Nov. 29th, 1884. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
201 
There is now quite a group of Moss Roses and 
their hybrids. They have no doubt been obtained 
from seed at one time and the other, and in all 
probability improved as time went on. The old or 
common Moss Rose is still largely grown, especially 
in some of the market gardens around London ; so 
is the Crested Moss, with its beautiful bright-rose 
flowers; and the White Bath, with its large, full and 
beautiful paper-white blossoms. The following account 
given of the origin of several of the types of Moss 
Roses, is extracted from The Gardener, Florist and 
Agriculturist, and was contributed by Mr. Henry 
Shailer, of the Chapel Nursery, Battersea Fields:— 
“ On the first introduction of the old red Moss Rose, 
it was sent over with some plants of Orange trees 
from the Italian States to Mr. Wrench, then a nursery¬ 
man and gardener at Broomhouse, Fulham, the same 
land being now in the occupation of the descendants 
of that family, Messrs. Fitch, extensive market 
gardeners, &c., in or about the year 1735. It re¬ 
mained in that family nearly twenty years, without 
taking as many plants as he could grow for three 
years at twenty shillings per plant, binding him not 
to sell to anyone else under forty-two shillings per 
plant. 
“ After cutting down the shoots which produced the 
white moss, it threw up two weak shoots which 
he budded from, they flowered the second season 
from the buds; that was the birth of the striped 
Moss Rose, a most beautiful and delicate variety, 
but when grown very strong apt to go back to the 
original parent. The first production of the single 
red Moss Rose, 1807, was a sport of nature. My 
father sent some plants of Moss Roses down to a 
nurseryman of the name of Essex, at Colchester ; on 
the receipt of a letter from that person I went with 
my father to see it when it was in bloom. I took 
some cuttings away with me to bud, and fetched the 
original plant away in the following autumn to our 
nursery at Little Chelsea. From these we sent the first 
plants out, at five shillings per plant. On the first pro¬ 
duction of the old scarlet Moss Rose, which is a semi- 
then sought an interview with the inmate of the 
mill, who was an elderly female ; he begged a flower, 
which was instantly given him, in return he gave her 
a guinea. In cutting off the flower he cut three 
buds; he went to the first inn, packed it up, and 
sent it direct to my father at his nursery, Little 
Chelsea, who was then his foreman, requesting him 
to bud it, which he did, and two of the buds grew. 
In the following autumn he went down to the same 
place, where for five guineas he brought the whole 
stock away. He then made an arrangement with my 
father to propagate it, allowing him five shillings per 
plant for three years; at the expiration of that time 
he sold it out at twenty-one shillings per plant, my 
father’s share amounting to £300. 
“ Mr. Grimwood sent the old lady at the mill a 
superb silver tankard, &e., to the amount of £60. 
The birth of the Shailer’s Provence, or Rosa gracilis, 
so named by Messrs. Lee, was on this wise, it was 
raised from the seeds of the Spineless or Virgin’s 
Rose, sown by myself in 1799, and flowered in 1802. 
SOUVENIR DE LA MALJIAISON CARNATIONS IN 3IR. LEOPOLD DE ROTHSCHILD’S GARDEN. 
being much noticed or circulated, until a nurseryman 
by the name of Grey, of the Fulham Nursery, now 
Messrs. Osborn’s, brought it into note. In speaking 
of the first production of the white Moss Rose which 
took place in the year 1788, the first birth was from 
a sucker or underground shoot. My father, Henry 
Shailer, nurseryman, of Little Chelsea, an extensive 
grower of Moss Roses, perceiving it to be a lusus 
natural from a stool of the Red Moss, cut it off and 
budded it on the White Provence, or Rose La Blanche 
Unique. The buds flowered the following season a 
pale blush; he budded them again in due time; 
it became much whiter, it was then figured in 
Andrew’s Rosery under the name of Sadler’s White 
Moss. He then sold it out, the first plants to Lord 
Kimbolton, to the then Marquis of Blandford, Lady 
de Clifford, the Duke of Gloucester, &c., at five 
guineas per plant. He continued to sell it at that 
price for three years ; he then entered into a contract 
with those highly respectable and extensive nursery¬ 
men Messrs. Lee & Kennedy, of Hammersmith, they 
double, it flowered on a plant given by my father to 
his brother, F, Shailer, of Cook’s Ground and Queen’s 
Elm, Chelsea, 1808, nurseryman. The first produc* 
tion of the Moss De Meaux was from a sport of 
nature, from the old De Meaux, in the neighbourhood 
of Bristol, but brought into a high state of perfection 
by Messrs. Lee, of Hammersmith, 
“ In regard to the birth of the sage-leaf Moss Rose, 
that I must claim myself. It was also a sport of 
nature. I discovered it on a Sunday afternoon, in 
the month of June, 1813. I sold the whole stock to 
Messrs. Lee, of Hammersmith. It is of delicate, 
shell-like form, and a beautiful blush, now nearly 
extinct. On the first production of Rose La Blanche 
Unique, or White Provence, it was discovered by Mr. 
Daniel Grimwood, of Little Chelsea, nurseryman. 
He was on a journey of business in the county of 
Norfolk, in the month of July, 1775, when, riding 
very leisurely along the road, he perceived a Rose of 
great whiteness in a mill. He alighted, and, on close 
inspection, discovered it to be a Provence Rose. He 
We raised numerous varieties from seed up to 1816. 
Generally sold them to Messrs. Lee, who sent them 
out under their own naming.” 
This is afl extremely interesting account, and will, 
I hope, prove so to your readers. The best Moss 
Roses and their hybrids now in cultivation are Ange- 
lique Quertier, pale lilac-rose, double; Baron de 
Wassenaer, bright red, flowering in clusters, good 
form and full; Blanche Moreau, very large, pure 
white, well mossed, extra fine, a decided novelty; 
Celina, rich crimson, shaded with purple, superb; 
Comtesse Murinais, white, large and double; Gloire 
des Moussenses, blush, very large and full, one of the 
best; Julie de Mersant, rosy-pink, very beautiful; 
Lanei, rosy-crimson, tinted with purple, large and 
good; Nuits d'Young, blackish-crimson; and the 
common Moss, the Crested, White Bath, and Prolific. 
All these are deliciously fragrant, rendering them, 
apart from their beauty, highly valuable. They need 
close pruning, plenty of manure, and otherwise rich 
culture, and then they can hardly fail to succeed.— D. 
