Axtgust 4. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
337 ! 
five other standards of such Roses as are not so strong 
as the centre one, and ouly three feet high in the stem, 
are planted eighteen inches from the grass; their heads 
meet all round the bed, and form a bottom diameter , as 
it were, to the centre pillar elevated on the standard, so 
that the stem part of the centre Rose is not seen ; after 
them, a good growing dwarf Rose is planted between 
each of the standards, and these must put their chief 
| strength on the outside next the grass, the inside being 
so much in the shade of the standards, so that the bed 
is soon quite as full as if it had been planted, in the first 
instance, with a full-grown pyramid, ten feet in diameter; 
j the bed, meanwhile, is the best disposition of Roses ever 
yet thought upon ; indeed, it ought to be seen in full 
beauty of flower, as I saw a dozen of them July 7th, to 
be fully appreciated. 
Mr. Page, the gardener, who manages these Roses, 
agrees with me, that that is the only way that their 
standard pyramids are suitable for; and also that 
without a standard pyramid in the centre, such beds 
can never be made to tell so effectively. Altogether, 
I was highly pleased with this part of their system 
of growing Roses. It struck me, that if three kinds 
of Roses were used for such a bed it would be still 
more telling on a stranger, as he might think, natu¬ 
rally enough, that but one Rose was used, that it 
was an immense pillar Rose, with the Rose blooms in 
three stages of bloom, or development; or the planting 
might be with a view to show how best to shade any three 
distinct varieties—say Madame Lajfay , as a pyramid 
for the middle standard, then five standards of Geant 
des Batailles, and standard of Marengo for a dwarf on 
the outside; also, Mrs. Elliot, for the centre; William 
Jesse next; and Comte de Montalivet to the outside 
row; or any other three of the same class, and in one or 
three shades, just as fancy may direct. In some of the 
beds here there is the middle pyramid as above, then 
the row of standards, and the surface of the bed below 
with bedding plants, as Calceolarias, Verbenas, and the 
• like, all very rich and very gay. Some of the strong 
growing Roses are in pyramids, but are brought up 
nearly of the same diameter from the bottom ; these 
might and ought to be called Rose-columns. Then 
there are Rose-tents, ending in domes at the top ; a 
climber in the centre, like the handle of an umbrella; 
then six pyramids in a circle round that, and five, or 
six, or more feet from the centre, are carried up seven 
feet high, an iron ring, at that height, connecting them 
together; from this ring the top of the pillars are trained 
doom fashion, to join the centre climber. Here is a 
regular Rose tent for a tea-party ; and when the tent is 
on the line of a walk, and you have to pass through it, 
the effect is very good. Some of the pyramids end in a 
single shoot, and that is thought by some to be the ne 
plus ultra of Rose-training; but the different forms of 
pillars, pyramids, or colours, give a great variety, and, 
I think, more richness to the scene. 
Of the ordinary standard and dwarf Roses there aro 
also as many forms and sizes as are to be seen else¬ 
where, but being in general use, they need no particular 
description. I noted the following as instances that 
may be followed, however, with great advantage :—The 
common, crimson, and other Moss Roses, on their own 
roots, in pillars eight, ten, and twelve feet high, clothed 
from the ground to the top; Fulgens, ditto, ten feet; 
Coupe de Hebe, eight, ten, and twelve feet, magnificent; 
Paul Perras, ten feet; Las Casses, ten feet; Persian 
Yellow, ten feet! Blairii, from twelve to sixteen feet; 
Boule de Nantieul, commonly a dwarf, and one of the 
darkest, seven, ten, and twelve feet high, and pro¬ 
portionally in diameter! Great Western, ten feet; 
Duchess of Sutherland, seven feet; La Dauphin, a 
fine, light, pillar Rose, ten feet; Chenedole, ten and 
| twelve feet, magnificent; Henry Barbet, eight and 
ten feet; Paul Bicaut, a splendid first-class dark j' 
Rose, seven feet already; and selections from all 
the classes running in the same style, the diameters 
being from three to eight feet. The Malmaison Rose, 
on its own roots, is five or six feet high, and from two 
feet to a yard through. Auguste Mie, a splendid light 
Rose, and a hybrid perpetual, is quite a novelty in that 
class. An old hybrid China, called Parigot, is fully as 
good as the Standard of Marengo. Vesta, a semidouble 
Rose, and the highest coloured one, I remember thirty 
years ago, and which I have not seen these twenty years, 
is very fine here; another called Miralba is nearly as 
black as jet Comte Bobrinsky isamorefirey Rose than 
Geant de Batailles ; it is what I call the double Gloire 
de Iiosamene, and would make a splendid bed, edged 
with Fabvier, or perhaps better with Mrs. Bosanquet, 
but it should be on its own roots. This is a good 
time to put in cuttings of all such; little side-shoots 
taken off with a heel are almost sure to.grow if put in 
at all workmanlike; and after what I have seen at 
Bank Grove, added to my old notions, I am quite 
satisfied that nine-tenths of our best Roses would grow 
better on their own roots than when worked. 
All Roses require a rich soil, but two-tliirds of them will 
grow and do well in soil that would starve our own Dog 
Rose, and I should not be sorry to see this hip Rose cast 
to the dogs altogether, and be done with it; besides, there 
are two or three like it growing in our hedge-rows, 
which few can distinguish except when in leaf, and not 
always then, and these are good for nothing. The soil 
about Kingston is a very light sandy loam, on gravel or 
sand, and not far from water, yet, with good rotten 
dung, it is surprising to see Roses bloom so well. I did 
not enquire at Bank Grove how the rose-beds are made, 
but I suspect they are filled with the same loam from 
Wimbledon which gives such a gloss to their Camellias, 
and such stiffness and bloom to their Geraniums. 
In bedding-out plants they are as rich as any of our ducal 
gardens. They have two of the finest Tom Thumbs in 
the world; they are now out in two boxes large enough 
for the largest American Aloe, and each of them will be 
from five to six feet in diameter before the end of the 
season; they were as much last year, and all from one 
root; and they have lots in vases coming up to that size 
as fast as they let them. A bed of Sense Unique was 
very rich, also the Unique, Tom Thumb, Punch, and 
Compactum, and a new Compactum, I never saw or 
heard of before, with dark scarlet flowers, which must 
get its way to all good gardens. Flower of the Day, 
Mountain of Light, and another very good variegated 
one, intermediate between the two, Punch or Tom 
Thumb, in a bed, with a circle of the Flower of the Day, 
does well. This variegated Geranium, being neither 
scarlet or pink, and the white of the leaf is so soft, that 
it will always tell better as an edging than as a whole 
bed by itself; at least I think so, for I have not vet seen 
a large bed of it, and one can hardly judge properly by 
a small or moderate example. If the Mountain of 
Light is a profuse bloomer, and that I am not yet sure 
of, it must make a good bedder, and put down Flower of 
the Day. Without flowers, you would not know the one 
front the other; but to balance the white and richness 
of the leaves there must be a blaze of good-coloured 
bloom. I saw here a large plant of the new variegated 
Geranium Prince of Orange —it is as sweet as the old 
form, and a far more genteel-looking plant, being more 
slender in all the parts. It makes a third shade in 
variegated Geraniums, and if I was on the turf again 
1 would take advantage of this, and be the first to have 
a shaded bed of Variegateds. My bed would be a circle 
of nine feet through; the centre would be well raised, 
and planted with this variegated Prince, a yard through, 
then Mangles, two rows, and the outside of Flower of 
the Day. 
