78 



SUMMER FLOWERS. 



" Behold those brightly-tinted Roses, 

 How fresh the blush upon their silken leaves, 

 With the clear dewdrop glancing in the sun 

 As bright as diamond, with its ray intense, 

 Shining the most when most 'tis shone upon ! 

 Does it not glad thy heart to look on them ? 

 Are they not glorious ministers of Heaven, 

 Shedding their sweetness on the summer earth 

 To tell us of His love who sent them here ?" 



Countess of JBlessington. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



The Rose is par excellence the flower of summer. Summer 

 indeed " brings the Roses back to us, and their rich fragrance 

 loads the golden air," as many a wanderer through our rural 

 lanes and bye- ways can testify. This is true of the Wild Roses 

 — to say nothing of our garden beauties. 



The Dog Rose"^ is one of the commonest of our wild Roses, 

 being found in almost every hedge and thicket : " vaulting 

 o^er banks of flowers." It forms a somewhat straggling bush, 

 armed with strong curved prickles ; and the branches, which 

 are furnished with elegant pinnated leaves, bearing stipules or 



* Rosa canina — Plate 11 D. 



