Jijjy la, 1865. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE fLXilDENEK. 



43 



in this comitry. The Souvenir do la Reine dcr I'AngletoiTa, 

 Mfidiune do Ciimbaoi'res, iiud Buoh like Rosos, must oventuiilly 

 bo iinsUc'd on one sitlo, to give pliioo tn Roses of ii liiHtfj- elass, 

 eombinin;,' sizd with shape. It in, I fuucy, a great mistake to 

 suppose wo hrtvp what we want in Roses as yot ; tliis wiJl not 

 be until we get crimson reds, dark enra."K)ns, and whites, with 

 the shape and general contour nf Comtosse Ceeila de CUa- 

 brillant or Coupo d'Hebe. A third Hose, that promises well, 

 was of the growth and fcdiaga of .Jules Margottin, fine in form, 

 not very large, and very swoot-scouted. I liave placi^d those in 

 the ord(!r in which I conceive theu- merit piititlos them to. 



As I have already said, it was too lute for the Ltous Roses, 

 and, consequently, I could only obtain information by letter. 

 M. (ruillot, tils, has foiu- Roses, one of which seems very nnich 

 to resemble, if oue may judge by description, the Rose of 

 M. Eugene Verdier, whieli T have already alluded to. It is called 

 .Josei>hino de Beauharnais, and is ilescribed to me as of a very 

 beautiful delicate rose, witli sUveiy white edge to the petals, 

 a seedling of Louise Peyronuy, of which it retains the cha- 

 racter, both in wood and foliag?. He has also another wliich 

 seems to bear a striking analogy- to the second Hose of M. Eiigene 

 Verdier, as it, too, is a soedLiug of Triomphe de I'Expositian, 

 very well fomied, superb velvety red, shaded with violet. A 

 third Rose is Pline, a seedling of Jloro de St. Louis, of which it 

 is said to have retained the character in nearly every particiUar. 

 Besides, he lias a seedling Bourbon from Louise Otlier — Madame 

 J. Gay — I should imagine, from the description, very similar 

 to Emotion and Louise Margottin. Of the four, one would 

 have little hesitation in adopting M. Guillot's own view — that 

 .Tosephine de Beauharnais and President Mas will be the best. 

 From neither M. Charles Verdier nor M. Levesqne did I obtain 

 any information. 



Of course I paid my old friend Margottin a visit, and, as 

 usual, obtained a great de.al of interesting Rose information 

 from him ; and, although his Roses (of which, I believe, he 

 has a couple), to be let out this season were not in bloom, yet 

 I had a long and broiling walk through his grounds on one of 

 the hottest days I experienced during my trip. He has a )daut 

 of .Jules Margottin this year which has come all marliled ; a 

 curious state is that marbling, for it seem?i, in nearly every 

 instance, to affect the style of the flower, as well as its colour. 

 I have myself this year a plant of Anna de Diosbach so marbled, 

 and I can see that the style of the blooms is evidently altering. 

 Whether it will be permanent I cannot yet decide ; the autumn 

 will teU whether these marbled flowers will remain true to their 

 character. As a general rule. Margottin considers that the 

 shaded Roses come better in France, and tlie bright ones in 

 England. Certainly those \-iolet-tinted and ardoisi' flowers 

 are not general favourites on this side of the channel. In 

 spealdng of white Roses he said that he believed that Made- 

 moiselle Bounaire was a seedling of General .Jacqueminot, and 

 that he had had numbers of white Roses from that most pro- 

 lific pai'ent, but none of tliem worth retaining. 



I endeavom'ed to obtain from M. Margottin and other French 

 Rose-growers their opinion of the Roses of last season, and I 

 think that they have ai-rived pretty much at the same conclu- 

 sion that we have. Thus Duehesse de Caylus was by all 

 acknowledged to be a Rose of great merit, as was also Rush- 

 ton Radclyfte, both of which I anticipated would prove to be 

 gems. Of Duehesse de Medina Co?li the opinion was not so 

 favourable, and as I have seen but oue flower of it this 

 year I cannot say whether they are correct. Of Charles Mar- 

 gottin, I saw hundreds of blooms at the raiser's, and a very 

 remarkable Rose for brilliancy of colour and substance of petal 

 it is, in the style of Count Cavour, but brighter still ; it is 

 most certainly one of the brightest Roses out. At Lovesque's I 

 saw large quantities of Madame Eliza Vilmoriu, but although 

 brilliant in colour, it is wanting in that neatness of form and 

 smoothness of petal we look for. Denis Helve is a vers' tine 

 and Large flower in the style of Anna de Diesbach, but deeper 

 in colour. Xavier Olibo was also considered to be a good Rose. 

