SO 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  11,  1901. 
Tlie  Early  Rose. 
Among  the  many  things  for  which  the  nineteenth  century  was 
remarkable  must  be  included  the  wonderful  variety  of  Roses  which 
were  produced  almost  from  its  very  beginning  to  its  close.  It  is 
equally  remarkable  that  the  century  preceding  handed  on  to  its 
successor  not  more  than  eighty  species  and  varieties,  the  most 
exhaustive  list  appearing  in  Abercrombie’s  “Gardeners’  Assistant” 
(1792),  where  seventy-seven  kinds  aie  enumerated.  Miller  in  1768 
names  forty  only,  and  in  the  interesting  catalogue  of  Gray  of  Fulham 
not  more  than  thirty-three  sorts  are  offered  for  sale.  This  list  is  dated 
1740,  and  contains  only  three  more  sorts  than  Parkinson  described 
over  a  hundred  years  earlier. 
According  to  Gerarde,  the  first  improvement  in  garden  Roses  is 
due  to  the  Dutch,  but  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  gardens 
were  furnished  with  delightfully  scented  Damask  and  Provence  Roses 
long  before  this  period.  If  it  were  not  for  the  poeis  we  could  only 
conclude  that  the  folks  loDg  ago  were  so  practical,  that  the  Rose 
appealed"  to  them  in  a  less  degree  for  its  beauty  and  its  fragrance  than 
for  its  value  as  a  medicament,  or  as  an  indispensable  ingredient  in  the 
form  of  rosewater  in  cookery,  and  it  is  somewhat  strange  to  discover, 
as  we  do  in  a  little  book  published  early  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
that  red  Roses  were  cultivated  in  fields  near  London  to  supply  the 
requirements  of  that,  even  then,  great  city.  It  is  not  ungrateful  to 
one’s  feeling  of  sentiment  to  know  that  not  a  few  of  the  early  Roses 
are  still  in  cultivation,  in  many  cases  no  doubt  permitted  to  remain 
because  they  are  already  there,  but  in  others  because  they  are 
cherished.  The  common  White  and  Double  White,  for  instance,  are 
to  be  found  in  company  with  the  Maiden’s  Blush,  which  Gray  describes 
as  Parkinson’s  “  incarnata,”  in  almost  every  hamlet  and  village,  as  they 
must  have  been  at  any  time  for  centuries  past.  And  what  a  queer 
example  of  modernity  must  that  garden  be  wherein  no  Damask  Rose 
unfolds  its  roseate  petals,  and  paints  the  sun  with  her  chaste  blushes. 
Unfortunately  not  all  the  old  varieties  of  this  Rose  can  now  be 
identified ;  there  is,  for  instance,  “  The  Chrystale  ”  of  Parkinson  and 
“  Mrs.  Heart’s”  Rose,  mentioned  first  by  Rea,  that  seem  to  have  been 
lost  long  ago.  We  have  still,  however,  a  few  of  the  old  Gallica  Roses, 
as,  for  example,  The  Velvet,  of  which  I  grow  four  reputed  varieties. 
Rosa  Mundi,  one  of  Rea’s  Roses,  is  also  said  to  be  still  in  cultivation, 
though,  personally,  all  I  have  had  through  my  hands  of  this  Rose 
have  been  York  and  Lancaster.  Either  De  Meaux  or  Spong,  or 
something  very  like  these  neat  little  sorts,  was  also  grown  very  early. 
The  Provence  Roses,  which  were  mixed  to  some  extent  with  Gallicas, 
and  also  with  the  Damasks,  have  been  cultivated  for  a  very  long 
period. 
Musk  Roses  were  also  great  favourites  in  old  gardens,  though  they 
do  not  appear  to  have  been  introduced  earlier  than  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Bacon  commends  them  for  their  sweet  smell, 
which,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Eglantine,  was  emitted  in  the  evening. 
