Roses and Rose Growing

By Rose Georgina Kingsley

“Roses And Rose Growing” is a vintage guide that deals with every aspect of growing roses, including planting, pruning, propagation, different varieties, climate considerations, and much more. Written in simple, clear language and full of invaluable tips, this volume is perfect for anyone with an interest in introducing roses to their garden or allotment. Contents include: “Making and Planting a Rose Garden”, “Pruning and Propagating”, “Summer-Flowering Roses”, “Autumn Flowering”, “Tea Roses”, “Hybrid Tea Roses”, “Hybrid Peretuals”, “Bourbon, China, and Polyantha Roses”, “Rose Pests”, “How to Grow Roses for Exhibition”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new introduction on the history of gardening.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Oct 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9781473377028

Book preview

Roses and

Rose Growing

by

Rose Georgina Kingsley

Copyright © 2013 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without

the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Contents

A Short History of Gardening

PREFACE

CHAPTER I. MAKING AND PLANTING A ROSE GARDEN

CHAPTER II. PRUNING AND PROPAGATING

CHAPTER III. SUMMER-FLOWERING ROSES—OLD AND NEW.

CHAPTER IV. CLIMBING ROSES—SUMMER FLOWERING

CHAPTER V. CLIMBING ROSES—AUTUMN FLOWERING

CHAPTER VI. TEA ROSES, R. Indica odorata.

CHAPTER VII. Hybrid Tea-Roses, R. indica odorata hybrida

CHAPTER VIII. HYBRID PERPETUALS

CHAPTER IX. BOURBON, CHINA, AND POLYANTHA ROSES

CHAPTER X. ROSE PESTS

CHAPTER XI. HOW TO GROW ROSES FOR EXHIBITION

A Short History of Gardening

Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture more broadly. In most domestic gardens, there are two main sets of plants; ‘ornamental plants’, grown for their flowers, foliage or overall appearance – and ‘useful plants’ such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits and herbs, grown for consumption or other uses. For many people, gardening is an incredibly relaxing and rewarding pastime, ranging from caring for large fruit orchards to residential yards including lawns, foundation plantings or flora in simple containers. Gardening is separated from farming or forestry more broadly in that it tends to be much more labour-intensive; involving active participation in the growing of plants.

Home-gardening has an incredibly long history, rooted in the ‘forest gardening’ practices of prehistoric times.  In the gradual process of families improving their immediate environment, useful tree and vine species were identified, protected and improved whilst undesirable species were eliminated. Eventually foreign species were also selected and incorporated into the ‘gardens.’ It was only after the emergence of the first civilisations that wealthy individuals began to create gardens for aesthetic purposes. Egyptian tomb paintings from around 1500 BC provide some of the earliest physical evidence of ornamental horticulture and landscape design; depicting lotus ponds surrounded by symmetrical rows of acacias and palms. A notable example of an ancient ornamental garden was the ‘Hanging Gardens of Babylon’ – one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Ancient Rome had dozens of great gardens, and Roman estates tended to be laid out with hedges and vines and contained a wide variety of flowers – acanthus, cornflowers, crocus, cyclamen, hyacinth, iris, ivy, lavender, lilies, myrtle, narcissus, poppy, rosemary and violets as well as statues and sculptures. Flower beds were also popular in the courtyards of rich Romans. The Middle Ages represented a period of decline for gardens with aesthetic purposes however.  After the fall of Rome gardening was done with the purpose of growing medicinal herbs and/or decorating church altars. It was mostly monasteries that carried on the tradition of garden design and horticultural techniques during the medieval period in Europe. By the late thirteenth century, rich Europeans began to grow gardens for leisure as well as for medicinal herbs and vegetables. They generally surrounded them with walls – hence, the ‘walled garden.’

These gardens advanced by the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries into symmetrical, proportioned and balanced designs with a more classical appearance. Gardens in the renaissance were adorned with sculptures (in a nod to Roman heritage), topiary and fountains. These fountains often contained ‘water jokes’ – hidden cascades which suddenly soaked visitors. The most famous fountains of this kind were found in the Villa d’Este (1550-1572) at Tivoli near Rome. By the late seventeenth century, European gardeners had started planting new flowers such as tulips, marigolds and sunflowers.

These highly complex designs, largely created by the aristocracy slowly gave way to the individual gardener however – and this is where this book comes in! Cottage Gardens first emerged during the Elizabethan times, originally created by poorer workers to provide themselves with food and herbs, with flowers planted amongst them for decoration. Farm workers were generally provided with cottages set in a small garden—about an acre—where they could grow food, keep pigs, chickens and often bees; the latter necessitating the planting of decorative pollen flora. By Elizabethan times there was more prosperity, and thus more room to grow flowers. Most of the early cottage garden flowers would have had practical uses though —violets were spread on the floor (for their pleasant scent and keeping out vermin); calendulas and primroses were both attractive and used in cooking. Others, such as sweet william and hollyhocks were grown entirely for their beauty.

