Part 3 (1/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUGOSA.

ROSA ALBA.]

CHAPTER III

SUMMER-FLOWERING ROSES--OLD AND NEW.

LET us now consider those roses which, although their lovely season of blooming is but short, shed such fragrance and delight on the gardens of rich and poor. Our oldest favourites first--the Cabbage, sweetest of all; the Moss; the Maiden's Blush; the Crimson Damask; the Austrian, Scotch, and Sweet Briars; the tiny _Rose de Meaux_, so seldom seen now in England that when we find bunches of it on every barrow in the Paris streets, to be had for a few centimes, we fall upon it as on lost treasure.

Then the climbers, the Ayrs.h.i.+res, Banksias, Polyanthas and Evergreen.

And when to these we add all the novelties which j.a.pan has bestowed upon us in the Rugosas and the Wichuraianas, and those marvels which the hybridists are deriving from them and introducing every year in such numbers, we may well consider where best to make a place for these lovely roses, so that from April till August we can rejoice in their varied beauty.

Of the climbing roses I treat in a separate chapter. But if with regard to the dwarf or bush roses, some may raise objections to ma.s.sing them in by themselves, because they are so soon out of flower and leave the beds bare of bloom for the rest of the summer, the objection--a valid one--may be overcome in two ways. First, by planting China roses among them and an edging of the charming Dwarf Polyantha roses round them.

Secondly, by planting lilies and late-flowering perennials with them, which will be in bloom as soon as they are over.

But to my mind, the Cabbage, Moss, Provence and Damask roses look most thoroughly in place in the old-fas.h.i.+oned mixed border along the walk in the kitchen garden, where they flower after wallflowers, daffodils and polyanthus, with lilies and pinks, stocks and carnations, and all the delightful and fragrant odds and ends that, somehow, make it the spot in the whole garden to which all footsteps turn instinctively.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PROVENCE.

CABBAGE.]

THE PROVENCE OR CABBAGE ROSE, _R. centifolia_,

is perhaps the oldest favourite in English gardens; for it was introduced as far back as 1596. Said to have come originally from the Caucasus, it may well be, as its Latin and French names suggest, the Romans' favourite ”hundred-leaved-rose” mentioned by Pliny. And as it was found in Southern France at a very early date, it became known as the ”Provence Rose.” In spite of all new comers, beautiful and attractive as they are, the ”Old Cabbage Rose” holds its own to-day in the garden of every true rose-lover, as unsurpa.s.sed in fragrance and colour. Its pure white variety, the _Rose Unique_, discovered in a garden in Suffolk, in 1777, is far less common and less vigorous than the pink Cabbage rose. But if it can be induced to grow it is a very beautiful object in the summer garden, especially as a standard on the briar. The tiny _Rose de Meaux_ and _Spong_ are also miniature Provence roses--and as I have said, ought to be more widely grown in English gardens.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOSS.

COMMON.]

THE MOSS ROSE, _R. Muscosa_,

originally a sport from the common Provence or Cabbage rose, was also introduced into England from Holland in 1596; and many varieties have since been derived from it, some of the newer ones having the additional merit of being perpetual flowering. The best are the common _Pink Moss_, _Comtesse Murinais_, _Celina_, _Crested_, _Gloire des Mousseuses_, _Laneii_, _White Bath_; while there is a delightful little pink, mossed _Rose de Meaux_. Of the perpetuals, _Blanche Moreau_, _Salet_, _Perpetual White Moss_, and _Mme. Wm. Paul_ are all good.

The Old Double Yellow Provence, _Rosa Hemisphaerica_ or _Sulphurea_ is somewhat rare now, and only found in one or two modern catalogues or in very old gardens.

THE FRENCH ROSE, _R. Gallica_, also called _Rose de Provins_,

as its name implies, is a native of France; but it is also found in Italy, Switzerland and Austria. A good deal of confusion reigns on the subject of this rose and _R. Damascena_; for varieties of both are often misplaced in each other's cla.s.ses. For instance, the common red _Gallica_, the ”Apothecary's rose,” is usually called the _Red Damask_, and its many striped varieties, especially _Rosa Mundi_, are mistaken for the true _York and Lancaster_, which is a true Damask rose.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GALLICA.

RED DAMASK

(THE APOTHECARY'S ROSE.)]