They  were  introduced  from  Italy,  and  were  known  also  as  Monthly 
Roses,  because  on  the  continent  they  were  to  some  extent  perpetual 
in  their  habit  of  flowering.  This  name  was  usurped  about  seventy 
years  ago  by  the  China  Rose.  The  Musk  Rose  possesses  not  a  little 
interest,  too,  as  being  one  of  tbe  flowers  which  Milton  names  in 
“Lycidas”  among  “vernal  flowers:’’ — “The  glowing  Violet,  the 
Musk  Rose,  and  the  well  attired  Woodbine,  with  Cowslips  wan, 
that  hang  the  pensive  head,”  &c.,  which  proves  the  poet  to  have  been 
no  florist,  and,  indeed,  to  have  possessed  only  the  most  superficial 
knowledge  of  flowers.  / 
The  single  yellow  Rose,  Rosa  lutea,  is  still  found  in  our  gardens, 
where  it  is  an  older  denizen  than  the  double  yellow  (Rosa  sulphurea), 
commonly  styled  the  yellow  Provence,  from  the  texture  of  its  petals 
being  exactly  like  the  white  Provence  Rose.  It  has  always  been  a 
difficult  species  to  cultivate,  so  as  to  induce  it  to  flower  in  that  perfect 
way  that  every  gardener  desires.  It  was  “first  procured  to  be  brought 
into  England  by  Master  Nicholas  Lete,  a  worthy  merchant  of  London, 
and  a  great  lover  of  flowers,  from  Constantinople,  which  (as  we  heare) 
was  first  brought  thither  from  Syria  ;  but  perished  quickly  both  with 
him,  and  with  all  other  to  whom  he  imparted  it ;  yet  afterwards  it 
was  sent  to  Master  John  Franqueville,  a  merchant  also  of  London, 
from  which  is  sprung  the  greatest  store  that  is  now  flourishing  in 
this  kingdome.”  It  was  commonly  budded  on  the  Frankfort  Rose, 
and  sometimes  double  budded.  If  it  were  not  for  the  complaints 
reiterated  through  the  centuries  .one  would  be  inclined  to  doubt  the 
insurmountable  difficulties  attending  its  cultivation.  Personally  JI 
have  had  very  good  success  with  it,  and  even  with  a  less  degree  of 
success  the  beauty  of  its  delicate,  perfectly  formed  blossoms  would 
amply  repay  any  little  thought  required  to  do  it  well.  In  a 'MS.  list 
of  Roses  cultivated  in  a  Yorkshire  garden  very  many  years  ago,  a 
“  minor  ”  variety  of  the  above  appears,  and  there  is  data  to  show  that 
two  varieties  were  in  cultivation,  the  one  less  easy  to  flower  than  the 
other.  Rosea  lutea  punicea,  “  the  red  or  scarlet  Austrian,”  first 
appears  in  Rea’s  “  Flora,”  and  no  doubt  it  was  thought  much  more  of 
two  centuries  ago  than  it  is  at  the  present  day. 
The  Moss  Rose  is  first  mentioned  by  Boerhaave  in  1717  ;  Gray 
catalogued  it  in  1740,  though  it  is  said  to  have  been  introduced 
from  Italy  in  1735  among  some  Orange  trees.  Tne  White  Moss 
appeared  as  a  sport  in  1788.  The  discovery  of  the  White  Provence 
reads  like  a  romance.  The  nurseryman,  Grimwood,  on  one  of  his 
journeys  in  Norfolk  in  1775,  found  a  Rose  blooming  in  a  wayside 
garden,  which  his  experience  showed  to  be  unique  as  it  was  rare.  He 
begged  a  flower  from  its  owner,  giving  her  in  return,  and  no  doubt  to 
her  gratified  surprise,  a  golden  guinea.  The  flower  stalk  had  three 
buds  attached,  which  were  sent  home  and  propagated.  Next  year  he 
purchased  the  plant  for  five  guineas,  selling  the  stock  three  years 
thereafter  for  £1260,  of  which  his  propagator  for  his  share  received 
£300,  and  £60  with  a  silver  jug  was  despatched  as  a  douceur  to  the 
original  owner. 