Here lies the roots of today’s home-gardener; further influenced by the ‘new style’ in eighteenth century England which replaced the more formal, symmetrical ‘Garden à la française’. Such gardens, close to works of art, were often inspired by paintings in the classical style of landscapes by Claude Lorraine and Nicolas Poussin. The work of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, described as ‘England’s greatest gardener’ was particularly influential.  We hope that the reader is inspired by this book, and the long and varied history of gardening itself, to experiment with some home-gardening of their own. Enjoy.

Single Hybrid Tea.

IRISH ELEGANCE.

ROSES

AND

ROSE GROWING

BY

ROSE G. KINGSLEY

OFFICIER DE L’INSTRUCTION PUBLIQUE

AUTHOR OF EVERSLEY GARDENS, ETC., ETC.

WITH A CHAPTER ON "HOW TO GROW ROSES FOR

EXHIBITION," BY THE REV. F. PAGE-ROBERTS,

VICE-PRESIDENT NATIONAL ROSE

SOCIETY, F.R.H.S.

WITH TWENTY-EIGHT FULL-PAGE COLOURED, AND NINE

HALF-TONE, ILLUSTRATIONS AND DIAGRAMS

PREFACE

Some time ago it was suggested, by certain rose-lovers and enthusiasts, that the practical experience of an amateur, brought up from childhood to love and cultivate roses, might be of use to other owners of small gardens, who, like herself, tend their roses themselves. And in the hope that this might be the case, I undertook to write this little book. My text-book in this labour of love has been an old copy, which belonged to my father when he settled at Eversley in 1844, of The Rose Amateur’s Guide, by that veteran rose-grower, the late Thomas Rivers. I am also greatly indebted to the Rev. J. H. Pemberton’s learned and admirable work, Roses, their History, Development, and Cultivation, published early this year; and to the various publications of the National Rose Society.

As one branch, however, of the cultivation of roses is a sealed book to me, for I am only an amateur who does not exhibit, I felt that no work on rose-growing would be complete without a chapter which should help those who wish to do so. And here I was indeed fortunate in obtaining the help of so distinguished an authority as my friend and neighbour, Rev. F. Page-Roberts, Vice-President of the National Rose Society. My grateful thanks are due to him for the delightful chapter, the last in the book, on How to grow Roses for Exhibition. And I feel that to have his[vii] name on the title-page is an honour of which I cannot be too proud.

As to the illustrations, it should be borne in mind that they are not intended to represent exhibition roses, but merely ordinary blooms, typical of the various kinds of garden roses. The colour prints have been admirably carried out by Messrs. Swain and Son of Barnet, by their new process of colour-printing. My friend, Miss Emily Jubb, has supplied several of the original photographs of roses and of pruning, from specimens in my own garden; and to her I offer my warm thanks. Thanks are also due to Mr. Wm. Paul of Waltham Cross nurseries, and to Mr. Henry Nicholson of New Barnet, for their kindness in furnishing Messrs. Swain and Son with all the other specimen flowers for the plates. In fact, without Mr. Nicholson’s ready help in a supplying a large proportion of the subjects from his own garden, it would have been difficult to carry out the scheme of illustration.

If this humble record of my own practical experience, its failures, and its successes, is the means of encouraging others in the cultivation of roses, I can only wish them the interest, delight, and healthful relaxation of tired body and mind, which this pursuit has afforded me for many a long year.

Rose G. Kingsley 1908.

CHAPTER I.

MAKING AND PLANTING

A ROSE GARDEN

Happy is the rosarian who is free to choose the spot in which to make his rose garden—to choose the ideal position, with ideal soil, in an ideal climate. Such fortuitous combinations are possible. But though they do not fall to the lot of one rose-lover in a hundred, it is still easy to find a bit of ground in which roses will flourish; for, with proper care, there are few localities—in England at all events—where they cannot be made to grow. At the same time, in choosing the position of our rose garden, certain dangers must be guarded against, as far as possible.

Position.—First of all I would say, avoid a draughty spot; for nothing is so bad for roses as a draught. Even an exposed garden, if it is quite flat and open, is preferable to a draughty one, however picturesquely shaded it may be. The perfect position should be sheltered from the north and east: but not closely surrounded by trees. For roses are lovers of light and sun; and while they enjoy a little shade for a few hours in the day, they will not flourish in stuffy, closely shadowed places, where they cannot get enough light and air.

Shelter.—If some sort of shelter is absolutely imperative, there are various ways of producing it without putting up an unsightly paling, or building a costly wall in the garden. One of the best is a low hedge kept closely clipped, of yew, holly, privet, or beech—the first is, of course, slow in growth. Care, however, must be taken to plant the hedge at such a distance from the rose beds that its roots shall not suck all the nourishment from them. But nothing is more charming or suitable than to give the choice and more tender roses a shelter of roses—planting the strong-growing Wichuraianas, Ramblers and other vigorous kinds along a screen of wooden lattice-work. This not only makes a quite sufficient break to the wind, but forms a delightful background to the beds of dwarf roses.

If possible, the ground should slope very gently to south and west. Flat ground is preferable to any slope steeper than one in fifty. But some slight fall is extremely advantageous, as it helps drainage.

Drainage.—This is another most important point to be considered. For whether