BOURBON, CHINA, AND POLYANTHA ROSES
BESIDES the three great races of perpetual flowering Roses, the Teas,
Hybrid Teas, and Hybrid Perpetuals, on which the chief interest of the
modern rose-world is centred at the present time, there are other
perpetual flowering roses, which are of great importance both for their
value in the past and their beauty in the present. For although the
modern hybrids have somewhat obscured the fame of their ancestors, many
of them owe their origin to the Bourbon and China roses, which, in the
early years of the nineteenth century, before the advent of Hybrid
Perpetuals, were almost the only autumn flowering roses on which to
depend.
THE BOURBON ROSE, _R. Bourboniana_.
According to that invaluable book,[7] to which I owe an untold debt of
gratitude since first I began to study rose-growing seriously--the
original Bourbon, "a beautiful semi-double rose, with brilliant
rose-coloured flowers, prominent buds, and nearly evergreen foliage,"
was discovered in the Isle of Bourbon.
[Illustration: 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. Breon 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 Chateau de Neuilly, near
Paris, who distributed it among the rose cultivators of France. M. Breon
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 Rosamenes_[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, _Camoens_, 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,
_Camoens_ 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 _Camoens_ in the same way, as it is equally generous in
bloom, richer in colour, and as neat and strong in growth.
[Illustration: CHINA.
LAURETTE MESSIMY.]
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 Superieure_ (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 Eugene 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 Roeloffs_, yellow, shaded
coppery-red and peach; _Nabonnand_, a large flower, velvety purple-red,
shaded coppery-yellow. _Souvenir d'Aimee Terrel des Chenes_ is a small,
beautiful, and well-shaped flower, coppery-pink, shaded carmine, the
pointed buds being golden yellow. _Climbing Cramoisie Superieure_ and
_Field Marshal_ are both deep crimson climbers, but the last does best
under a glass or in a warm position out of doors.
* * * * *
We now come to a quite modern class of perpetual flowering roses, which
is as yet too little known, except among those ardent rose-growers who
keep closely in touch with the marvels of modern hybridization. And this
special race is indeed one of its most extraordinary results. For
THE DWARF POLYANTHA ROSES, _R. Multiflora_,
are derived from the summer flowering, climbing _Multiflora_, and in
them we get a first cousin of, say, _Crimson Rambler_, so dwarf as to
make a charming two-feet high edging to an ordinary rose-bed, and so
thoroughly perpetual, that from May to December it is thickly covered
with its hundreds of miniature flowers in clusters. How these tiny
roses, which remind one of the "Fairy Rose" of long-ago nursery days,
came into being is not exactly known. But they were evidently the result
of crossings with the Tea rose strain. M. J. B. Guillot developed the
first, _Ma Paquerrette_, pure white, flowering in large bunches, in
1875. In 1879, Rambaux followed with the charming _Anna Maria de
Montravel_, one of the best known of the class. The next year Ducher
brought out the lovely _Cecile Brunner_, blush, shaded pink, and the
race was fully recognized. Since then nearly every year has seen fresh
varieties; and the charming little plants are growing in favour.
[Illustration: DWARF POLYANTHA.
PERLE D'OR.]
These roses may be roughly divided into two classes: one showing the
Polyantha blood very strongly; the other the Tea blood.
In the first, the flowers, whether double or single, are borne in dense
upright clusters, after the manner of the true _Multiflora_. Some of the
best of these are _Gloire des Polyantha_; _Schneewittchen_; the fine
_Mme. N. Levavasseur_, really a miniature _Crimson Rambler_; the even
more attractive _Mrs. W. H. Cutbush_, a bright pink _Crimson Rambler_;
and the exquisite little _Baby Dorothy_, which has created such a
sensation as a pot plant since it was shown in the spring of 1907. These
are all admirably fitted for planting in masses. In the famous
Pepiniere, or Public Gardens of Nancy, beds of _Madame N. Levavasseur_
last autumn (1907) were remarkably effective. In one the ground was
thickly covered among the plants with a very dwarf grey-blue Ageratum;
and the effect of the erect crimson clusters of the rose over the soft
grey flowers was most striking; while another bed of the same rose was
edged with a dwarf bronze-foliaged fibrous Begonia. Even more charming
was a whole bed of _Mrs. W. H. Cutbush_, which I saw in MM. Soupert et
Notting's garden at Luxembourg, the rich rosy colour being much finer.
In the other class the Tea blood is shown as strongly; the flowers are
borne singly, or at most in heads of four or five, on smooth and
delicate yet firm little stalks; while the foliage is that of a
miniature Tea rose. These as to the actual blossoms are perhaps even
more attractive. For what can be prettier than a perfectly formed flower
the size of a Fairy rose--and sweetly scented too--such as those of
_Etoile d'Or_, lemon shaded with sulphur; or _Perle d'Or_, nankeen
yellow with orange centre; or _Eugenie Lamesch_, coppery pink; or the
beautiful _Cecile Brunner_, its well-shaped flowers blush with a deeper
pink centre?