The  Scotch  Roses,  which  enjoyed  a  great  though  short-lived 
popularity  sixty  to  eighty  years  ago,  were  cultivated  before  the  middle 
of  the  preceding  century,  though  only  some  six  varieties  had  been 
obtained  up  to  its  close.  The  Sweet  Brier  as  a  garden  plant  has  also 
retrograded.  It  seems  to  have  always  been  present  in  mediaeval 
gardens,  possibly  in  its  simple  single-flowered  form,  but  as  early  as 
Gerarde’s  time  there  was  a  variety  cultivated  with  two  rows  of  petals 
to  the  bloom.  The  other  varieties  mentioned  by  various  writers 
comprise  double,  semi-double,  double  blush,  double  scarlet,  and  a 
variety  with  striped  leaves.  Those  who  delight  in  sweet  smells  should 
certainly  find  a  place  for  Sweet  Brier.  Like  the  Rocket  and  the  Stock 
it  disperses  its  fragrance  in  the  evening,  but,  unlike  them,  its  fragrance 
is  not  confined  to  its  flowers,  but  every  little  leaflet  gives  its  help  to 
perfume  the  balmy  air.  In  its  proper  connection  the  fact  of  some 
three  kinds  of  Damask  Roses  having  been,  along  with  the  Musk  Rose, 
designated  Monthly  Roses,  has  been  omitted.  Our  Monthly  Rose, 
Rosa  indica,  was  cultivated  as  a  tender  plant  for  some  forty  years 
after  its  introduction  ;  the  fact  of  its  having  succeeded  out  of  doors 
having  been  chronicled  in  the  pages  of  the  horticultural  press  long 
after  last  century  had  started  on  its  progress.  For  a  very  long 
time  it  was  largely  cultivated  by  those  modest  gardeners  whose  sole 
glass  was  measured  by  the  dimensions  of  their  windows,  and  it  would 
appear  that  the  first  appreciation  of  its  being  a  hardy  shrub,  and  not  a 
stove  exotic,  resulted  from  one  of  these  window  plants  having  been 
turned  out  by  a  cottager  into  his  little  flower  plot. — R.  P.  Brotherston. 
Show  Roses. 
During  the  next  fortnight  Roses  will  form  one  of  the  leading 
attractions  of  flower  shows,  and,  if  one  cares  to  take  the  trouble  to 
observe,  it  will  be  seen  that  youDg  undeveloped  flowers  are  the  more 
favoured  by  judges  in  making  the  awards.  Faulty  flowers  in  colour 
and  shape  are  soon  detected  by  them  ;  these  do  not  gain  prizes, 
however  well  they  may  have  been  grown.  Most  growers  tie  the 
blooms — that  is  to  say,  each  flower  which  looks  like  opening  perfect 
in  shape  has  the  centre  fastened,  not  too  tightly,  with  worsted.  It  is 
important  that  the  centre  only  shall  be  tied,  because  the  outer 
petals  require  room  to  extend.  This  tying  of  the  blooms  may  be 
done  in  the  case  of  Tea  Roses  a  couple  of  days  before  a  show  is  to 
take  place,  and  with  the  quicker  opening  hybrids  and  dark  Roses  a 
day  before.  Of  course  good  specimens  should  be  chosen,  with  centres 
pointed  in  shape.  The  tying  will  extend  such  points  in  a  remarkable 
degree.  The  practice  is  to  keep  the  tying  material  on  the  blooms 
until  they  are  staged,  allowing  oneself  time  to  remove  them  before 
cleared  from  the  tent  for  the  judges. 
Blooms  in  a  half  open  stage  the  night  before  a  show  are  those 
which  are  selected.  This  is  the  general  rule.  There  are  some 
varieties,  however,  so  thin  of  petals  that  they  may  be  only  opening 
buds  in  early  morning,  and  yet  be  fully  out  by  mid-day.  The 
crimson  Captain  Hayward  is  an  instance  of  this.  To  accurately 
judge  all  Roses  requires  experience,  only  obtained  by  many  years  of 
observation,  as  most  varieties  have  peculiarities.  Those  blooms  grown 
on  stiff  soils  will,  of  course,  last  longer  than  those  cultivated  on  light 
soils,  and  the  weather  too  at  the  time  of  cutting  the  blooms  must  be 
considered.  But  we  are  sure  the  advice  is  sound  when  we  recom¬ 
mend  choosing  blossoms  in  a  young  state  of  development  in 
competition  ;  nice  form,  freshness,  and  colour  being  all-important 
points. — H. 
