CHAPTER VII 



THE ROSE GARDEN 

 TEA AND HYBRID TEA ROSES 



IT is curious to look back on one's childhood 

 and recall the awe with which Tea Roses were 

 regarded things too delicate and precious for 

 any place but the conservatory. There was a 

 legend, so oft-repeated that it had come, like 

 some other legends, to be considered an estab- 

 lished and authentic fact, that none of the 

 race could withstand the English Winter. And 

 indeed, if any one was reckless enough to plant 

 a Tea Rose out of doors, it was nearly sure to 

 die. For the poor thing, after being pruned 

 in October, was so smothered in straw, so 

 coddled up in matting, that it had no chance 

 to breathe ; and its owner was annoyed and 

 distressed at its early death, and all his neigh- 

 bours said, " We told you so : " the legend 



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