“GATHER YE ROSEBUDS W 
Es 
4 
HILE YE MAY—” 
GIANT ECONOMY SIZE 
There are Roses and Roses, and this time 
each year brings forth new hybrids for 
which extravagant claims are made with 
respect to color, fragrance, size, disease 
resistance, etc. We have an excellent selec- 
tion of fresh new plants, which includes 
the tried and true favorites and the latest 
novelties, but our special subject this 
month is a climber, a wild Rose from 
China, not new by any means, but most 
uncommon. 
No semantic mystery surrounds the spe- 
cific name of Rosa gigantea. Unwilling to 
believe our eyes, we actually stepped off 
the length of an eight-year-old plant grow- 
ing in a local garden—and it was quite a 
walk, 270 feet from tip to tip! The great 
size of the Rose which might easily be con- 
sidered a liability is not, however, beyond 
control, for the plant responds well to prun- 
ing and it is perfectly feasible to limit its 
size to about twenty feet long and six feet 
high. If, on the other hand, it is desirable 
to cover an unsightly bank, a large barn or 
even an unlovely tree, Rosa gigantea is 
your plant. And being well armed, a fre- 
quently useful attribute, no ‘trespassers 
ey 
x 
beware’ sign is needed for the wall or 
fence covered with Rosa gigantea. 
It has certain positive advantages; it is 
absolutely evergreen, absolutely mildew- 
proof, accepts any soil, and is a depend- 
able, abundant producer of creamy buds 
opening to pure white single flowers, char- 
acteristically borne in upright panicles of 
from ten to 15 spicely-fragrant blossoms. 
A mature plant of Rosa gigantea in full 
bloom is an impressive sight, not for size 
alone but for the sheer beauty of its clouds 
of snow-white flowers. 
We have had few if any plants to offer 
in the last. ten years, and as far as we 
know no other nurseries grow this Rose. 
It great vigor and the fact that it does not 
go dormant are logical reasons for ex- 
cluding it from the average commercial 
Rose planting where space is at a premium 
to permit budding and bare-root handling. 
Lately we have had more and more calls 
for strong-growing plants to cover large 
areas, and while others have been used to 
good advantage, none is quite the equal 
of Rosa gigantea, so we have readied a 
hew crop, now in four gallon containers on 
six foot stakes, which sell for $4 egch. “ 
~ h 
