IGO 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  19,  1903. 
Ever= blooming  Roses  for  Garden  Decoration.  ^ 
If  the  lover  of  the  Eose  will  refer  to  the  botanist’s 
account  of  the  genus  Eosa,  he  will  find  two  species,  E. 
indica  and  E.  semperflorens,  both  natives  of  China, . 
described  as  blooming  all  the  year  round.  Now,  from  these 
species  and  their  descendants,  naturally  or  artificially 
hybridised,  has  arisen  a  whole  host  of  seedlings,  many  of 
them  possessing  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  the  invaluable 
quality  of  continuous  blooming  ;  it  is  only  necessary  to  keep 
them  growing  and  you  keep  them  blooming,  for  every  eye 
or  leaf-bud  that  pushes  into  a  branch  produces  a  flower  or 
flowers. 
In  the  cultivation  of  ever-blooming  Eoses  it  is  a  point  of 
the  first  importance  to  avoid  drought.  Absence  of  moisture 
in  the  soil  arrests  growth,  and  without  growth  there  can  be 
no  flowers.  Watering  in  dry  weather  is  therefore  a  neces¬ 
sity,  and  the  morning  is  recommended  as  the  best  time  for 
the  operation. 
Loudon,  in  the  “  Encyclopaedia  of  Gardening,”  published 
in  1822,  tells  us  that  the  royal  gardener  at  Monza  had  raised 
fifty  varieties  of  E.  indica,  and  there  are  in  the  Waltham 
Cross  Nurseries  at  the  present  day  scores  of  named  varieties 
and  thousands  of  unnamed  seedlings  from  the  same 
parentage.  These  creations,  as  some  have  called  them — 
but  for  which  I  think  the  word  “inventions”  would  be  a 
better  name — vary  much  in  character  and  quality,  but  are 
not  all  ever-blooming. 
The  Eiviera  Eoses  stand  in  the  opinion  of  some  as  the 
truest  representatives  of  these  ever-blooming  varieties,  but 
the  profusion  and  constancy  of  the  Eiviera  Eoses  are  due 
to  the  climate,  soil,  and  system  of  cultivation  rather  than  to 
the  varieties.  I  have  seen  the  Eoses  there'  at  their  best 
more  than  once,  and  could  find  very  few  differing  from 
those  grown  in  England,  and  while  the  profusion  of  branches 
and  flowers  is  overwhelming  in  its  appeal  to  the  eye  and 
mind,  I  conceive  that  we  could  only  realise  the  same  condi¬ 
tions  in  England  by  bringing  the  Eiviera  soil  and  climate 
with  the  Eiviera  Eoses.  Eurther,  we  have  many  fine 
varieties  which  the  growers  there  have  not,  and  never  have 
I  seen  there  individual  flowers  gifted  with  the  freshness  and 
bewitching  beauty  they  derive  from  the  cooler  and  moister 
climate  of  our  “  island  home.” 
I  think  few  will  question  the  assertion  that  the  Eose  is 
worthy  of  a  garden  to  itself  on  account  of  its  beauty,  variety, 
fragrance,  and  adaptability  to  the  numerous  forms  and  con¬ 
trivances  recognised  as  desirable  in  ornamental  gardening 
in  England.  But  it  is  not  of  the  “  Eose  garden  ”  as  a  thing 
by  itself  that  I  wish  to  speak  to-day.  I  pass  that  by  as  a 
desirable  object  of  admitted  interest  and  beauty.  I  wish 
on  the  present  occasion  to  show  that  Eoses  may  be  advan¬ 
tageously  introduced  into  the  system  of  miscellaneous 
bedding  in  all  gardens,  large  or  small,  but  especially  in 
those  where,  for  want  of  space  or  numerous  other  reasons,  a 
separate  Eose  garden  cannot  be  realised. 
It  is  only  recently  that  we  have  obtained  a  group  of  Eoses 
of  various  colours  between  the  Tea-scented,  Chinese,  and 
Bourbon,  the  varieties  of  which  are  hardier  than  the  original 
Tea-scented,  and  which  bloom  continuously  from  June  till 
growth  is  arrested  by  the  autumn  frosts.  Some  of  the  most 
remarkable  of  these  are : — Aurora,  Boadicea,  Camoens, 
Chameleon,  Comtesse  Festetics  Hamilton,  Corallina, 
Dainty,  Empress  Alexandra  of  Eussia,  Enchantress,  Fairy 
Queen,  Fortuna,  G.  Nabonnand,  General  Schablikine, 
Gloire  des  Polyanthas,  Gruss  an  Teplitz,  Madame  Abel 
Chatenay,  Madame  C.  P.  Strassheim,  Madame  Eugene 
Eesal,  Madame  Laurette  Messimy,  Mdlle.  Germaine  Eaud, 
Morning  Glow,  Papa  Gontier,  Princess  Alice  dO'  Monaco, 
Queen  Mab,  Salmonea,  Sulphurea,  The  Alexandra, 
Yvonne  Gravier. 
*  A  pjper  read  by  Wm.  Paul,  P.L.S.,  V.M.H.,  before  the  R.H.S.  Rose 
Conference.  Reprinted  from  the  Society’s  .Journal. 
Of  course,  in  speaking  of  “  ever-blooming  Eoses  for 
garden  decoration,”  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  they  will 
bloorn  all  the  year  round  in  this  climate  out  of  doors,  but 
they  will  do  so  if  removed  at  the  end  of  the  Eose  season  to 
the  warmth  and  shelter  of  glass  houses. 
Now,  there  are  thousands  of  Englishmen  who  see  but 
little  of  their  gardens  except  at  the  short  period  when  in 
residence  at  their  country  seats,  which  is,  with  many,  the 
late  summer  or  early  autumn,  and  at  that  season  these 
Eoses  may  be  had  in  their  fullest  beauty. 
