October 19, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
105 
Dressing of Roses,” which was introduced by Mr. T. 
■\y. Girdlestone, of Sunningdale, who stated that the 
subject had only very recently cropped up, and it was, 
he believed, practised mainly amongst northern 
growers, and was not much adopted amongst amateurs. 
He said that in all florists’ flowers there was a certain 
amount of manipulation practised, by which petals were 
brought into position, and a flower made to appear 
somewhat larger than it otherwise would ; but what he 
alluded to was a practice by which the whole character 
of the flower was altered, as, for instance, where a high- 
pointed centre, as in Alfred Colomb, was so manipu¬ 
lated by having its petals turned inside out as to 
appear like A. K. Williams, or where a small bud of a 
Tea Rose, not an inch across, was so opened out as to 
make a flower some 2 ins. or 3 ins. across, entirely 
altering its char¬ 
acter. He strongly 
objected to this, 
not only because 
it spoiled the 
beauty of the 
flowers, but also 
because it gave 
the public a false 
notion concerning 
them. They see 
these flowers, 
named, in the 
stands; they order 
them, and are 
very much sur¬ 
prised and disap¬ 
pointed to find 
them entirely dif¬ 
ferent in their 
gardens. He did 
not know to what 
exteutithad gone, 
but he had seen 
at the Crystal 
Palace Show a box 
of Teas so mani¬ 
pulated that it 
was hardly pos¬ 
sible to recognise 
the flowers, and he 
therefore thought 
the time had come 
to pronounce de¬ 
cidedly against it. 
The National Rose 
Society had care¬ 
fully watched over 
the interests of 
the flower and 
everything con¬ 
nected with it, 
and he believed 
that the commit¬ 
tee of the society 
could put its foot 
down on a prac¬ 
tice which he be¬ 
lieved to be most 
hurtful to the 
cultivation of the 
flower. 
A very interest¬ 
ing discussion fol¬ 
lowed, in which 
several of those 
present took part. 
Mr. George Paul 
stated that he believed whenever this excessive dressing 
took place in any flower, it tended to its going out of 
favour. Take, for instance, the Carnation. This was 
once the favourite garden flower, but when exhibitors 
so dealt with it that its character was entirely altered 
it went out of favour, and so at the present time there 
are few who grow and exhibit it. It is the self and 
border varieties that are now becoming popular—flowers 
that need not be dressed, but allowed to grow naturally ; 
and so he believed it would be with the Rose, although 
it would be difficult to drive that out of favour ; but 
there was danger, unless the practice were stopped, of 
these grand flowers being neglected. 
Mr. T. Francis Rivers, Sawbridgeworth, said he 
could hardly believe it possible that an exhibitor could 
dress a stand of seventy-two in the time allotted to him 
after he had placed his flowers in the box. He seemed 
to advocate the cultivation of garden Roses, and spoke 
quite enthusiastically of Roses which he had 20 ft. high, 
clambering over some old Pear trees, and regularly 
festooned with flowers. 
Mr. T. B. Hall, Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, said that 
he had often watched with pleasure and some degree 
of envy a well-known exhibitor going over his box 
of Roses before the judges came round, but in doing this 
there was nothing unfair. The character of the Rose 
was not altered, but only a little additional charm 
given to it in its natural character. 
Mr. Harry J. Veitch alluded to what had taken place 
with regard to the exhibition of Orchids. They were 
not dressed certainly, but where prizes were offered for 
six Orchids the custom grew of placing a large number 
of small plants in a huge pan, and then it became 
necessary to make two classes—one for plants naturally 
grown as single and specimens, one for those ‘ ‘ made up. ” 
A Cottage Porch with Climbers Clad. 
The Rev. H. H. D’Ombrain, as honorary secretary of 
the National Rose Society, said he was sure that the 
wish of the committee would be to utterly discounten¬ 
ance this injurious practice by giving instructions to 
the judges, and he believed that the best way would be 
to pass by all such flowers as if they were not exhibited ; 
and as it had been with gumming, so with this, he 
believed that we should have no more of it, and he was 
quite sure that the discussion would greatly strengthen 
the hands of the society in dealing with the practice. 
After several other members had spoken, Mr. Wilks 
proposed a cordial vote of thanks to Mr. Girdlestone, 
and a very pleasant evening was brought to a close. 
-—>X<-- 
CLIMBERS FOR SUBURBAN 
VILLAS. 
Nowhere in Britain are the fronts of villas and cot¬ 
tages more ornamented with climbers than in the 
southern counties of England, especially in the suburbs 
of London and those districts where bricks and mortar 
are the staple commodities for building houses. No 
doubt the design originally was to hide the uniformity 
and the plainness of the buildings themselves, that 
mainly suggested the idea of covering them with clim¬ 
bers. To such an extent is this carried in many places 
that the idea of bare brick walls can now no longer be 
entertained. Where the houses are built of stone there 
is less convenience, and less desire for covering the 
stonework with climbers, and for this reason no doubt 
is to be accounted the bareness of the walls in the 
northern towns. A northern man on a visit to the south 
expressed it pretty fairly when he said the fronts of the 
houses were comparable to gardens decorated with 
climbers. 
Our illustration 
represents the 
porch of a cottage 
residence, em¬ 
bowered amidst a 
canopy of climbers 
prominent among 
which are the 
Vine and Clematis 
flammula trained 
in an easy and in¬ 
formal manner. 
The last named 
produces a remark¬ 
able wealth of 
bloom, extending 
over a great length 
of time, and even 
yet where large 
plants are grown 
a quantity of 
bloom may still 
be noticed pro¬ 
longing the flower¬ 
ing season almost 
to the portals of 
winter. In ad¬ 
dition to their 
profusion and 
beauty, the white 
flowers are deli¬ 
cately fragrant, 
making the plant 
one of the choicest 
of climbers. 
A few weeks ago 
the Virginian 
Creeper (Vitis 
quinquefolia) as¬ 
sumed a ruddy 
glare of crimson 
and red that made 
it a most con¬ 
spicuous object as 
far as the eye 
could discern it. 
Usually it varies 
immensely in the 
depth of its tints, 
according to the 
nature of the soil 
in which it is 
planted, and the 
dryness of the 
situation; but the 
leaves now falling 
to pieces declare 
its beauty ended 
for a season. The same might be said of Vitis tricus- 
pidata (Ampelopsis Veitchii), but of this there is a 
variety whose leaves are more or less of a bronzy red or 
crimson hue all the summer. The common Jasminum 
officinale still retains its foliage in all the green¬ 
ness of summer, after producing a wealth of milk- 
white bloom for a long period. In rural districts 
one occasionally sees this climber hanging in masses of 
long drooping shoots from the eaves, and from above 
the windows, giving coolness and comfort to the 
interior in the hottest of weather. The common 
Passion-flower (Passiflora ccerulea) still keeps opening 
its handsome but ephemeral or short-lived flowers when 
the weather is mild and calm, while its golden egg-like 
fruits are none the less beautiful, and will continue to 
be highly ornamental for some time to come. The 
Fiery Thorn (Crataegus pyracantha) is already beginning 
to glow with its fiery orange-scarlet clusters of berries, 
that will continue in beauty till stress of weather 
