Besides the three great races of perpetual flowering Roses, the Teas, Hybrid Teas, and Hybrid Perpetuals, on which the chief interest of the modern rose-world is centred at the present time, there are other perpetual flowering roses, which are of great importance both for their value in the past and their beauty in the present. For although the modern hybrids have somewhat obscured the fame of their ancestors, many of them owe their origin to the Bourbon and China roses, which, in the early years of the nineteenth century, before the advent of Hybrid Perpetuals, were almost the only autumn flowering roses on which to depend.

According to that invaluable book,[7] to which I owe an untold debt of gratitude since first I began to study rose-growing seriously—the original Bourbon, "a beautiful semi-double rose, with brilliant rose-coloured flowers, prominent buds, and nearly evergreen foliage," was discovered in the Isle of Bourbon.

It appears that the land there was—probably is still—enclosed by "hedges made of two rows of roses, one row of the common China Rose, the other of the Red Four Seasons, the Perpetual Damask." In planting one of these hedges, a proprietor found a rose quite different in appearance to the rest of his young plants, and transferred it to his garden. Here it flowered, and proved to be a new type, evidently a seedling from the two sorts, which were the only ones known in the island. "M. BrÉon arrived at Bourbon in 1817, as botanical traveller for the Government of France, and curator of the Botanical and Naturalization Garden there. He propagated this rose very largely; and sent plants and seeds of it in 1822 to Monsieur Jacques, gardener at the ChÂteau de Neuilly, near Paris, who distributed it among the rose cultivators of France. M. BrÉon named it 'Rose de l'Isle Bourbon,' and is convinced that it is a hybrid from one of the above roses, and a native of the island."

The true Bourbon roses are thoroughly perpetual, with rose, blush, or white flowers, smooth solid stems, and dark, almost evergreen, foliage. One has only to mention the well-known and well-beloved Souvenir de la Malmaison to recall the type. Gloire de RosamÈnes[8] is a hybrid, as I have said: but Hermosa, or Armosa (1840), and the charming Mrs. Bosanquet (1832), often classed among the China roses, are pure Bourbons, and so are Mme. Isaac Pereire, Mrs. Paul (1891), Queen of the Bourbons, Boule de Neige, Setina a climbing form of Hermosa, and Zephirine Drouhin (1873), a good climbing rose. Hermosa, which is constantly mistaken for a very full, globular pink China, is an excellent rose for massing in the garden, as it is in continuous bloom from spring till late autumn, the dwarf, bushy plants being covered with flowers. The charming hybrid Tea rose, CamoËns, which resembles it in habit, but is a rather larger flower of a rich China pink, may also be used in the same way. A group of small beds arranged in a simple geometrical pattern, and planted with either or both these roses, is an extremely pretty feature in the garden. Hermosa has been for years largely used in this way on the Continent and in England; for instance, 20,000 have been planted in the Sandringham gardens alone. But I was told last year in Luxembourg, that in Holland, where it is most popular, CamoËns is almost superseding it; one Dutch lady who had a large portion of her garden planted with nothing but Hermosa, is now using hundreds of CamoËns in the same way, as it is equally generous in bloom, richer in colour, and as neat and strong in growth.

These old favourites were introduced into England in the eighteenth century. The Old Blush Monthly came first, in 1718; and in 1789 the Old Crimson (R. Semperflorens), a much less vigorous plant, arrived. It is not surprising that both should have found instant popularity; for roses which in warm situations are practically in flower the whole year through, must indeed have been precious adjuncts to the gardens of those days. In England they were popularly known as "Monthly roses"; while in France they are known as Rosiers du Bengal.

We now come to a quite modern class of perpetual flowering roses, which is as yet too little known, except among those ardent rose-growers who keep closely in touch with the marvels of modern hybridization. And this special race is indeed one of its most extraordinary results. For

These roses may be roughly divided into two classes: one showing the Polyantha blood very strongly; the other the Tea blood.

In the first, the flowers, whether double or single, are borne in dense upright clusters, after the manner of the true Multiflora. Some of the best of these are Gloire des Polyantha; Schneewittchen; the fine Mme. N. Levavasseur, really a miniature Crimson Rambler; the even more attractive Mrs. W. H. Cutbush, a bright pink Crimson Rambler; and the exquisite little Baby Dorothy, which has created such a sensation as a pot plant since it was shown in the spring of 1907. These are all admirably fitted for planting in masses. In the famous PÉpiniÈre, or Public Gardens of Nancy, beds of Madame N. Levavasseur last autumn (1907) were remarkably effective. In one the ground was thickly covered among the plants with a very dwarf grey-blue Ageratum; and the effect of the erect crimson clusters of the rose over the soft grey flowers was most striking; while another bed of the same rose was edged with a dwarf bronze-foliaged fibrous Begonia. Even more charming was a whole bed of Mrs. W. H. Cutbush, which I saw in MM. Soupert et Notting's garden at Luxembourg, the rich rosy colour being much finer.

In the other class the Tea blood is shown as strongly; the flowers are borne singly, or at most in heads of four or five, on smooth and delicate yet firm little stalks; while the foliage is that of a miniature Tea rose. These as to the actual blossoms are perhaps even more attractive. For what can be prettier than a perfectly formed flower the size of a Fairy rose—and sweetly scented too—such as those of Étoile d'Or, lemon shaded with sulphur; or Perle d'Or, nankeen yellow with orange centre; or EugÉnie Lamesch, coppery pink; or the beautiful Cecile Brunner, its well-shaped flowers blush with a deeper pink centre?

In one or two we get an example of the double strain. For the velvety crimson flowers of Perle des Rouges are borne in clusters, though in substance and foliage the plant appears to take after the Tea rose.

But I deprecate the tendency which I see among some varieties, to produce much larger flowers such as those of Clothilde Soupert and Georges Pernet. This quite alters the character of the pretty little plants; giving us a rose that is neither one thing or another, neither a fine bedding rose or a miniature edging rose.