158 EVERSLEY GARDENS 



and the scarlet apple-like fruits, beloved of 

 blackbirds and thrushes, which make , the 

 bushes so highly decorative in Autumn. To 

 the white varieties, however, there is no 

 drawback. The pure white, lily-like form of 

 R. alba makes it a charming object in the 

 garden. Still more perfect is the double- 

 white hybrid, Mme. Georges Bruant, as ex- 

 quisite as it is distinct. My first happy 

 meeting with this bewitching lady took place 

 in a certain garden cut out of the fir forest 

 just below the southern facade of Wellington 

 College, on the site of an old bog to whose 

 depth and treachery I can bear witness ; for 

 I remember as a child getting my pony 

 bogged up to the girths on that very spot. 

 The charms of the Blue Hungarian Band and 

 even of strawberries and cream on a broiling 

 day, paled before those of a standard of 

 Mme. Georges Bruant. It was indeed a thing 

 of beauty ; an evenly shaped head, like some 

 huge bridal bouquet of clusters of large 

 double-white flowers and sharply pointed buds 

 carried on brown stems well above the soft 



