ROSES FOR DECORATIONS. 135 



my great love for " La France," but to wear it every 

 day would not please nie. If you are going- to a 

 dinner, a miniature buttonhole selected from the 

 Dwarf Polyanthas or Pompons, such as Eugenie 

 Lamesch, Leonie Lamesch, Petit Constant and Perle 

 d'Or would be delightful, but a fine Madame Hoste or 

 a Hugh Dickson would be overpowering; you put 

 your overcoat on in the day and change the order, 

 and the result will be the reverse, for unless a button- 

 hole is made very big the little Pompon Roses could 

 not compare with a large shapely bud selected from 

 the greater number of our favourites. Clothes to a 

 large extent must govern choice, and especially with 

 the fair sex, but here the buttonhole Rose merges into 

 the spray and the bud is wedded with more than one 

 full-blown flower to give effect. 



It thus becomes imperative to choose a Rose that 

 in every stage from bud to full-blown flower is of ser- 

 vice, and here we consider points that have always 

 been overlooked by those that have dealt with the sub- 

 ject. I hold it essential that a Rose used for a lady's 

 spray should possess perfume, for you will seldom find 

 a well-made spray without one or two fully-developed 

 Roses. 



Again, a well-made spray will require a little 

 wiring, if it is only used to keep the blooms in posi- 

 tion, to strengthen the stalks, or keep the leaves in 

 place; and in the hands of the cunning florist even 

 petals will be wired to prevent their over-expansion 

 and loss of that beauty that is found in bud and semi- 

 developed flower. 



The leaf of the Rose, too, is a great con?Jderation, 

 for nature is the best judge, and it is seldom that 

 we can match from another tree that which she has 

 created to be the setting of a beautiful flower. Often 

 and often I have experimented on this matter, and it 

 is wonderful to find how shades of green, texture and 

 shape of leaves, are formed to suit a particular variety. 

 This is a most important point in Roses used for 



