356 THE FLORIST. 



A RHAPSODY ON A ROSE. 



The title I have selected so perfectly accords with the feeling which 

 prompts this brochure, that I may be excused for a piracy, a very 

 amusing article having recently appeared in a gardening periodical 

 under this title. 



At the recommendation of a correspondent of yours on new Roses, 

 I purchased plants of Prince Leon last autumn, and looked somewhat 

 anxiously for the blossom of a variety so highly spoken of; but the 

 untoward season just past doomed me to disappointment, as the flowers 

 had but little pretension to the character I had read of it. Knowing, 

 however, how many of our most lovely Roses " shine gloriously only in 

 autumn," I refrained from forming a conclusion, not without reason, as 

 the sequel proves. 



On the autumnal branches fine buds were formed, the opening of 

 which I watched with no Httle anxiety, and on the morning of the 6th 

 I beheld with extatic delight the expansion of its lovely flowers ; indeed 

 I quite 



" Enchanted -watched the opening Rose." 



Its colour how lovely I that exquisite Ponceau — best described as a bright 

 cherry colour, although the French call it poppy colour — which we 

 ladies at least know so well. Then its shape how perfect ! with petals 

 not so crowded as to exclude the peeping stamens, and of a texture 

 extraordinary for a Rose so Camellia-like and smooth — aye, as the 

 smoothest hand we ever possessed ; the edges, too, with scarcely any 

 indentation ; neither does its perfume belie its form, being equally 

 recherche. 



Paul Dupuy and my favourite have long been called the gems of 

 the (last) season ; and beautiful as I admit the former to be, in my 

 poor estimation it does not even approach my Prince. 



'Tis said that " sweetest flowers soonest fade," but here it was quite 

 reversed ; for although from the 6th to the 10th we were blest with 

 brilliant sunshine, yet for four successive mornings did I revel in the 

 beauties of this lovely flower ; indeed, and not since my first beholding 

 Geant des Batailles have I been so truly charmed in my morning visits 

 to my sweetest pets, my Roses. 



Before concluding, a word to those of my sister florists who neglect 

 the early morning to enjoy *' these sweetest gems in Flora's train." 

 Let them only be once tempted, and few sunny opportunities will be 

 allowed to escape ; for once the dew exhaled and the charm is lost ; 

 indeed, many of the more delicately tinted varieties — Rivers' George 

 the Fourth, for instance — are so evanescent as to lose half their beauty 

 when robbed of their dewy spangles. 



Flora. 



