One of the charms of these roses, and they have many, is that they are to all intents and purposes evergreen. Another is, that although they are not perpetual, i.e. flowering twice in the season, the hybrids often take after their parent the type Wichuraiana, whose flowering season is very late—last autumn I gathered a few flowers from it the third week in December. Therefore, many of them come into bloom just as the Multifloras are going over, thus prolonging the season of summer climbing roses till the end of August.
For every purpose they are of use. They may be planted to cover an unsightly bit of bank, or to climb over a stump, to wreath themselves into the branches of a tree, or to form a dense covering of shining leaves and innumerable flowers on fence or trellis or screen. They are even more charming on pillars and arches, when the full beauty of their blossoms can be seen from all sides; for while many have a pendant habit, the main flower heads, of [Dorothy Perkins] for instance, are carried erect above the pink foam of the laterals that clothe the graceful hanging shoots below.
A Wichuraiana hybrid—for choice the dainty rubra, [Dorothy Perkins] or Hiawatha—grown as a tall, weeping standard seven feet high, is an object of such beauty that if once seen it cannot be forgotten. Or these charming roses may be trained round a large balloon, in the same fashion as the Crimson Rambler in the Royal Gardens at Windsor, figured in "The Garden," December 30, 1905.
Wichuriana.
JERSEY BEAUTY.
Planted on a terraced slope the Wichuraianas are most effective. In one instance, Gardenia, Evergreen Gem, Albéric Barbier and others were planted along a steep grass bank below a terrace walk. A flat shelf four feet wide had been cut half way down the bank, and there the roses were put in some ten or twelve feet apart. By the next summer they had joined hands; and whether from below, or looking down on them from the terrace above, the huge wreath with masses of flowers among the glossy foliage made a most exquisite display.
In fact there is no limit to the uses to which this delightful family may be put. And we may believe that there is no limit either to its future developments in the hands of the hybridists, whose patient research will, I have no doubt, give us before many years are over, perpetual flowering, evergreen Wichuraianas of every hue.
Ayrshire Roses, R. Arvensis.
Alice Gray. White edged pink.