The  process  of  cultivation  is  simple  in  the  extreme,  and 
one  which  any  ordinary  workman  in  the  garden  may  be 
deputed  to  cai’ry  out.  If  the  prospective  position  of  these 
Eoses  is  defined  when  clearing  away  the  remnants  of  the 
summer  grouping  plants  (Geraniums,  &c.)  in  October,  these 
Eoses  may  be  made  to  take  their  place  from  other  out-of- 
door  positions,  or  they  may  be  obtained  by  purchase.  When 
planting,  leave  the  earth  rising  well  up  among  the  lower 
branches,  placing  small  branches  of  evergreens  among  them 
for  shelter  from  the  frost  and  cold  winds  of  winter.  This  is 
the  least  troublesome  way  of  realising  our  object,  and, 'as  a 
rule,  answers  perfectly ;  but,  although  these  Eoses  are  much 
hardier  than  the  old-fashioned  Tea-scented,  we  have  yet  to 
learn  how  they  might  fare  wholly  unprotected  in  the  open 
during  a  winter  of  more  than  common  severity.  But  should 
they  be  found  to  suffer  seriously  under  such  a  contingency 
it  would  cost  but  a  small  amount  of  money  and  labour  to 
repair  the  mischief. 
Here,  however,  is  another  and  a  safer,  although  I  could 
not  say  a  better,  plan.  Purchase  the  plants  in  small  pots 
in  May,  repot  them  in  June,  and  grow  them  on  either  under 
glass  or  in  the  open,  planting  them  out  with  the  bedding 
plants  in  the  May  following.  Under  this  management,  if 
the  early  flowers  (June)  are  not  wanted,  it  is'a  good  plan  to 
pinch  the  flower-buds  out  when  about  the  size  of  a  small 
pea,  taking  care  not  to  remove  or  injure  any  of  the  leayes. 
Dig  the  plants  up  after  the  summer  and  autumn  blooming, 
repot  and  remove  to  shelter,  reintroducing  them  to  any 
position  in  the  flower  garden  in  the  fo. lowing  spring. 
Of  course  I  am  assuming  that  in  the  preliminary  stages 
of  cultivation  the  ordinary  care  and  attention  of  good  gar¬ 
dening  are  practised.  Into  this  I  need  not  enter  here. 
Nothing  more  is  required  to  ensure  brilliant  masses  of 
flowers  that  will  vie  with  any  denizens  of  the  garden,  and 
last  longer  in  an  attractive  form  than  many  of  them. 
- - - 
Plant  Lists  and  Guides, 
The  following  are-  on  sale  at  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens, 
Kew  (Money  orders  to  be  made  payable  at  Kew  Post  Office  to 
W.  Watson,  Curator,  Royal  Botanic  Gardens,  Kew);  — 
Key  Plan  and  Index  to  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens,  Kew. 
5th  ed.  1900.  Price  2d.  Post  free  2id. 
Official  Guide  to  the  Museums  of  Economic  Botamy.  No.  2 : 
Monocotyledons  and  Cry^ptogams.  1894.  Price  4d.  Post 
free  5d. 
Official  Guide  to  the  Museums  of  Economic  Botany.  No.  3: 
Timbers.  2nd  ed.,  revised  and  augmented.  1893.  Price 
3d.  Post  free  4d.  » 
Official  Guide  to  the  North  Gallery.  5th  ed.,  revised  and  aug¬ 
mented.  1892.  Price  4d.  Post  free  5B1. 
Hand-list  of  Trees  and  Shrubs  Grown  in  Arboretum  (excluding 
Coniferse).  2nd.ed.  1902.  Price  Is.  3d.  Post  free ;  Inland, 
Is.  7d.  ;  foreign  and  colonial.  Is.  lOd.  Part  II.  (1st  ed.) : 
Gamopetalm  to  Monocotyledons.  1896.  Price  Is.  Post- 
free  IS'.  2^d.  .  ,  -r,  1 
Hand-list  of  Ferns  and  Fern  Allies  cultivated  in  the  Royal 
Gardens.  1895.  Price  6d.  Post  free  Ud. 
Hand-list  of  Herbaceous  Plants  cultivated  in  the  Royal  Gardens. 
2nd  ed.  1902.  Price  Is.  9d.  Post  free:  Inland,  2s.  2d.; 
foreign  and  colonial,  2s.  6d.  Cloth  boards,  price  2s.  6d. 
Po.st  free:  Inland,  2&.  lid.  ;  foreign  and  colonial,  3s.  3d. 
Hand-li.st  of  Orchids  cultivated  in  the  Royal  Gardens.  1896. 
Price  6d.  Post  free  8d.  •  i  t>  i 
Hand-list  of  Tender  Monocotyledons  cultivated  in  the  Royal 
Gardens.  1897.  Price  9d.  Post  free  ll^d.  ■ 
Hand-lists  of  Orchids  and  Tender  Monocotyledons  in  one  volume, 
cloth  boards.  Price  2s.  Post  free  2s.  l^d.  ,  n 
Hand-list  of  Tender  Dicotyledons  cultivated  in  the  Royal  Gardens. 
1899.  Price  2s.  6d.  Post  free  :  Inland,  2s.  lOd. ;  foreign 
and  colonial,  2s.  lid.  Cloth  boards,  price  3s.  Post  free ; 
Inland,  3s.  4d.  ;  foreign  and  colonial,  3s.  5d.  ^  .  in 
Myoologio  Flora  of  the  Royal  Gardens,  Kew.  1897.  Price  4d. 
Post  free  Sd. 
