20 
House & Garden 
and other types not 
only in the texture of 
petals but in the fo¬ 
liage which is gen¬ 
erally of a beautiful 
deep green, very 
shiny and quite 
leathery. This last 
characteristic r e n - 
ders the class as a 
whole almost proof 
against insect pests 
and diseases, an as¬ 
set that is by no 
means to be over¬ 
looked. 
It was principally 
on account of bad 
foliage that the well 
known Crimson 
Rambler was dis¬ 
carded in favor of 
Excelsa. This lat¬ 
ter variety, a hybrid 
wichuraiana, al¬ 
though of compara¬ 
tively recent intro¬ 
duction, has already 
won its way by sheer 
merit into popularity 
(for a climbing 
rose). Indeed, I 
have often come ; 
across instances ■ 
where it has been 
sent out for the ; 
Crimson Rambler, ■ 
but it never fails to prove its superiority. In 
color it is decidedly brighter and the flower 
has more petals that hold their color; but the 
greatest improvement is seen in the lustrous 
foliage which is retained in good condition 
until late fall. While selection is largely a 
matter of personal taste, I have presumed to 
list fifty varieties that have in the four con¬ 
secutive seasons just passed consistently given 
better satisfaction than the balance. ISIore- 
over, these fifty cover practically the whole 
flowering season of the climbing rose. 
Taiisendschdn is an old 
favorite among the mul¬ 
tiflora climbers. Its 
flowers are semi-double, 
ranging in color from 
bright pink to pure white, 
deepening with age 
Continuity of Bloom 
In order to obtain this continuity of flower¬ 
ing, some favorites, blooming with the majority, 
{Continued on page 74) 
commended by at 
least two authorities. 
I refer to: 
Graf Zeppelin 
(Mult., Boehm, 
1909), which I have 
noted each year as 
having small dirty 
pink flowers and 
poor foliage which 
soon drops; and The 
Wallflower (Mult., 
Paul, 1901). While 
this latter variety has 
distinct red flowers, 
the color almost 
immediately blues 
when the sun peeps 
at them and it be¬ 
comes one of the 
much abhorred 
magenta shades. 
Further, it is a shy 
bloomer and has but 
poor foliage. 
On the other hand 
I note that Captain 
Thomas has dis¬ 
carded Francois Gil- 
lot and Snowdrift, 
both of which have 
with me been gorge¬ 
ous each year when 
covered with their 
snow-white blanket 
of flowers. In each 
case also the foliage 
is distinctly beautiful—the ear-mark of a good 
garden rose. So unusually striking have they 
been that one Snowdrift has found a place in 
the twelve essential climbers, and the other is 
included in the first twenty-five. In compar¬ 
ing notes I have found other such differences 
of opinion, formed under different conditions. 
Why not use Gardenia, 
or one of the other good 
cream colored climbing 
roses, along that red brick 
wall? Good foliage as 
well as blossoms should 
be sought 
IMuch evidently depends on situation, soil 
and climatic conditions, as to w’hether any va¬ 
riety will show up to perfection. In the test 
under consideration, however, every rose was 
growTi under exactly similar conditions so that 
it seems just to judge by comparison as a 
class. I have found the distinctly wichuraiana 
hybrids much superior to the multi flora hybrids 
