CARNOCK 



steps on the terrace front. There was abundance 

 and luxuriance of Christmas roses such as one may 

 seldom enjoy ; for the purpose of this garden was 

 not to produce a culminating blaze at the end 

 of the London season, such as was deemed the 

 acme of mid- Victorian horticulture, but to link 

 season with season and month with month by a 

 succession of blossom. No flower is more important 

 to this scheme than the varieties of Helleborus niger. 

 The torch lilies have not quenched their flames nor 

 the late asters their stars before the variety called 

 maximus or altifolius unfurls its great blooms, tinted 

 like apple-blossom, to be followed about Christmas- 

 tide by major, Madame Fourcade, angustifolius and 

 others, which choose the darkest, dreariest time of 

 the whole year for their display, and keep things 

 going till snowdrops, aconites and crocus strike the 

 first chord in the overture of another year. 



Simple as the requirements of Christmas roses, it 

 is a fact that failures are more frequent than suc- 

 cess in its cultivation. Many an amateur, delighted 

 with the rare sight of a mass of ivory blooms, rose- 

 tinted on the backs, resolves to have the like in 

 his own garden, so that Christmas roses ought to 

 be as commonly seen in good condition as double 

 daisies or daffodils. But they are not : a luxuriant 

 bank of Helleborus niger is one of the rarest sights 

 in horticulture. I have been gardening for forty 

 years and more, yet have never yet succeeded to 

 my liking with these charming flowers. Coming, 



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