THE BANKSIAN ROSE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 181, 1 August 1936, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE BANKSIAN ROSE.

Rosa Banksiae, so named after Lady Banks, is a native of China, where the double white and double yellow forms have been in cultivation for hundreds of years. Although the individual blooms are small, being about an inch across, they are borne in such profusion that a well-flowered plant is simply one mass of bloom. This rose has one good characteristic, and that is it is practically without thorns. Why the Banksian rose is not planted more frequently is duo probably to its being oldfashioned. The Banksian rose needs a position in full'sun and in such a position will easily reach a height of 30 feet for covering or climbing over tall tree stumps, pergolas, summer houses, or even clambering tip among the branches of an old pine tree it is ideal. In such positions it needs no pruning, but will flower profusely year after year. In more restricted positions where pruning is necessary it should be kept to thinning out of weak and dead wood. The flowers are borne on thin laterals pXQduced on whip-like growths friade 'the previous season, so if pruning is necessary it should be done as soon as the flowering period is over and consist of cutting hard back old wood, so as to produce these whip-like growths.