In one or two we get an example of the double strain. For the velvety
crimson flowers of _Perle des Rouges_ are borne in clusters, though in
substance and foliage the plant appears to take after the Tea rose.
But I deprecate the tendency which I see among some varieties, to
produce much larger flowers such as those of _Clothilde Soupert_ and
_Georges Pernet_. This quite alters the character of the pretty little
plants; giving us a rose that is neither one thing or another, neither a
fine bedding rose or a miniature edging rose.
BOURBON ROSES, _R. Bourboniana_.
Baron Gonella. _Guillot pere_, 1839. Violet rose.
Baronne de Maynard. One of the best white roses.
Catherine Guillot. _Guillot fils_, 1861. Purple
red.
Comtesse de Barbantane. _Guillot pere_, 1859.
Flesh colour.
Gloire de Rosamenes. _Vibert_, 1825. Scarlet
crimson, semi-double.
Hermosa (Armosa). _Marcheseau_, 1840. Deep pink.
J. B. M. Camm. Pale salmon pink.
Kronprinsessin Victoria. _L. Spaeth_, 1888. Milky
white outside, sulphur-yellow centre.
Lorna Doone. _Wm. Paul & Son._ Magenta carmine,
shaded scarlet.
Madame Isaac Pereire. _Margottin_, 1880. Rosy
carmine.
Madame Pierre Oger. _Oger_, 1879. Cream white,
shaded and edged lilac.
Marie Pare. _Pavie_, 1880. Flesh colour, deeper
centre.
Mrs. Allen Chandler. _Chandler_, 1904. Pure white
sport from Mrs. Paul.
Mrs. Bosanquet. _Laffay_, 1832. Salmon white.
Mrs. Paul. _Paul & Son_, 1852. Pinkish white; a
fine rose.
Paxton. _Laffay_, 1852. Fiery rose.
Philemon Cochet. _Cochet_, 1896. Bright rose.
Queen of the Bourbons. _Mauger_, 1852. Salmon
rose.
Queen of Bedders. _Nobbe_, 1878. Deep crimson.
Reine Victoria. _Schwartz_, 1878. Bright rose,
perfect form.
Setina. _Henderson_, 1879. Pink, a climbing
Hermosa.
Souv. de la Malmaison. _Beluze_, 1843. Tender
flesh white.
Souv. de la Malmaison rose. _Verschaffelt_, 1862.
Fine rose colour.
Zephirine Drouhin. _Bizot_, 1873. Bright silvery
pink.
CHINA OR BENGAL ROSES, _R. Indica_.
_R. Semperflorens._
Abbe Cretin. _Mille-Toussaint_, 1906. Light rose,
shaded salmon.
Alexina. _Beluze_, 1854. Almost pure white.
Alice Hamilton. _Nabonnand_, 1904. Bright velvety
crimson reflexed madder.
Antoinette Cuillerat. _Buatois_, 1898. Electric
white on copper base.
Arethusa. _Wm. Paul & Son_, 1903. Yellow, tinted
apricot.
Aurore. _Schwartz_, 1897. Creamy yellow, tinted
salmon rose.
Baronne Piston de St. Cyr. Pale flesh, distinct
and attractive.
Bebe Fleuri. _Dubreuil_, 1907. Varying from China
rose to currant red.
Cardinal. _Welter_, 1904. Dark red, centre yellow.
Common (old Blush Monthly). _Parsons_, 1796. Pale
pink.
Comtesse du Cayla. _Guillot_, 1902.
Coppery-carmine, shaded orange and yellow.
Cora. _Vve. Schwartz_, 1899. Clear yellow, tinted
carmine.
Cramoisi Superieur. _Coquereau_, 1832. Velvety
crimson, large clusters.
Cramoisi Superieur. A climbing sport.
Crimson China (Sanguinea). _Evans_, 1810. Dark
crimson.
Ducher. _Ducher_, 1869. Pure white.
Duke of York. _Wm. Paul & Son_, 1894. Variable
from white to red.
Eugene de Beauharnais. _Fellemberg_, 1838.
Amaranth.
Fabvier. _Laffay._ Scarlet crimson, finest of its
colour.
Field Marshall. _Wm. Paul & Son._ Blood crimson,
shaded amaranth.
Frau Syndica Roeloffs. _Lambert_, 1900. Bright
yellow, shaded copper red.
Irene Watts. _P. Guillot_, 1896. White, tinted
salmon pink.
Jean Bach Sisley. _Dubreuil_, 1899. Silvery rose,
outer petals salmon-rose, veined carmine.
Le Vesuve. _Sprunt_, 1858. Bright red and pink.
Madame Eugene Resal. _Guillot_, 1894. Nasturtium
red or bright red, on yellow base.
Madame H. Montefiore. _Bernaix_, 1900. Salmon
yellow, shaded apricot and carmine.
Madame Laure Dupont. _Schwartz_, 1907. Vivid
carmine, reflexed silver rose.
