must be left their full length, for, if 
shortened, they will make prodigious long shoots the following season, but 
produce no flowers : as they are very flexible, they can be laid in and 
