8G 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAUE  GARDENER, 
January  23,  1902. 
Roses  for  Autumn  Blooms.* 
The  era  of  autumn-blooming  Roses  may  be  said  to  have 
commenced  with  the  introduction  of  the  Bengal  or  Chinese 
Rose  (Rosa  indica)  from  the  East  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  (1789),  and  it  is  to  this  Rose  and  its  descendants — 
direct  or  hybridised  with  other  species — that  we  owe  the  best 
autumnals  of  to-day.  It  is  true  that  the  Musk  Rose,  and 
perhaps  one  or  two  other  late-flowering  species,  were  already 
in  English  gardens,  but  the  flowers  were  comparatively  in¬ 
significant,  "and  only  fitfully  produced.  The  Roses  of  the 
West  were  essentially  summer  flowers  ;  and  hence  by  the 
earlier  poets  and  painters  they  are  linked  with  sentiments 
and  associations  of  early  summertide.  Shakespeare  makes 
one  of  his  characters  say  ; 
At  Christmas  I  no  more  desire  a  Rose 
Than  wish  a  snow  in  May’s  new-fangled  shows, 
But  like  of  each  thing  that  in  season  grows. 
At  the  present  time,  however,  it  is  no  unusual  thing  to  pluck 
blooms  of  (^loire  de  Dijon,  Madame  Lambard,  and  other 
favourite  Roses  at  Christ¬ 
mas  from  plants  out  of 
doors  on  walls  and  other 
sheltered  positions  in  the 
garden.  Without  doubt, 
ever  since  the  Rose  enjoyed 
the  serious  attention  of  the 
horticulturist,  Roses  in 
autumn  have  been  appre¬ 
ciated,  especially  in  large 
gardens,  coming  as  they  do 
at  a  time  of  year  when  so 
many  of  their  owners  are  in 
residence,  with  the  leisure 
to  admire  the  beauties  of 
the  surroundings  of  their 
country  homes.  In  1812  was 
raised,  in  the  gardens  of  St. 
Cloud,  near  Paris,  a  beau¬ 
tiful  crimson  Rose,  named 
by  the  raiser  Rose  du  Roi. 
This  Rose  I  have  always  re¬ 
garded  as  the  first  of  the 
Hybrid  Perpetuals,  a  group 
which,  having  increased  in 
variety,  held  almost  undis¬ 
puted  sway  from  the  middle 
till  nearly  the  close  of  the 
.last  century. 
In  the  first  edition  of 
“  The  Rose  Garden,”  pub¬ 
lished  in  1848,  we  find 
enumerated  and  described 
188  varieties  of  Bourbon 
Roses,  145  varieties  of  Tea- 
scented  Roses,  106  varieties 
of  Hybrid  Perpetual  Roses, 
upwards  of  100  varieties  of 
Chinese  Roses,  and  other  va¬ 
rieties  of  autumn-flowering 
classes ;  but  when  representative 
exhibited  at  the  meetings  of  this 
the  time  has  come  for  June  to  share  with  September  her 
proud  pre-eminence  as  the  ‘‘  month  of  Roses,”  and  that  there 
will  not  be  wanting  poets  of  the  future  who  will  sing  the 
charms  of  the  Roses  of  the  autumn,  those  chaste  and  richly- 
htied  blossoms  which  so  gratefully  prolong  the  season  of  the 
queen  of  flowers,  and  maintain  the  garden  ga.y  with  their  soft 
and  glowdng  colours  until  the  icy  hand  of  winter  finally 
closes  in  upon  us. 
