CHAPTER II 



THE WICHURAIANA ROSES 



The beginner would most probably feel inclined to turn 

 the page on catching sight of " wichuraiana," did I not 

 hasten, with all convenient speed, to reassure him. He 

 is easily scared, and were I of a mind to alienate his 

 sympathies (which Heaven forfend !), it were soon 

 accomplished by taking full advantage of the gardening 

 jargon, which is replete with the most extraordinary 

 names, often mongrel in character and obscure in origin. 

 With these, however, " familiarity breeds contempt," 

 and it is only at first sight that they offend. The names 

 soon lose their strangeness, and come readily even from 

 the learner's lips when he can picture the plants that 

 possess them. " Wichuraiana " will trouble the reader 

 no longer when he knows it as a wonderful little wild 

 rose from China and Japan, with long, slender, creeping 

 growths, and bearing small, pale, and single blossoms. 

 Not in itself very much to make a fuss about, perhaps, 

 yet there is charm even in the original wild type or 

 species. Not the least of its attractions are the glisten- 

 ing, green leaves that persist long after those of most 

 roses have fallen and made harvest for the garden 

 broom; it is remarkably free, too, of the fragrant 

 flowers that spangle the leafy stems. It was discovered 



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