June 27, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
685 
to the drip from a water-tap in front of it. The house 
is never shaded, and the door is generally open all day 
during summer, so that the foliage, no doubt, owes its 
leathery character in part to that circumstance. The 
vigour of the flower stems, and the fact of their being 
produced at all, may be owing in a measure to the 
abundant ventilation and the maturation of the tissues. 
- ► > ► £< - - 
DAMASK ROSES. 
Damask Roses are generally grouped as Rosa Damas- 
cena, and it is said that the introduction of the Damask 
Rose dates as far back as 1573, when, as is supposed, 
it was introduced from Syria. But 1 have searched in 
vain in Messrs. Paul & Son’s.last catalogue of Roses for 
a group of Damask Roses. Mr. Shirley Hibberd, in 
his Amateur's Rose Book, 
described the Damask Roses 
as being characterized by 
pale green pubescent leaves, 
which give them a distinc¬ 
tive appearance in the 
rosery. The common simple 
Damask or Monthly Rose is 
a capital town shrub, 
thriving in any kind of soil, 
and flowering most profusely. 
With us it is a glorious 
weed running wild in the 
shrubbery, and occasionally 
requiring to be forked out 
with as little ceremony as if 
it were couch grass. They 
require abundant manuring 
and rather close pruning. 
Rosa alba is a section of 
the Damask, and requires 
the same treatment. 
From an old edition of 
Paul’s Rose Garden I glean 
the following information :— 
“ Damask Roses (Rosa 
Dainascena).— In common 
parlance all dark Roses are 
termed Damask, probably 
from the first dark varieties 
having borne this name. 
But this is erroneous, as there 
are dark Roses belonging to 
almost every group ; and 
there are Damask Roses of 
various colours — some are 
even white. The Damask 
Rose is readily distinguished 
from others by a robustness 
of growth in conjunction 
with rough spinous shoots 
and downy coriaceous leaves 
of a light green colour. 
Owing to this latter feature 
they present a striking con¬ 
trast when introduced among 
other groups. The flowers 
are mostly of a fair size ; 
some are large, and all are 
showy. Belonging to them 
are some very pretty pink 
Roses, with a delicate tint 
of salmon pervading the 
flowers, rendering them alike 
distinct and beautiful. The 
Damask Rose is allowed to 
be of great antiquity ; some 
suppose it to be of this that 
Virgil speaks in the “ Georgies,” and elsewhere. It is 
generally believed that it was first introduced to 
England in 1573, but Johnson, in The History of Gar¬ 
dening, says the learned Linacre, who died in 1524, 
first introduced the Damask Rose from Italy. 
For 200 years after its introduction this Rose under¬ 
went but little change ; modern Rose growers, however, 
have improved and varied it to such a degree, that the 
favourites of so long standing are threatened with 
oblivion. The Damask Roses are all very hardy, 
thriving well as standards or dwarfs ; they do not form 
compact-headed trees, but their growth is graceful— 
rather more rambling than that of the French Roses. 
They flower abundantly, the flowers in some instances 
resting among the leaves and branches which surround 
them ; in others they are elevated above. Ic is chiefly 
from the petals of this species, in common with those 
of the Provence (Rosa centifolia), that rose-water is 
distilled. If I were to order from a leading Rose 
nurseryman, a half-dozen varieties of Damask Roses, I 
wonder what he would send me I—A!. D. 
but these are bringing up the rear in the most useful 
form. We grow them on shelves close to the glass at 
the back of the Pine stoves, firmly potted in loam with 
Thomson’s Manure given as a stimulant. These pots 
are placed into others of a larger size, half filled with 
loam firmly rammed, and when the fruit is set there is 
a good real surfacing given. With water liberally 
supplied our Melon-growing gives little trouble. — 
Stirling. 
CULTURE OF VANDA TERES 
AT GUNNERSBURY PARK. 
It seldom happens that the public have the privilege 
of seeing such a group of Vanda teres as was exhibited 
at the Temple show by Mr. Reynolds, gardener to the 
Messrs, de Rothschild, Gunnersbury Park, Acton. 
