ROSES AND OTHER FLOWERS 67 



old-world border, may go back to his first love, if openly 

 derided by experts, at least with some proper pride 

 and the good wishes of a scribe among the roses to 

 whom the unorthodox makes appeal. 



There is another aspect of the subject of roses and 

 their association with other flowers. When grown in 

 beds specially reserved for them, is there any good 

 reason why the ground between should not be covered 

 with dainty blooms ? There is, indeed, a very grave 

 reason, or so I might tell you were I dilating upon the 

 " summer treatment " of roses. But, happily, for the 

 moment I am trammelled by no such claims of proper 

 gardening. Therefore I can defy the conventions and 

 reply to the self-imposed question with a negative. 

 There is no reason why you should not smother the 

 ground beneath and between the roses with those delight- 

 ful and daintily varied tufted Pansies or Violas that 

 begin to bloom in May and are scarcely without blossom 

 onwards until November. How cosy they look, and how 

 they " set off " the roses — or do the roses " set them 

 off " ? Whichever it may be, there is no doubt that 

 they look very charming together, far better than either 

 looks alone. Spreading into low, wide, leafy tufts, they 

 become at first spangled, and eventually smothered in 

 dainty, wide-eyed flowers. And if, as perchance may 

 happen, a Pansy creeps up the rose's stem, is either a 

 whit the worse ? Let the reader make trial of them 

 and judge. I have never found the roses suffer, and as 

 for the Pansies, they may very well be left to take care 

 of themselves. 



