234 FLOWER GARDENING 



taken up with some of its variations; perhaps the 

 sweet bner(Rosa rubiginosa) and Lord Penzance's 

 famous hybrids, of which there are at least fifteen. 

 In time add the other briers, notably the Austrian; 

 there are some wonderful yellow and coppery tones. 

 Going in for double bedding roses as a hobby 

 means, of course, concentrating on one of a few 

 classes and then selecting from a bewildering array 

 of names. The hybrid tea, now the chief bedding 

 rose, has two hundred and fifty varieties in one 

 catalogue and a third as many hybrid perpetuals, 

 neither list being more than the especially desirable 

 varieties. In the same catalogue the dwarf polyan- 

 tha roses number about thirty and the Rosa rugosa 

 variations fourteen. A combination of carefully 

 selected hybrid teas and the best of the climbing 

 roses would be an excellent one. 



One amateur divides his hobby interest very 

 agreeably by concentrating on the hardy primrose 

 (Primula) for spring and the hardy chrysanthe- 

 mum for autumn. He rather envies a Scotch phy- 

 sician who grows more than one hundred and 

 twenty-five primulas, with any number of varieties, 

 and a friend nearer home whose named chrysanthe- 

 mums are above two score. But this amateur wisely 

 limits himself for the present to about a dozen of 

 the hardiest primula species and less than twenty 

 varieties of chrysanthemums. When he has the 

 time to take proper care of more he will possess 

 them, not before. The primulas are among the 

 most charming of subjects for a flower hobby. 



