POSITION. 59 



wherein we may see them in a serene and placid 

 loveliness, what time their unprotected sisters are 

 withering beneath burning suns, and may admire 

 their ample and glossy foliage when, in exposed 

 and unfenced ground, the furious wind seems 

 almost to blow out the very sap from the shim- 

 mering, shivering leaves. Transitory, almost 

 ephemeral, is '' a Rose's brief life of joy," 



TO poSop aKfxd^ei. /Satov ;^p6i'OV, — 



and there comes a broiling day towards the end 

 of June, when the Rose, unshaded, is burnt to 

 tinder, and the petals of that magnificent Charles 

 Lefebvre, which was intended for next day's 

 show, crumble as we touch, and are as the parsley 

 which accompanies the hot rissole. Or there 

 comes a gusty day, and lo ! that lovely bloom of 

 Francois Michelon, perfect just now in tint and 

 symmetry, is chafed, discolored, deformed, for 

 want of a guardian screen. I know that in the 

 one case something may be done by the use of 

 those florumbras and metallic hats of which I shall 

 have more to say when I speak of Roses for 

 exhibition — and that in the other, strong stakes, 

 secure tying, and low stature will do much to 

 save ; but in both instances a natural shelter and 

 a natural shade are far more reliable aids — far 