As  indicating  the  large  measure  in  which  we  are  indebted 
to  the  Chinese  Rose  for  the  best  autumnals  of  to-day,  it  may 
be  remembered  that,  in  addition  to  the  many  beautiful 
varieties  of  the  original  type  that  we  possess,  the  Tea- 
scented  Rose  and  its  varieties  (R.  indica  odorata)  are  a  group 
of  the  same  species,  whilst  to  the  union  of  the  Tea  Rose 
with  the  Hybrid  Perpetuals  (and  pei-haps  a  few  varieties  of 
other  species)  we  owe  the  comparatively  recent  class  of 
Hybrid  Teas  which  are  so  deservedly  popular.  Again,  the 
Musk  Rose,  crossed  with  the  Chinese  (their  progeny  in  some 
cases  again  crossed  with  the  Tea  Rose),  has  given  us  the 
lovely  cluster-flowered  Noisette  Roses ;  the  Chinese  Rose 
crossed  with  the  Four  Seasons,  or  Damask  Perpetual,  has 
Pear,  Uvedale’s  St.  Germain — Winter  View  at  Weston  House,  Shipston-on-Stour. 
groups  began  to  be 
Society,  some  eight 
or  ten  years  since,  it  was  rare  to  find  admirers  of  the  national 
flower  who  had  cultivated  it  with  this  especial  object  in 
view.  Since  that  time,  however,  the  number  of  really  hand¬ 
some  autumn-blooming  Roses  has  largely  increased,  and 
to  what  a  state  of  perfection  in  beauty  of  form  and  colour 
they  have  attained  may  be  judged  of  from  the  collections 
w'hich  have  been  exhibited  from  time  to  time  in  this  hall. 
It  may  be  said  that  the  long  and  warm  summers  of  the  last 
few  years  have  greatly  favoured  the  development  of  the 
autuinn  flowers,  especially  in  the  Chinese,  Tea-scented,  and 
Hybrid  Tea-scented  sections  ;  indeed,  on  October  10  last 
year,  these  particular  classes  at  Waltham  Cross  were  as  full 
V  height  of  summer,  whilst  the  quality  of 
the  blooms  was  extraordinarily  good.  But.  making  due 
allowance  for  these  especially  favourable  climatic  condi¬ 
tions,  we  are  certainly  much  better  off  in  respect  of  autumn¬ 
blooming  Roses  than  we  were  twenty  years  ago,  and  I  think 
*  A  paper  read  before  the  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  by  Mr.  Arthur  William  Paul  (Messrs.  Wm.  Paul  Son), 
September  24,  1901.  Printed  in  vol.  xxvi  ,  parts  2  and  3. 
given  us  the  Bourbon  Roses  which  were  so  popular  fifty  years, 
ago,  and  which  still  furnish  some  excellent  autumnals,  whilst 
the  beautiful  Dwarf  Polyantha  Roses,  so  valuable  for  mass¬ 
ing  and  for  edgings  in  the  autumn  Rose  garden,  are  supposed 
to  owe  their  origin  to  the  crossing  of  the  Chinese  or  Tea 
Roses,  with  the  stronger  growing  summer-flowering  Multi¬ 
flora  Roses. 
Even  in  some  of  the  best  autumn-blooming  Hybrid  Per¬ 
petuals  it  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  traces  of  Chinese  or 
Bourbon  blood  either  directly  or  through  the  Damask  Per¬ 
petuals.  The  earlier  varieties  of  the  Tea-scented  Rose 
were  no  doubt  too  delicate  for  general  planting  out  of  doors, 
but  of  late  years,  thanks  to  judicious  cross-breeding  and 
selection,  a  great  improvement  in  this  respect  has  taken 
place,  and,  although  some  of  the  more  recent  introductions 
may  be  lacking  in  the  grace  of  habit  and  delicacy  of  perfume 
of  the  earlier  varieties,  the.v  more  than  make  amends  for 
decorative  purposes  by  their  hardier  constitution,  their 
greater  variety  and  richness  of  colour,  and  their  excessive 
freedom  in  blooming. 
Next  to  the  Chinese  Rose  and  its  variations  and  descend¬ 
ants  above  indicated,  the  most  important  class  as  autumnal 
bloomers  are  the  Hybrid  Perpetuals.  A  few  years  ago  the- 
