ROMULEA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ROSA. 



foliage is retained throughout the winter. 

 It does not appear to flower on the last 

 year's growth, though that growth remains 

 in good condition. The flowers are borne 

 mainly on the points of the new shoots 

 and on laterals nearest the points, more 

 sparingly on the lower laterals. It is 

 hardy in genial soils, enjoying best a 

 warm loam. Where it will not grow well 

 in the open, it would do so in many places 

 against a wall with a southern aspect. It 

 does best on warm soils in very different \ 

 parts of the country, so that no one need j 

 doubt the fitness of this noble plant for 

 English gardens. 



The best winter protection for Romneya 

 Coulteri is a mulch over the roots of some 

 light and porous material. Pine needles 

 form the best covering, and, after these, 

 rough cocoanut fibre. A straw mat may ' 

 be placed round the branches during hard | 

 frosts, but should be removed as soon as 

 the weather becomes less severe. A point 

 irt starting is to get healthy plants in pots, 

 planting in spring and not disturbing the 

 roots much. It may be increased by 

 cuttings and seed. 



ROMULE A. Bulbous plants of the j 

 Iris family. They are of dwarf growth, j 

 and have grassy foliage ; but though their j 

 blossoms are showy, they are not per- i 

 fectly hardy, and they require to be grown 

 either in frames or in very warm sheltered 

 borders, in light soil. The best known 

 are R. Bulbocodium, ramiflora, and i 

 Columns, natives of South Europe, and 

 R. rosea and R. Macowani from the 

 Cape of Good Hope. The showy Crocus- 

 like flowers of these open fullest in sun- 

 shine. 



ROSA (Rose]. The flower of flowers j 

 has been ill treated in its literature ! It 

 would be difficult to imagine anything 

 more confusing than the writings on 

 the Rose and catalogues of the present 

 day ! Almost useless groups, like the 

 Boursault, are dignified as classes, while 

 more important groups like the noble 

 Teas often receive no due notice ; the 

 confusion arising from the misleading 

 term "hybrid perpetual" has effectually 

 concealed the fact that the true per- | 

 petual bloomers are the Tea Roses, so 

 keeping the noblest of all Roses out of 

 gardens even in the southern counties. 

 For many years Roses far superior to the 

 many so-called "perpetual" in point of 

 continuity of bloom have been raised, and 

 yet, as a result of that ill-chosen name, | 

 one may go into some of the largest 

 gardens and hardly see a Rose in the 

 Rose-garden in August. The set idea of 

 the Rose-garden itself, as laid down in all 



the books, i.e. a place apart where one 

 can only see flowers at a certain season, 

 was harmful, as it led to the absence 

 of the Rose from the flower garden. 

 Instead of seeing the Rose in many 

 different attitudes in a country place, we 

 see a wretched mob of standards and 

 half-standards rising out of the ground, 

 generally in a miserable formal arrange- 

 ment called the Rosery. Instead of 

 forming beautiful Rose-gardens, many 

 growers have distinguished themselves 

 by growing Roses on tall Briers and other 

 stocks, from which they get perhaps one 

 or two flowers bigger than their neigh- 

 bours' to send to a Rose-show. The Rose 

 exhibitor's Rose-garden is even uglier 

 than the so-called Rosery in the large 

 country-seat, and thus the beautiful human 

 and artistic side of the Rose-garden has 

 been forgotten. As, however, that im- 

 portant side of the Rose-garden is treated 

 of in the first part of the book, it oflly 

 remains here to deal with the kinds and 

 groups most useful for the garden. 



TEA ROSES FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 

 These are in many ways so superior 

 to all other Roses, that we might place 

 them first, yet there is room for a great 

 extension of their culture in gardens, 

 both large and small. We find even 

 standard works on Rose-growing- speaking 

 of the Teas as tender and needing pro- 

 tection. Others say that only in a few 

 instances can they be grown in the open 

 ground ; and to have them in full beauty, 

 to ensure a constant succession of flowers, 

 and to produce them in all their loveliness 

 and purity of colour, they must be grown 

 under glass. This is not so. Tea 

 Roses may be grown in many gardens 

 where they cannot now be found, and I 

 would urge all who love Roses to try 

 them fairly, for none are more worthy. 

 The variety of lovely tints amongst Tea 

 Roses, the delicate odour, the profusion 

 of bloom, the long season over which it 

 is borne, and their charming habit and 

 foliage are great merits. Let us for ever 

 give up the stupid notion of growing our 

 Roses only in a Rosery, in some out-of-the- 

 way spot. The grand Tea Roses now 

 under notice are worthy of the best position 

 in the garden. There are also many 

 excellent kinds for clothing walls, fences, 

 or any other erections about our homes, 

 and we shall need much space if we want 

 to grow all that are good. Here I name 

 all the best Tea Roses, and if we would 

 make our gardens sweet from June to 

 November, these are what we should 

 plant. Every kind is described from ex- 

 perience of it in a flower garden 



