MR. RIVERS ON STANDARD CLIMBING ROSES. 
** Standard Climbing Roses!”—an odd assemblage of terms, and 
yet I know not what else to call them: “Weeping Roses” is 
scarcely applicable, for they are not all strictly pendulous. How 
diversified are the purposes to which the beautiful Rose is applied ! 
Have we an unsightly wall, it may be hidden by Climbing Roses; 
an ornamental verandah to embellish, what so beautiful as some of 
the Climbing Noisette Roses a wilderness to ornament, nothing to 
equal some of the varieties of Sempervirens and Ayrshire Roses, suf¬ 
fered to grow as nature dictates; a highly dressed lawn to finish, 
what can be more beautiful than clumps of Bourbon and other 
Autumnal Roses ?—but of this more anon. Your pages will, I 
trust, often derive additional interest from articles on the Rose and 
its culture; my business is now with those rustic beauties named 
at the head of this article; at present they are too little known, but 
I hope to make them more so. 
Some six years since, having some rose-stocks five or six feet 
high, and stout as broom-handles, I was induced to try what effect 
some of the beautiful varieties of Rosa Sempervirens would have if 
budded on them, as I had some latent idea that they would form 
very graceful pendulous trees; I accordingly selected from that 
family a few of its most interesting varieties. These trees are, in 
the blooming season, pictures of beauty ; not a shoot has ever been 
touched by the pruning-knife, there is consequently no formality; 
their beauty consists in their gracefulness and rusticity, which is 
quite refreshing in contrast to the closely-pruned heads of the finer 
varieties of Standard Roses. 
The most interesting sorts in the above-named group for stand¬ 
ards are the following -Banksiseflora, with very double flowers, 
pure white, the centre of each bloom pale yellow or straw-colour. 
Donna Maria, flowers comparatively large, very double, and of the 
purest white. Felicitd Perpetuelle, with flowers of a creamy white, 
tinted with pink on the outside: it really is perfect enjoyment to 
see this Rose, in a balmy morning in June, covered with its flowery 
gems more numerous than its leaves. Myrianthes, with its abund¬ 
ance of flowers of the most delicate pink, is equally worthy of a 
place on the lawn. Princesse Louise is also a charming variety, 
with flowers nearly of the same colour as the preceding, but larger, 
and more cupped. Princesse Marie is nearly the deepest in colour 
of this elegant group; its foliage is also darker, and its habit more 
robust than some others : it soon forms a most beautiful standard. 
In fine contrast is Rampant, with its flowers of pearly white : this 
lovely variety is most slender and graceful in its habit, and continues 
a long time in bloom; it also often gives a second crop of flowers 