The plants as seen there 
were in pots of some size, it 
is true, but then they were 
really in 60’s, and only 
inserted within the larger 
ones on the occasion of the 
show, to prevent them 
from toppling over. Every 
plant consisted of a single 
stem, because the practice 
of frequent propagation has 
hitherto been pursued, more 
with the necessity of keep¬ 
ing the plants dwarf than 
for any other reason. At 
first, and for some years, 
the bulk of the specimens 
at Gunnersbury Park were 
grown in a section of a 
pit where they were isolated 
from other plants, so that 
special treatment might be 
given them. As a con¬ 
siderable amount of growth 
was made every year the 
plants soon got too tall 
for the pit, and the tops 
were therefore removed and 
used as cuttings. These 
flowered as freely as old 
plants, and the individual 
blooms with the good treat¬ 
ment afforded were larger 
than if they had been 
produced by large half- 
starved specimens. 
The bottom of the pots 
was filled with charcoal and 
potsherds, affording thorough 
drainage, while the rest 
consisted of sphagnum 
chiefly, firmly packed so as 
to hold the stems upright. 
Latterly some of the larger 
specimens were tried in a 
stove of mixed plants, and 
the experiment succeeded 
so well that a much 
larger number was grown 
there, with what results 
the public are already 
aware. Every stem sup¬ 
ported two or more pe¬ 
duncles, each carrying two 
to four large and richly- 
coloured flowers. 
Forabout two hours during 
the middle of the day the 
house is shaded from strong sunshine, particularly at 
the flowering period ; but at all other times full 
exposure to sun is afforded, so as to properly mature 
the stems and foliage. This assuredly is not only good 
theory but is amply confirmed by the results obtained. 
An abundance of water is given during the course of 
the summer, and although a smaller quantity suffices 
in winter, yet the leaves and stems are never allowed 
to shrivel by withholding it. By the time the flowers 
are fully expanded the plants commence growing again, 
and are then relieved of their load as the flowers are 
utilised for decorative purposes in the cut state, 
-- 
THE WEDDING FLOWER, 
The flowering in this country of the largest of all the 
Irises known to science—namely, 1. Robinsomiana—is 
now an accomplished fact. A large specimen planted 
in the cool end of the Succulent house at Hew has 
been increasing in size for the last six years, but never 
showed signs of flowering till about the beginning of 
April last, when three flower stems made their appear¬ 
ance amongst the handsome foliage. These stems 
continued to lengthen over many weeks, and the first 
flowers opened about the beginning of June. 
The leaves are about 8 ft. long, 3 ins. or 4 ins. broad, 
glaucous green, of a thick leathery character, and 
altogether more massive than those of the new Zealand 
Flax, even under exceptionally good cultivation. The 
flowers stems are cymosely panicled, and rise clear 
above the leaves, which assume a gracefully arching 
habit in the upper part, so that the flowers themselves 
are shown off to advantage. The latter are about 
4 ins. in diameter, pure white, with the exception of a 
golden yellow crescent-shaped blotch near the base of 
the outer segments. The habit of the plant, the ovate 
form of the segments and the widely bowl-shaped 
flowers, strongly remind us of a Marica. The flowers 
remain in perfection for one day only, but continue to 
be developed a few at a time for a period extending 
over some months. Their fugacious nature also recalls 
that of Marica. One could almost have wished that 
they possessed the rich colours of those showy Irideie, 
or even of Iris germanica, I. pallida, or the gorgeous 
blue of I. xiphioides. The popular name, Wedding 
Flower, given to it by the inhabitants of Lord Howe’s 
Island, where only is it known to exist in a wild state, 
would have been less appropriate if the flowers had 
been highly coloured. 
The conditions of cultivation under which the Ivew 
plant has flowered, have been very simple. The 
specimen was planted on a mound of soil close to the 
door at the south end of the house, and the roots must 
have always been within easy reach of moisture, owing 
Rhynchostylis ccelestis. 
