CHAPTER VII
Rose Pillars
A pillar in garden phrase is rather an elastic term, for though a Rose pillar pure and simple is what it seems to be--that is to say, a Rose grown to a certain height in upright shape--there are other developments of the form that are commonly accepted as of the pillar family, and may be conveniently described under the same title. The foundation of the pillar proper is generally a post of larch or oak or a narrow upright iron framework. A Rose is chosen whose height and natural way of growth is suitable, and it is trained and encouraged to grow so that it will show a column of bloom over the greater part of its surface, and so as not to be too leggy at the bottom. A perspective of Rose pillars is a charming feature in a garden, and one of the ways in which their beauty may be best enjoyed. They should be so placed that one can go right up to them and see the Roses at eye level and below it and also against the sky, and smell their sweet scent in perfect comfort as they grow. The posts may either stand quite free, or, for the better showing of the rambling Roses, be connected by a chain that hangs in easy festoons.
Another form of pillar is of greater width, when either three or four posts are planted in group, or a wider iron frame is placed to make a thicker block of upright Roses. Another is wider still, and the Roses are trained either up or round it outside, or up a central support and then out at the top, from whence they fall over and cover the sides. This is an excellent way of growing that beautiful old Rose Blairii No. 2. For full fifty years this fine thing has been with us, and in its own way there is as yet nothing better. Its origin is not clearly known, but it seems to be related to the China Roses. Its dainty pink colouring, deepening to the centre, gives it a rare charm, and recalls the loveliness of a looser Rose, the Vlush Boursault, that, alas! so seldom gives well-formed blooms. Another way of forming the thick pillar or balloon is to have a stout wooden central post and three intersecting iron arches each six feet wide, forming six outer standards that arch over to the central post, and lateral wires girthing the whole about eighteen inches apart. The post should be five to six inches thick, the iron arches three-eighths of an inch, and the lateral wires one- quarter inch. In the case of a structure of this size six plants of the same kind of Rose are used, one to each upright, and all are trained upwards.
This thick form of pillar leads to the Rose umbrella, a way of training a free-growing standard that, though its evident elaboration of support does not commend it to people of simple taste, yet certainly does produce a wonderful show of bloom. But the iron frame, if of any size, has to be guyed all round by stiffly strained wires, and these have to be fixed to stumps driven into the ground, and some of us feel that a way of growing that entails the necessity of employing such complicated machinery of support is out of harmony with the Rose sentiment and damping to Rose fervour.
Some Of The Best Pillar Roses (Tall).Multiflora hybrids.
Wichuriana hybrids.
Ayrshires.
Climbing Aimée Vibert, Noisette; white.
Waltham Climber, Tea; red.
Reine Marie Henriette, Hybrid Tea; rosy red.
Reine Olga de Wurtemburg, H.T.; red.
Carmine Pillar, Hyb.; deep rose.
Crimson Rambler, Mult.; crimson.
Longworth Rambler, N.; rose-crimson.
Gloire de Dijon, T.; buff and orange.
Bouquet d'Or, T.;
Madame Bérard, T.;
Penzance Briers.
William Allen Richardson, N.; orange.
Madame Alfred Carrière, Hybrid Noisette; warm white.
Bardou job, T.; dark red.
Baronne de Hoffmann, T.; copper red.
Climbing Devoniensis, T.; yellow white,
Clothilde Soupert, T.; carmine rose.
Duchesse D'Auerstadt, T.; yellow.
Fanny Stolwerk, T.; salmon rose.
Pink Rover, H.T.; light rose.
Paul's Single White.
Ard's Rover, Hybrid Perpetual; red.Some Pillar Roses Of Moderate Height.
Purity, H.B.; white.
Belle Lyonnaise, T.; buff white.
Alister Stella Gray, N.; buff.
Climbing Captain Christy, H.C.; blush and pink.
Climbing Mrs. W. J. Grant, H.T.; salmon pink.
Climbing Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, H.T.; white shaded
to centre.
Gloire Lyonnaise, H.T.; white, lemon centre.
Griiss an Teplitz, H.T.; crimson.
Dawn, H.T.; nearly single, pale pink.
Coupe d'Hébé, Hyb.; pink.
Madame Plantier, Hyb.; white.
Blairii No. 2, Hyb.; clear pink and pink white.
Climbing Eugénie Verdier, H.P.; salmon pink.
Brightness of Cheshunt, H.P.; red.
Frances Bloxam, H.C.; salmon pink.
Climbing Victor Verdier, H.P.; red.
Climbing Pride of Waltham, H.P.; salmon.
Gloire des Rosomanes, Hyb.; red.
Charles Lawson, H.P.; rose.
