CHAPTER XVI
Roses in English Gardens on the Riviera
It is very surprising to find how few kinds of Roses are grown in gardens on this coast, and consequently a mere list is rather disappointing, the fact being that it is the beauty and the abundance of their flowers that constitutes the charm rather than the very great variety of kinds. The cause is very easy to comprehend. Those who care for their gardens do not as a rule come out much before Christmas, and leave at the latest by the middle of May, so that any Rose that does not flower freely during the late autumn or early spring is of little importance, however beautiful it may be. Moreover, the great sun power and the fatal Rose beetles that tear the petals to ribbons in May prevent the latest Roses being of real value, while the gorgeous blaze of Geraniums, Gazanias, Petunias, and such summer flowers destroys the tender tones of those Roses which bloom late.
It is the climbing Roses that are the joy of the gardener here. They grow rampantly and flower profusely, whether they be grown trained to walls, pergolas, arches,
pillars, and such like, or if they simply are planted near a tree, preferably an Olive or Cypress, and fling their sprays of blossom down from the very highest to the lowest branches, with never a pruning knife or gardener's shears to mar their native grace.
The Banksian Roses must have the first place for beauty and abundance, though only the big white R. B. Fortunei is fairly perpetual, and decks its glossy evergreen foliage with isolated flowers through the whole winter. The single yellow Banksian Rose, introduced not more than twenty years ago from Italy, and first admired in Sir Thomas Hanbury's well-known garden at La Mortola, deserves a special notice, because it is fully three weeks earlier than the double forms in spring, and gives a delightful summer effect in the month of March in sunny situations, and is even more rampant and floriferous than any other member of the family, becoming a real tree itself.
There are two forms of the double yellow Banksian Rose. For richness of colour and beauty of flowering spray I think Jaune decidedly the best, and indeed, for its period of flower, the most effective of all. The second and less well known form--that I know as Jaune serin--has larger, paler flowers on longer stems, is decidedly less brilliant in effect, but has just the same delicate perfume the small double white exhales, and which is curiously enough denied by many people who are appreciative of other scents.
The common double white Banksian Rose is the most abundant and ubiquitous of all, and is as much the ornament of trees, walls, pergolas, and pillars in the month of April and early May as the common Ivy is in more northern climates. It is everywhere, and nowhere out of place, though it loses its leaves in the month of January.
Rosa sinica, commonly called Rose Camellia on this coast (another eastern Rose), is an especial favourite here. Rampant in growth, abundant in its single white flowers, which first open in March, with thorny shoots whose red stems and glossy foliage enhances the purity of the petals, it heralds the arrival of sprl4 "g and prefers light and poor soils where many other Roses fail. Its new companion and hybrid, R. S. Anemone, promises to become even more beautiful, and being of a soft rose-du-Barri tint, will soon find its way everywhere, as there is no climbing Rose of its particular and lovely shade of colour.
Rosa bracteata, the Macartney Rose, is rarely seen as it flowers so late in spring, but as it blossoms well in autumn when R. sinica is barren, it should not be omitted. Its glossy, perfectly evergreen foliage is quite unique, and the long sprays tipped with its scented flowers in November are greatly admired.
R. Marie Leonidas (a double form of this Rose) is the freest winter bloomer of this section. Most beautiful in a few gardens, it is not grown as much as it deserves, as it is not a flower for the market, which alone is the criterion of worth to French gardeners. It should not be omitted by the amateur.
R. Fortunei. - To China again we are indebted for this lovely climber, perhaps in a sense the most notable of those yet mentioned, for it does not and cannot show its real beauty in northern gardens, where it needs shelter. Plant it near an Olive or Cypress, and in three or four years it will entirely cover the tree with a mantle of delicate sprays. Its flowers, lovely in shades of apricot and rose, contrast brilliantly with its apple-green and slender foliage. It is only a spring bloomer, but none the less indispensable on account of its grace and beauty.
R. Chromatella or Cloth of Gold. - A grand Rose, so rarely seen now that it should not be forgotten. Its individual blooms are unsurpassed in size and colour by any yellow Rose, and its December flowers are most beautiful of all when in a rich soil and sheltered position. The fact that its lovely buds bruise so easily, and that it is a special prey to mildew, are the reasons why it is now only to be found in a few gardens where it is extra happy. This is one of the Roses for which this coast was famous until the advent of Maréchal Niel entirely displaced it.
R. Maréchal Niel. - "Good wine needs no bush" is specially applicable to this grandest of all yellow climbing Roses, for it advertises itself everywhere in every garden, and by autumn pruning produces even lovelier flowers in December than can be seen in May when grown on sunny terraces. For Rose arches and arcades it is indispensable, and contributes largely to the effect of luxuriant beauty. What a pity its flowers do not hold up their heads as. R. Chromatella does.
