CHAPTER VII. AUTUMNAL ROSES
THE ROSES of which we have hitherto spoken have but one period of bloom in the year. June is gay with their flowers; but at midsummer their glory is departed, not again to return till a winter of rest has intervened. Various families of roses have, however, the faculty of continuous or repeated blooming. Some remain in bloom with little interruption for a long time; while others bloom at intervals, after periods of rest. These classes are known, with little discrimination, as "Autumnal Roses," "Ever-blooming Roses," or "Perpetual Roses." The French have a name for those blooming at intervals, which is very appropriate. They call them "Remontant Roses,"—Rosiers Remontants,—in other words, roses which grow again. This very well describes them. They make a growth in spring and early summer, and the young wood thus produced bears a crop of flowers. Then the plant rests for a while; but soon begins another growth, which, in turn, bears flowers, though less abundantly than before. The June, or once blooming roses, it is true, make also a first and second growth; but, with them, the second growth gives leaves alone. In the true ever-blooming roses, or roses that bloom continuously, the growth of young wood capable of bearing flowers is going on with little interruption during the whole period when the vital powers of the plant are awake. It is to stimulate the production of this blooming wood that we prune back the shoots that have already bloomed, as soon as the flowers have faded.
It is the possession of a great variety of roses of repeated or continuous bloom that gives to the rose-lovers of our own day their greatest advantage over those of former times. Our forefathers had but very few autumnal roses. The ancient Romans, it seems, had roses in abundance in November and December; but this must have been with the aid of a supreme skill in cultivation, as there is no reason to believe that they were in possession of those Chinese and Indian species, to which the modern florist is indebted, directly or indirectly, for nearly all his autumnal flowers. As these species are by far the most important of the ever-blooming and remontant families, both in themselves and in the numberless progeny of hybrids to whom they have transmitted their qualities, we place them first on our list.
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Rosa Indica.—Rosa Semperflorens.—We include under the head of the Chinese Rose two botanical species, because they are so much alike, that, for floral purposes, it is not worth while to separate them, and because their respective offspring are often wholly undistinguishable. The most marked distinction between the two is the greater depth and vividness of the color of Rosa Semperflorens; though, by a singular freak of Nature, seedlings perfectly white are said to have been produced from it.
China roses will not endure our winters without very careful protection; yet they bloom so constantly and so abundantly, that they are very desirable in a garden. In large English pleasure-grounds, they are sometimes planted in masses, each of a distinct color. They may also be so used here by those who will take the trouble to remove them from the ground in the autumn, and place them in a frame for protection. For this purpose, a hotbed frame may be used, substantially made of plank. It should be placed in a situation where the soil is thoroughly drained either by Nature or Art. The roses are to be placed in it close together, and overlapping each other, to save room; the roots being well covered with soil, and the plants laid in a sloping position. By covering them with boards and mats, they will then be safe from every thing but mice. The most effectual way to defeat the mischievous designs of these pestiferous vermin is to cover, not the roots only, but the entire plants, with earth. The covering of boards and mats must be so placed as to exclude water from rain and melting snow. Tea roses, of which we shall speak under the next head, are, as a class, more tender than the Chinas; and, in order to preserve them, the soil in the frame should be dug out to the depth of a foot, the roses laid at the bottom, and wholly covered with earth somewhat dry. On this earth, after the roses are buried, place a covering of dry leaves some six inches deep, and then cover the whole with waterproof boards or sashes. The leaves alone, if in sufficient quantity, would protect the roses from cold, but, at the same time, afford a tempting harborage for mice, which would destroy the plants, unless buried out of their reach. Thus treated, the tenderest Tea roses will bear the winter with impunity in the coldest parts of New England.
Though China roses are not equal in beauty to some of their hybrid offspring to be hereafter described, they surpass all other roses for pot-culture in the window of the parlor or drawing-room. They are more easily managed than Tea roses, and, though less fragrant, are not less abundant in bloom. No roses are of easier culture in the greenhouse. The varieties of this group are the Bengal roses of the French, and are those familiarly known among us as Monthly roses. They were introduced into England from the East about the beginning of the last century.