26 



THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



princips," more on account of his ex- 

 clusive possession than their rarity or 

 beauty, the floral enthusiast delififhts 

 in shai'ing liis pleasures with kindred 

 spirits, and in bestowing the produce 

 of his enterprise upon admirini^ 

 friends. I must confess that, at pre- 

 sent, my hobby is the Eose. I grow 

 the flower with untiring interest while 

 the weather permits, and when the 

 season is past, I delight to speculate 

 and talk about various matters con- 

 nected with it. This must be my 

 excuse for sometimes bestriding my 

 Pegasus for a gentle canter into the 

 realms of gossipdom, and marking 

 down a few memoranda by the way. 



I find that, contrary to expecta- 

 tion, we are to receive this season a 

 large number of new continental 

 importations — to be met withal by a 

 few formidable rivals of native birth. 

 Let us hope this will open an era of 

 triumph for our English raisers, and 

 render us independent of the annual 

 heap of rubbish we are compelled to 

 receive, for the chance of a scanty few 

 turning out useful and valuable acqui- 

 sitions. It must be admitted, how- 

 ever, that last year was unusually 

 prolific in genuine additions to esta- 

 blished favourites, that is, if some 

 dozen or so do not belie the promise 

 they have already given. It is, how- 

 ever, necessary to protest against the 

 introduction of so many clouded and 

 uncertain coloured varieties. At least 

 half last season's flowers are of such 

 a character — a character that if encou- 

 raged, will do away with one of the 

 most important properties of the rose ; 

 viz., distinctness and intensity of hue, 

 and which will by no means be com- 

 pensated for by dingy reds, chocolate 

 crimsons, or dirty pinks and whites. 

 Whatever other good qualities such 

 flowers may exhibit, let the real well- 

 wisher to the progress of the rose set 

 his face resolutely against the pur- 

 chase of them, and with the absence 

 of demand they will soon disappear 

 from cultivation. 



Another mai-ked defect in too 

 many novelties is a deficiency in the 

 habit of continuous blooming. They 

 are rude summer roses under a diffe- 

 rent name. In this desirable point 

 there can be no doubt that numerous 



older favourites excel many of recent 

 date. An autumnal show, on a similar 

 scale to the great July exhibitions, 

 might do something to counteract this, 

 besides having another excellent effect 

 in eliminating a valuable class for 

 garden decoration in those kinds 

 which were free bloomers in the au- 

 tumn — the class after all most suitable 

 for general amateurs. 



It is amusing to get hold of some 

 of the French raisers' lists of new 

 roses, and to peruse the marvellous 

 descriptions given of their flowers. 

 " Illumined with fire and violet," 

 "saturated (cuisse de nymphe) flesh?" 

 " rose virginale," etc., ai'e word paint- 

 ing with a vengeance. Sure such tints 

 were never seen save under a Gallic 

 sky or in the imaginative vision of a 

 French florist with a new rose " to 

 place in commerce" upon the pockets 

 of perfidious Albion. This suggests 

 another phase of the subject, namely, 

 the want of uniformity in colour, a 

 description that pervades our cata- 

 logues. I think these discrepancies 

 must be traced to a lack of definite 

 canons of colour among rose-growers, 

 which it would be well should no 

 longer exist. 



Take Jules Margottin, for in- 

 stance, whieh is variously described 

 as follows : — Bright cerise, vivid crim- 

 son, brilliant rose, cherry, bright 

 glossy pink, bright carmine, bright 

 crimson rose, and cherry red. Now 

 what is the difference between these 

 tints ? Which is the true colour, and 

 what idea is the amateur to form of 

 that by such descriptions as the above .^ 

 Again, Due de Gazes, Abd-el-Kader, 

 Admiral Gravina, Dr. Bretonnean, 

 Souvenir de Comte Cavour, Appert, 

 Arago, Princess Matthilde, Triomphe 

 de Lyon, Louis XIV., are all described 

 as dark crimson, or deep velvety crim- 

 son, although of such very dissimilar 

 colours. Instances like these might 

 be multiplied to an indefinite extent. 

 Such things puzzle and confuse ama- 

 teurs, cause miscalculation and disap- 

 pointment, and greatly tend to check 

 the taste for cultivating the most beau- 

 tiful and refined of garden favourites. 



An authoritative and definite code 

 of " colour," as applied to flowers, 

 generally recognized and understood, 