R. Lamarque, with its lemon-centred and lemon-scented heads of flower, is the finest double white climbing Rose yet raised, although it dates from sixty years ago, and is still fresh, young, and beautiful. It blooms so well in late autumn and again in early April, that it is found in every garden, and we who come out from England have a special admiration for its masses of white flower, because it refuses to show its real beauty out of doors in England, and grows too rampantly when under glass.
Old Roses are, you will see, all my theme, so I feel no compunction in saying that the old Rose, Gloire des Rosomanes, semi-double though it be, is the only perfectly perpetual winter-blooming climbing red Rose yet raised. It is the only old Rose that is never flowerless throughout the severest weather on this coast, and it is particularly brilliant and fragrant both in autumn and in spring when the Banksian Roses need a rich red to contrast with their white and golden-buff tones. It is well known to many folk as the Bordighera Rose, though I do not know it is more abundant there than elsewhere. One of its seedlings, General Jacqueminot, is a household word, known and grown everywhere, and there are two more of its seedlings worth mention--Bardou job, which has merit, though it is not a winter bloomer, and also the new Noella Nabonnand, which is a decided advance in size and beauty, and is said to be a really good winter-blooming deep red Rose, a desideratum in these parts.
We all know the brilliant little China Rose Cramoisi Supérieur, but somehow I never saw in English gardens a good specimen of its variety or seedling Cramoisi Grimpant, and this latter is next in importance among climbing red Roses, for it will climb to fully twenty feet high, and cover itself with its rich crimson flowers all the winter through if only there be no frost. For hedges and pillars this is most decorative when it contrasts with the Banksian or Lamarque Roses, and forms a splendidly toned background to all light-coloured Roses.
Another climbing red Rose that I have never seen to advantage in England is heavily weighted by its senseless name, La France de ii889. Nevertheless, it is a very large, fragrant, and deep rose-red flower of great beauty, which makes prodigious shoots in autumn, and flowers by degrees, beginning at the top in December and continuing to do so lower down the long shoots throughout the season. It is of the very largest size, fragrant, and double, but I think it is capricious in some gardens, as beauties are apt to be.
A Rose much seen I only mention to reprobate in this climate, that is, Reine Olga de Wurtemberg, which though so good in England is here so fleeting and ugly in colour that I regret to see it, even though it be only for one week in early spring. Not so Marie Lavallée, a delightful blush pink, semi-double climbing Rose, the latest and the earliest of its colour, vigorous and fresh in every way.
Duchesse de Nemours is a fragrant and bright pink climber, double, and of fine size and form, which is only to be found in a few old gardens, but is far too good a Rose to pass by. In December, and again in May, it will produce a wonderful effect. It seems less easy to propagate from cuttings than other Roses, and is to be found in only one nurseryman's list, but I am glad to say its merit has been recognised, and a stock of it will, I believe, soon again be obtainable. To my fancy it is far preferable to the deeper coloured Reine Marie Henriette, so very common all along the Riviera, and which in December, mingling with Rêve d'Or, has a great charm, even if it be not the very best of all.
R. La Grifferaie, which we seem only to know as a stock for other Roses, is a very brilliant and luxuriant climber in late spring, intensely bright pink in its clusters. The growth and foliage of this Rose are prodigious, and it requires a large space to do itself justice; were it perpetual it would rank as one of the best. Waltham Climber No. 3 shows to great advantage on this coast. Its long strong shoots are clothed with its scarlet-crimson flowers early in spring, and give a fair sprinkling of blooms continuously during winter when grown on a sunny pergola.
No mention has been made of Gloire de Dijon and its many seedlings, for they do not show to as great advantage as in more northern gardens.
Belle Lyonnaise is fairly good, but there is one of more modern date, Duchesse d'Auerstadt, which proves the exception to the rule, and is most excellent in every way. From its growth it is evidently from Rêve d'Or on one side, and is quite the finest, freest, and best of all golden-yellow Tea Roses of climbing habit. It will no doubt entirely displace Rêve d'Or, being its superior in every way, and this, to those who know that old Rose on this coast, is saying much.
Noisette Roses. - After Lamarque, which has already received its due notice, Jaune Desprez must be mentioned on account of its perfume and beauty in spring. Curiously enough it is not always a winter bloomer, but it still luxuriantly adorns many an old garden.
Idéal is essentially a Rose for this coast. In spring it even rivals Fortune's Yellow, but it comes in several weeks later and is deeper in its rosy tones. Did it but bloom at all in winter it would be unsurpassable.
Dr. Rouges is the most intensely brilliant shade of orange-red that I know, and when fully proved will be invaluable as a climber when its winter blooming is established. The rich claret-red shoots in January are almost as brilliant as any flower could be.
William A. Richardson no longer climbs here, but flowers splendidly in winter as a straggling bush.