Madame Laurette Messimy. _Guillot fils_, 1887.
China rose, shaded yellow.
Martha. _P. Lambert_, 1906. Copper red, flowers in
large corymbs.
Queen Mab. _Wm. Paul & Son_, 1896. Rosy apricot,
shaded orange and rose.
Red Pet. _Paul & Son_, 1888. Miniature rose, deep
crimson.
Souv. d'Aimee Terrel des Chenes. _Schwartz_, 1897.
Coppery rose, shaded carmine.
Unermuedliche. _Lambert_, 1904. Crimson, shaded
red, always in bloom.
DWARF POLYANTHA ROSES, _R. Multiflora._
Aennchen Mueller. _J. C. Schmidt_, 1907. Large
clusters, brilliant rose.
Amelie-Suzanne Morin. _Soupert et Notting_, 1899.
White, yellow centre.
Anne-Marie de Montravel. _Rambaux_, 1879. Pure
white, immense cluster.
Aschenbrodel. _Lambert_, 1903. Peach, centre
salmon.
Bebe Leroux. _Soupert et Notting_, 1901. White,
centre canary yellow.
Blanche Rebatel. _Bernaix_, 1889. Bright carmine,
reverse white.
Canarienvogel. _Welter_, 1904. Golden yellow,
flaked orange and rose.
Cecile Brunner. _Ducher_, 1881. Bright rose,
yellowish centre.
Clara Pfitzer. _Soupert et Notting_, 1889. Light
carmine.
Clotilde Soupert. _Soupert et Notting_, 1890.
Pearly white, rose centre, rather large flowers.
Dr. Ricaud. _Corboeuf-Marsault_, 1907. Rosy
salmon, copper base.
Etoile de Mai. _Gamon_, 1893. Nankeen yellow,
rather large.
Etoile d'Or. _Dubreuil_, 1889. Citron yellow,
shaded sulphur.
Eugenie Lamesch. _Lambert_, 1900. Orange yellow,
passing to clear yellow, shaded rose.
Filius Strassheim. _Soupert et Netting_, 1893.
Rosy cream, orange base.
Georges Pernet. _Pernet-Ducher_, 1888. Rather
large, bright rose, shaded yellow.
Gloire des Polyanthas. _Guillot fils_, 1887.
Bright rose, white centre.
Golden Fairy. _Bennett_, 1889. Clear buff, yellow
and white.
Hermine Madele. _Soupert et Notting_, 1888. Cream,
reflexed yellow.
Katherine Ziemet. _Lambert_, 1901. Pure white,
very fragrant.
Kleiner Alfred. _Lambert_, 1904. Ground colour
red, suffused ochre yellow.
Le Bourguignon. _Buatois_, 1901. Electric madder
yellow.
Leonie Lamesch. _Lambert_, 1900. Bright copper
red, golden centre.
Liliput. _Paul & Son_, 1897. Cerise carmine,
flushed crimson.
Little Dot. _Bennett_, 1889. Soft pink, flaked
deeper on outside petals.
Madame E. A. Nolte. _Bernaix_, 1892. Buff yellow,
passing to rosy white.
Madame N. Levavasseur. _Levavasseur_, 1904. Bright
carmine red; the dwarf Crimson Rambler.
Madame Zelia Bourgeois. _Vilin_, 1907. Small
double white flowers.
Ma Fillette. _Soupert et Notting_, 1898. Peach
rose, yellow ground.
Ma Petite Andree. _Chauvry_, 1899. Deep carmine
red.
Marie Pavie. _Alegatiere_, 1889. White, rose
centre, large.
Martha. _Lambert_, 1906. Strawberry pink, coppery
buds.
Maxime Buatois. Copper yellow, changing to carmine
yellow.
Mignonette. _Guillot_, 1881. Soft rose, changing
to white.
Mosella. _Lambert & Reiter_, I 896. Yellowish
white, centre rose.
Mrs. W. H. Cutbush. _Levavasseur_, 1907. A pink
Mme. N. Levavasseur.
Paquerette. _Guillot fils_, 1875. Pure white;
flowers in immense panicles.
Perle d'Or. _Dubreuil_, 1883. Nankeen yellow,
orange centre.
Perle des Rouges. _Dubreuil_, 1896. Velvety
crimson, reflexes bright cerise.
Petit Constant. _Soupert et Notting_, 1900. Deep
nasturtium red.
Petite Leonie. _Soupert et Notting_, 1893. Rosy
white, carmine centre.
Philipine Lambert. _Lambert_, 1903. Silvery pink,
centre deep flesh.
Primula. _Soupert et Notting_, 1901. Bright China
rose, centre snow white.
Rosalind. _Paul & Son_, 1907. Bright pink, with
deeper buds.
Rosel Dach. 1907. Bright cherry rose.
Schneewittchen. _Lambert_, 1901. Creamy white,
passing to snow white.
Schneekopf. _Lambert_, 1903. Snow white, in large
clusters.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] Rivers' _Rose Amateur's Guide_.
[8] See p. 57.