J 34 PLO VVERING SHRUBS. 



Early Wild Rose — Rosa bla>ida, (Ait.) 



" Nor did I wonder at the Lilies white, 



Nor praise the deep vermillion of the rose." — 



" The Rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem. 



For that sweet odour which in it doth live."' — Shakespeare. 



The Early Wild Rose, Rosa bla/ida, is hardly so deeply tinted as 

 our Dwarf Wild Rose, Rosa lucida, but both possess attractions of 

 colour and fragrance ; qualities that have made the Rose the theme of 

 many a poet's song. In the flowery language of the East, Beauty and 

 the Rose seem almost to be synonymous terms. The Italian poets are 

 full of allusions to this lovely flower, especially to the red Damask Rose. 



A popular song in the days of Charles I. was that beginning 

 with the lines — 



" Gather your Roses while you may. 

 For time is still a flying, 

 And that same flower that blooms to-day. 

 To-morrow may be dyinp." 



The leaves of Rosa blanda are pale underneath ; leaflets five to 

 seven ; flowers blush-pink : stem not very prickly ; fruit red and round ; 

 the bush from one to three feet in height. 



Dwarf Wild Rose — R. iiicida, (Ehrh.) 



Is widely diff'used over Canada ; it is found on all open plain-lands, but 

 shuns the deep shade of the forest. The bark is of a bright red, and 

 the young wood is armed with bristly prickles of a greyish colour. 

 When growing in shade, the half-opened flowers and buds are of a deep 

 pink or carmine, but where more exposed in sunny spots, the petals fade 

 to a pale blush-colour. This shrub becomes somewhat troublesome if 

 encouraged in the garden, from the running roots, which send up many 

 shoots. In its wild state the Dwarf Rose seldom exceeds three feet in 

 height ; it is the second and older wood that bears the flowers ; the 

 flower-bearing branches become almost smooth or only remotely thorny. 

 The leaflets vary in number from five to nine ; they are sharply serrated 

 at the edges, and smooth on the surface ; the globular scarlet fruit is 

 flattened at the eye and is of a jileasant sub-acid taste. 



This beautiful red-barked Rose grows in great profusion on the 

 plains above Rice Lake, clothing large tracts of hill and dale, and 

 scenting the evening air at dew-fall with its delicate fragrance. 



The Swamp Rose, Rosa Carolina, (L.) is not uncommon ; it is 

 often seen growing at the margins of lakes and rivers, and at the edges 

 of stony islands ; it will climb, with the aid of supporting trees, to the 