Pink Rover must certainly not be omitted from the list of climbing Roses, for there are so few of its fresh and lovely shade of colour. It is very sweet-scented, blooms abundantly before Christmas, and wherever grown is at once a favourite. It seems to revel in the conditions here.
Grüss an Teplitz, a seedling between Cramoisi Grimpant and Gloire des Rosomanes, is another very delightful semi-climbing Rose on this coast. Most brilliant red in colour, sweet-scented and free, it has hardly yet been sufficiently planted, so its merits are not fully established.
Hybrid Teas are decidedly the most in vogue now, owing not only to their size and beauty, but to the length of stalk with which they may be cut. As garden Roses they are equally valuable. Caroline Testout entirely takes the place of La France, which never showed itself to perfection on this coast. Marquise Litta has made its mark also, and is very rich and bright in colour during the winter. Gloire Lyonnaise and Captain Christy are splendid winter bloomers, but the flowers are not considered so valuable for the market. Belle Siebrecht is also becoming a very popular Rose, while Mme. Jules Grolez is considered worthless, for its petals are soft and easily spoilt, and it does not grow with anything like the same vigour. There is no doubt that many of the Roses that do well in English gardens do not enjoy a more southern climate, and it is curious to remark how the descriptions of French raisers refer generally to Roses grown in a hotter climate than England, so that their descriptions are not so likely to mislead in the south as those in the north are apt to imagine.
Hybrid Perpetual Roses are little grown, and are chiefly used for late autumn cutting out of doors. For the first three months of the year they are now flowered under glass, so that they can be cut with the long stems required in France. I need only mention Paul Neyron (so fine in December), Ulrich Brunner, Baroness Rothschild, Mrs. John Laing, General Jacqueminot, and Eclair as the best and most useful here. The growth of Roses under glass for market in January, February, and early March has become a great industry, and is largely displacing the hardy winter-blooming Teas grown on the sunny terraces.
Tea Roses, which not only bear but enjoy the summer heat and drought, flowering freely in November and December after the autumn rains and pruning, are cultivated not only in gardens, but as a field crop, and the December crop of bloom is the most valuable, so that everything yields to that. To name any but the most valuable is unnecessary here, and, roughly speaking, Nabonnand's catalogue of his own seedlings represents what has been most grown during the last twenty years. Of these, however, many are obsolete.
Isabelle Nabonnand is one of the few really good winter Roses I have never seen grown in England. One of the oldest, it still is worth growing in any garden. Its blush-centred white blooms are fairly double, and yet open freely through the winter.
General Schablikine has at last found its way to England. For many years this was the only rose-coloured Tea to be depended on in winter. Now that glass is so much used, and larger and longer stalked blooms are required, it is only used as a decorative garden Rose. Marie Van Houtte is another old Rose that is gradually being superseded, as its flowers obstinately refuse to hold up their heads, but its beauty and freedom make it indispensable in the winter garden. Paul Nabonnand has for some years,reigned supreme from the beauty and freedom of its pale pink blooms in December. It is the Rose that with Schablikine produces the most summer-like effect during the winter. Fiametta Nabonnand is a very good flesh-white Rose, as indeed are all those that are named after the Nabonnand family, particularly for winter blooming. Papa Gontier, so bold in growth, so rich in petal, is the most useful of all winter Roses for cut bloom. Its size and brilliant rose-pink colour are remarkable in this climate. I have never seen it in its true character in England. The fields and hedges of Safrano, the first of all winter-blooming Roses, deserve a passing mention, though now, save as a hedge Rose, it is not worth a place. Its abundance of flowers about Christmastide is its chief attraction, and at that season it is still sent in quantity to northern cities.
Antoine Rivoire is the Rose that has made a mark lately, both in the garden and in the grower's ground. Its beauty and fresh pink and white colouring (white in December), and its fine vigorous stems crowned with bold upright flowers, have at once raised it to high favour. It looks as if it were a cross between Captain Christy and some old Tea like Rubens, and is better than either. Mme. Cadeau Ramey is a very sweet and lovely garden Rose, but has not as yet at all the same vogue, being of the Devoniensis type.
The China Roses and Hybrid Chinas do not find favour here, they are too fleeting and too thin, and Tea Roses give us more beauty. For instance, Beauté Inconstante, a Tea, has not only even more brilliant orange-scarlet tones than any hybrid China, but it is so free and hardy, as well as solid in petal, that it puts to shame its cousins that are so welcome in northern gardens.
Cramoisi Supérieur is lovely as a dwarf hedge, but is not nearly so good a winter bloomer as the climbing form Cramoisi Grimpant; so it is in hedgerows and avenues that the glowing masses of this are seen in company with the pale pink Indica Major, which here takes the place of the Hawthorn hedge.