 It is some\vhat difficult to keep in one's mind the Roses of the 

 different seasons, as they come so rapidly one on the other ; 

 and in the metropolis, at any rate, one is struck with the few 

 Boses of the present season that one sees. In the class for 

 new Roses you get the Roses of three or four different years, 

 and rarely more than five or six of the present season. Of 

 those flowers which were distributed to the great bulk of Rose- 

 growers in the antnmn of last year I have noticed, as especially 

 good, the following : — Pierre Nottiiip, a deep violet burgundy- 

 pnrple rose, of good form and substance ; iladama Victor 

 Verdier, a fine deep rose, of exquisite build, and great depth ; 



Duchesso de Morny, a sweetly-coloured rose ; Baron Pelletan 

 do Kinkelin, piurpliah crimson ; Kjito Hausburg, bvight rose, 

 and iirettily-cupiicd llower : Madame Derreulx Donville, rich 

 ileep pink;' an<l Si'iiveUir de Mar<Johnl Sernvrier, deep orimstm 

 purple, euiMied and fuU. Of the others that 1 have sefu, Amiral 

 Lapevrouse has not (<mougb stuff ; Bernard Pftlissy is a veiy 

 effective llower, but not of the -sliape to please a great many; 

 Centifolia rosea, a pink rose, Iml nolbing remarkable; J;ft 

 Heine de la I'ape, rose shaded with violet, not good; Louis 

 Van Houtte, too full, does not open well; Miuiama Maoker, 

 deUcate in habit ; Marechal Forey, rough and ba*U Furtbej 

 acquaintance may modify theao \lews, but at present this is 

 the estimate I have Ix'eu' led to form, and other Rosos: tliat: I 

 have not seen may take a good place. 



The season genenaiy, wliile favourable in tlic, early part of 

 the year, did not fultil'its promise. The intense heat of .June 

 falrl'v l)e;vt some of the most experienced growers, and in many 

 grounds mildew set in with great force. The cool weather and 

 few rains we are now experieuoing will give a good second 

 growth, and we may possibly have a fine autumnal bloom. 

 And BO for the present ends my Rose gossip. 



As several letters have reached me alxuit the yellow Rose of 

 Lacharme's, I may say hare that it wiUiliQt be let out till the 

 autumn of 1866. — D.i DtaUtsi .'jrii'l J-iodli''l ,ii 



"\ V ■;; voifi If .lyvvi 'Jll 



■ il i i hi ^wA l iM i ii.lt li. iffjfni ,rf>i)oii .7C hm..' 



DINERS A LA''liu'^SE ']^0r' Wfe' tttlttSN'.' 



" Wiivr isndineralaRusse?" asks your correspondent VD." 

 of Deal. " D." answers his question, at least so it seems to 

 me, verv correctly. exco]rt in saying that the (dd epergnes and 

 candelabra must give place to a iighter and more elegant orua- 

 raentaticm in the shape of flowers. Now I dine very constantly, 

 and I think very prettily a la Russe, with an (''pergne of 

 ancient date and pattern in the centre of the table. This 

 epergne is composed of silver, it has a bowl for flowers raised 

 conaiderably above the table in tJje middle ; while lower down 

 eight silver branches spring out, each holding a small vase. 

 When tastefully ornamented with flowers and Ferns, few 

 things could look more graceful and light thou this old 

 epergne with the dessert arranged in plates of valuable china 

 around it..- • i:-'TjjjJ ■_,■! m.'.' '■■ ':i-:;! :■ .i - ;!i j):"J J!J';''J 



But many people may not possesBian old fipergne, ax^a,sy^^ 

 one having a tolerably well stocked giudeu may enjoy this 

 prettiest and most economical way of dining. I will suppose, 

 that besides my garden I have a small -farm with a trout 

 streixm running through it ; I wish to have a few friends to 

 ilinner without much expense in this month of .July. I have 

 in common with most farm-houses, a few t>ld chma plates, 

 that belonged to my gi-amhnother, and a small stock of glass. 

 I place a small saucer topsy-tur-\T- on a soup plate, on the 

 saucer I put a tumbler, and in the tumbler a champagne ghiss 

 or old-fashioned rummer. Round the soup plate I dispose the 

 fresh gi-een fronds of the Polystichum angnlare, or aculeaturn ; 

 thev should be aU of the s.am'e size, so as tfl lie down evenly in 

 a circle on the fair white tablecloth. I dispose smaller Fems 

 so as entirely to hide the saucer and tumbler, and then I fiU 

 up the soup plate with a wreath of white Roses and blue Corn- 

 flowers, or the Verbenas Purple King and Suowflixke. From 

 the tumbler I depend mv flnejit Fuchsias, white Calceolarias, 

 Jasmine, and bhie Salvia, with a few fronds of Polypodium 

 dryopteris. My best Ferns and Pelargoniums I keep for the 

 champagne glass. ,::i .'■ : -. . •-.■ '■ \ . 



This arrangement can be viiried .in a , huadred ways-r-Spi* 

 ra!a aria?folia, mixed with Humea elegans and' a few^ Fern 

 fronds, has a very good effect. I place this bouquet in the 

 centre of the table, bending the circle of Ferns to make them 

 lie on the tablecloth— then I put specimens of aU my best 

 Roses with fronds of Ferns in six rummers, and dispose them 

 between the outer circle of fronds. My dessert of Cherries, 

 StrawbeiTies, Raspberries, Gooseberries, with Currants, white 

 and red, I put in six of my old china idates, with a delicate 

 frond of some of my favorvrite Ferns here and there. 



The trout stream fiirnishes the tish, which my husband gets up 

 an hour earlier in the morning to catch, and is rewarded with 

 one fried for his breakfast, which I need hardly say puts him 

 into a good temper till the hour for company smiles arrives. 

 I can spare this delicacy with the gi-eater ease because I need 

 only have just enough 'fish to satisfy my friends ; dining a la 

 Russe saves much waste, and my fish is brought iu hot from 

 the kitchen, instead of waiting on the table to get cold while 

 the company seat themselves. If the fish is preceded by soup. 



