* This is the Frankfort Rose, a variety of Rosa Gallica,
with very double flowers, one of our oldest garden-roses.
Rosa Rubignosa.—This is the Eglantine of the poets, celebrated in song by bards known and unknown to fame, from Milton down to the rustic rhymer offering the trib-. ute of his untutored Muse to the charms of some village beauty.
Nothing is easier than its cultivation; but, to our mind, it loses half its attraction when transplanted from its native road-side or thicket into the garden. From its perfect hardiness and free growth, it is sometimes used as a stock for budding or grafting. The fragrance of its leaves readily distinguishes it from other species.
Most of the named varieties under this head in the catalogues of nursery-men are hybrids; sometimes, as in the case of the Double-margined Hip, or Madeline, retaining little trace of the Sweet-Brier. Among the best are the Monstrous Sweet-Brier, the Carmine, the Celestial, the Splendid, the Scarlet, the Rose Angle, the Royal, and the Superb.
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Rosa Alpina.—This familiar climbing rose is easily known by its long shoots, nearly or quite free from thorns, and the reddish tinge, shaded into green, which marks the stems of most of the varieties. Its parent is a native of the Alps, and it is perfectly hardy. The flowers grow in clusters. In the Old Red Boursault, they are semidouble, and indifferently formed; but some of the other varieties show great improvements both in shape and color. They are excellent climbing or pillar roses, and require less sun to develop their flowers than most other species. Like other climbing roses, they should be primed but little, though the old stems should be well thinned out.
Amadis, or the Crimson Boursault, is of a deep purplish-crimson, with large semi-double flowers. The Blush Boursault is, in its flowers, larger and more full than most others of the species. They are of a deep flesh-color, passing into a lighter shade towards the edge. It can scarcely owe its qualities to the Boursault race alone, but seems to be a hybrid of some of the Chinese roses. When in perfection, it is much the best of the group, but requires a warmer and brighter aspect than the others. It is, however, perfectly hardy. This variety is also called Calypso, De l'Isle, The White Boursault, and Florida. Inermis Elegans and Gracilis are the only other varieties of the group that need be mentioned here.