HYBRID TEAS 33 



ago it would have been possible to choose a selection of 

 roses at haphazard, and still be pretty confident that 

 all or most would be fragrant. Alas ! nowadays one 

 must choose circumspectly, and with the knowledge 

 that comes from one's own experience or from that of 

 others ; so in any twentieth century book on rose 

 growing, a list of roses that are fragrant becomes 

 really necessary, and the expectant reader will find it 

 farther on. 



It is a matter for regret that so many Hybrid Teas 

 are thin. The buds of the morning are the open blos- 

 soms of midday, but at least they have the advantage 

 over single and semi-double sorts that, having progressed 

 from bud to blossom, they do not straightway scatter 

 their precious burden of petals. They are not all so 

 bad as I might seem to have made out, and in the list 

 at the end of this chapter I have endeavoured to make 

 plain the good and bad points of many of them. 



Having outlined some of the disadvantages of the 

 Hybrid Teas, let me underline some of the qualities that 

 have made them the greatest favourites of all. Prob- 

 ably the reason that they have become so precious to 

 rose lovers is that they are never really out of bloom, 

 if you choose the right ones, from the middle of June 

 until the end of November. I (no doubt in common 

 with many others) have cut presentable blossoms of 

 Hybrid Teas on Christmas Day, though I do not include 

 among their merits that of providing a Christmas posy, 

 yet many things are less likely. Add to their long 

 season of bloom the possession of the most fascinating, 



