Rosa Sempervirens.—This is a climbing rose of very vigorous growth, a native of the middle and south of Europe. The garden varieties originated from it bloom in clusters of small and usually very double flowers, of which the prevailing tints are light, varying from delicate shades of rose and pink to a pure white. They are not absolutely evergreen, but only partially so, retaining their bright, glossy leaves till spring, provided they are planted in shady and sheltered places, as under trees, or in the angles of walls, but dropping them in open situations. In England they have come into great favor as pillar-roses, and for covering walls, banks, or unsightly objects in the garden or on the pleasure-ground. Budded on tall stems of the Dog Rose, they form pendulous standards of magnificent proportions; rivalling, in this respect, the Ayrshire. Whether such standards would be equally successful in the Northern States, is, to say the least, doubtful.
Most of the varieties of the Evergreen Rose now most in esteem were originated in the gardens of Reuilly, near Paris, by M. Jacques, gardener to King Louis Philippe. One or two are crossed with the Musk Rose; whence they acquire a fragrance in which their own race is deficient. Bankslæflora is one of these. It has small double white flowers. Félicite Perpétuée, in spite of its preposterous name, is one of the most beautiful of climbing roses; and trained as it sometimes is in European gardens, drooping in graceful festoons from pillar to pillar on supporting wires, or mantling some unsightly dead trunk with its foliage of shining green and its countless clusters of creamy white flowers, it forms one of the most attractive objects imaginable. Thin out its shoots; but do not prune them, since, if they are much shortened, they will yield no flowers whatever. Give it a rich soil, with autumnal top-dressing of manure; a treatment good for the whole group, and, indeed, for all climbing roses. Donna Maria has pure white flowers. Its growth is less vigorous than others, its foliage light green, and it blooms in large clusters. Myrianthes Rénoncule has flowers of a pale peach-color, drooping in large clusters, and in form resembling a double ranunculus. Rosa Plena is of a bright flesh-color, large and double. Princesse Marie is reddish-pink. Fortune's Yellow is a native of China and Japan, and is sometimes included in this class. It is of a bright fawn-color, with a tinge of copper; beautiful under shelter, but will not bear a winter exposure in the Northern States. It is of comparatively recent introduction. Rampante blooms profusely in clusters of pure white. Flora is of a bright rose; Leopoldine d'Orléans, white, tinged with rose; and Spectabilis, rosy-lilac.
While some of this race are perfectly hardy, others will require protection against a Northern winter. The ease of their culture, their rapid growth, and their admirable effect where masses of flowers and verdure are desired, will commend them all to favor in the Middle and Southern States.
"I know of no rose idea," says Mr. Rivers, "prettier than that of a wilderness of evergreen roses, the varieties planted promiscuously, and suffered to cover the surface of the ground with their entangled shoots. To effect this, the ground should be dug, manured, and thoroughly cleaned from perennial weeds, such as couch-grass, &c., and the plants planted from three to five feet asunder. If the soil be rich, the latter distance will do. They must be hoed amongst, and kept clean from weeds after planting, till the branches meet: they will then soon form a beautiful mass of foliage and flowers, covering the soil too densely for weeds of minor growth to flourish. Those weeds that are more robust should be pulled out occasionally; and this is all the culture they will require. For temples, columns, wire-fences, which they soon cover with beauty, and verandas, their use is now becoming well known. One of the most complete temples of roses is that at the seat of——-Warner, Esq., Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire; and the prettiest specimens of festooning these roses from one column to another by means of small iron chains (strong iron wire will do) may be seen at Broxbourn Bury, near Hoddesdon, the seat of———-Bosanquet, Esq.
"... About six or eight years ago, I received, among others, some very stout short stocks of the Dog Rose: they were not more than two feet in height, but stouter than a large broom-handle, the bark thick and gray with age. They were planted, and grew most luxuriantly. I was for some little time at a loss what varieties to bud them with; for, be it remembered, all stout and old rose-stocks require to be worked with very strong-growing sorts of roses, to take off the abundance of sap, and keep them in a healthy state. At last, in a mere freak of fancy, I had them budded with some varieties of the Evergreen Rose (Rosa Sempervirens). They grew most luxuriantly; and after a year or two, not being trees adapted for sale, they were planted in a sloping bank of strong white clay, and left to grow and bloom as Nature dictated: not a shoot was ever touched with the pruning-knife.
"One of these trees is on a stem a trifle more than two feet in height, and it has been these two or three summers past a picture of beauty. When in full bloom, the ends of its shoots rest on the ground, and it then forms a perfect dome of roses: nothing in rose-culture can really be more beautiful. It will be at once seen with what facility such stout, short, old rose-stocks can be found in any hedge. They may be planted in the kitchen-garden, budded with the above-mentioned sort, and, to give variety in color, with some of the following kinds,—all varieties of Rosa Sempervirens, Myrianthes, Jaunâtre, Adelaide d'Orléans, and Spectabilis. Every bud will succeed, as no roses grow more freely; and, after remaining one season from budding in their 'nursery,' some nice places must be found for them on the lawn, where, unpruned, unchecked, they will, with all the freshness of unassisted Nature, annually delight the eye of the lover of flowers." *
* This will do for the Southern States. Unhappily, it will
not do in New England.
