CHAPTER X.
ROSES FOR THE WILD GARDEN, AND FOR HEDGEROWS, FENCES, AND GROUPS.
The wild Roses of the world, had we no other plants, would alone make beautiful wild gardens. The unequalled grace of the Wild Rose is as remarkable as the beauty of bloom for which the Rose is grown in gardens. The culture is mostly of a kind which tends to conceal or suppress the grace of shoot and foliage of the Rose. Therefore the wild garden may do good work in bringing before the many who love gardens, but have fewer chances of seeing the Roses in their native haunts, the native grace of the well–loved Rose, which even in its obesity, and trained into the form of a mop, still charms us. The Rev. H. N. Ellacombe writes:—
I have here a very large and thick Box bush, in the centre of which there has been for many years an Ayrshire Rose. The long branches covered with flowers, and resting on the deep green cushion, have a very beautiful effect. Other Roses may be used in the same way. The Musk Rose of Shakespeare and Bacon would be particularly well suited for this, and would climb up to a great height. Rosa scandens or sempervirens, Rosa multiflora, and perhaps some others, might be grown in the same way; and it would be worth while to experiment with other garden forms, such as Aimée Vibert, purple Boursault, etc. If grown against a tree of thin foliage, such as a Robinia, they would grow quicker and flower sooner; but this is not necessary, for even if grown near a thick–foliaged tree they will soon bring their branches to the outside for the light. But besides climbing Roses, there is another way in which Roses may be combined with trees to great advantage, viz. by planting some of the taller–growing bushes in rough grassy places. These would grow from 6 feet to 10 feet high, and would flower well in such a position. For such a purpose the old Dutch Apple Rose (Rosa villosa var. pomifera) would be very suitable, and so would R. cinnamomea, R. fraxinifolia, R. gallica, R. rubifolia, and the common monthly China. And if growers would rear the perpetual and other Roses by autumnal cuttings instead of by budding, they might have hundreds and thousands of fine Roses which would do well planted in the woods and plantations.
Another correspondent, Mr. Greenwood Pim, writes referring to the preceding note:—
I have two large exotic Hawthorns—round–headed standards, growing close together, so that their edges touch, forming, as it were, two gentle hills with a valley between, and sloping down to within about 6 ft. of the lawn. Of these one is Cratægus Crus–galli; the other C. tanacetifolia. Behind, and partly through these, climbs a very old Noisette Rose—all that now remains of an arched trellis—producing a vast number of bunches of white flowers, six or eight together, and about 1½ in. or 2 in. across. The old gnarled stem of the Rose is scarcely noticeable amongst those of the Thorns till it reaches the top of them, whence it descends between the trees in a regular torrent of blossom, in addition to occupying the topmost boughs of the Cockspur Thorn. The general effect is almost that of a large patch of snow between two bright green hills—a combination very common in the higher districts of Switzerland. A smaller plant of the same Rose has recently been trained up a large Arbor–vitæ which, from moving, has lost its lower branches for some 4 ft. or 5 ft., and has its stem clothed with Ivy. It is now festooned with snowy flowers hanging down from and against the dark green of the Arbor–vitæ and Ivy, forming a charming contrast. It seems a great pity that we do not oftener thus wed one tree to another—a stout and strong to a slender and clinging one, as Virgil in the “Georgics” talks of wedding the Vine to the Elm, as is, I believe, done to this day in Italy.[ill83]
