Bourbon.
SOUVENIR DE LA MALMAISON.
It appears that the land there was—probably is still—enclosed by "hedges made of two rows of roses, one row of the common China Rose, the other of the Red Four Seasons, the Perpetual Damask." In planting one of these hedges, a proprietor found a rose quite different in appearance to the rest of his young plants, and transferred it to his garden. Here it flowered, and proved to be a new type, evidently a seedling from the two sorts, which were the only ones known in the island. "M. Bréon arrived at Bourbon in 1817, as botanical traveller for the Government of France, and curator of the Botanical and Naturalization Garden there. He propagated this rose very largely; and sent plants and seeds of it in 1822 to Monsieur Jacques, gardener at the Château de Neuilly, near Paris, who distributed it among the rose cultivators of France. M. Bréon named it 'Rose de l'Isle Bourbon,' and is convinced that it is a hybrid from one of the above roses, and a native of the island."
The true Bourbon roses are thoroughly perpetual, with rose, blush, or white flowers, smooth solid stems, and dark, almost evergreen, foliage. One has only to mention the well-known and well-beloved [Souvenir de la Malmaison] to recall the type. Gloire de Rosamènes[8] is a hybrid, as I have said: but Hermosa, or Armosa (1840), and the charming Mrs. Bosanquet (1832), often classed among the China roses, are pure Bourbons, and so are Mme. Isaac Pereire, Mrs. Paul (1891), Queen of the Bourbons, Boule de Neige, Setina a climbing form of Hermosa, and Zephirine Drouhin (1873), a good climbing rose. Hermosa, which is constantly mistaken for a very full, globular pink China, is an excellent rose for massing in the garden, as it is in continuous bloom from spring till late autumn, the dwarf, bushy plants being covered with flowers. The charming hybrid Tea rose, Camoëns, which resembles it in habit, but is a rather larger flower of a rich China pink, may also be used in the same way. A group of small beds arranged in a simple geometrical pattern, and planted with either or both these roses, is an extremely pretty feature in the garden. Hermosa has been for years largely used in this way on the Continent and in England; for instance, 20,000 have been planted in the Sandringham gardens alone. But I was told last year in Luxembourg, that in Holland, where it is most popular, Camoëns is almost superseding it; one Dutch lady who had a large portion of her garden planted with nothing but Hermosa, is now using hundreds of Camoëns in the same way, as it is equally generous in bloom, richer in colour, and as neat and strong in growth.
The China Rose, R. Indica.
The Crimson China Rose, R. Semperflorens.
These old favourites were introduced into England in the eighteenth century. The Old Blush Monthly came first, in 1718; and in 1789 the Old Crimson (R. Semperflorens), a much less vigorous plant, arrived. It is not surprising that both should have found instant popularity; for roses which in warm situations are practically in flower the whole year through, must indeed have been precious adjuncts to the gardens of those days. In England they were popularly known as "Monthly roses"; while in France they are known as Rosiers du Bengal.
The "Common" China, or Monthly Rose (1796),
though it has many newer rivals, is one of those which has never gone out of favour, and justly so; for what can be more pure and lovely than it is when well grown. Either as a bedder, or a bush in the herbaceous border, or, still more, when grown as a dwarf hedge, its fresh loveliness is a never-ending delight. Indeed, one wonders why it is not more generally used in England in this last manner; for both in the South of France and Switzerland, hedges of the pink Monthly rose are common, and of exceeding beauty. Cramoisie Supérieure (1834), a form of the Crimson China, should be grown in masses, as its weak and straggling growth is unsuited to the above purposes. But many of the newer varieties are admirable in whatever way they are used. [Laurette Messimy] (1887), rose, shaded yellow, and Madame Eugène Resal (1895), copper and bright China-rose, are two of the very best of these, and are brilliantly effective as bedding roses. So are the rosy-apricot Queen Mab (1906), and the yellow-apricot and orange Arethusa (1903). Comtesse du Cayla (1902) is a fine carmine crimson, with orange on the outer petals, varying to orange-yellow shaded carmine. Cora is a pretty clear yellow, often tinted carmine, a rose of a charming habit. Le Vesuve bears some flowers rich crimson and some rosy pink. Ducher (1869) is the best white; Frau Syndica Rœloffs, yellow, shaded coppery-red and peach; Nabonnand, a large flower, velvety purple-red, shaded coppery-yellow. Souvenir d'Aimée Terrel des Chênes is a small, beautiful, and well-shaped flower, coppery-pink, shaded carmine, the pointed buds being golden yellow. Climbing Cramoisie Supérieure and Field Marshal are both deep crimson climbers, but the last does best under a glass or in a warm position out of doors.