Roses of Other Days

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22741, 29 May 1937, Page 10 (Supplement)

Roses of Other Days

Some Favourite Blooms

Tj\ the early "60's" rose growers had chiefly to depend on the hybrid <• Chinese. Gallica. Damask, and a few other roses. Though we would not like to depend on such roses at the present time it cannot be denied that they were very beautiful at mid-summer. Standards of Charles Lawson, Chenedole, Coupe d'Hebe, etc., eclipsed anything which we have to-day, for they produced large heads carrying hundreds of : blossoms. But. alas, they flowered only at mid-summer. Unfortunately such binds are not now procurable, but there are other mid-summer roses well worth growing which can be procured from most growers. One of the most delightful single rosea is Rosa Moyesii. The ruby red flowers are two inches across and are followed by handsome fruits which are appreciated for autumn decoration. This rose will grow to a height of eight or ten feet, and specimens have been linown even much taller than this in favourable situations. A seedling from Moyesii named Itosa Highdownensis has even more handsome scarlet fruits than the tvpe. Bushes of Rosa Mundi are also effective in the summer season. The flowers are pinkish, red, flaked and striped with white. This rose is often called the York and Lancaster rose, but the true York and Lancaster is not worth growing except, perhaps, for sentimental reasons. The old red Damask rose, once bo popular, is rarely seen now, but is still in cultivation in very old gardens along with the white variety Madame Hardy, and La Ville de Bruxelles, light rose.