CHAPTER XVI 



Double Roses — Wild Roses — Eglantine — Homes of the Roses — 

 Their age — Austrian Brier. 



' In May and June come roses of all kinds, except the 

 musk, which comes later,' says Bacon; and though I 

 so far follow his lead as to place the rose among 

 the chief glories of the garden in June, and though it 

 is in June that they are seen in the fullest abundance 

 and beauty, yet it is one of the great charms of the 

 rose that they brighten our gardens for so many months 

 of the year. We may almost say that, weather per- 

 mitting, a good garden is never entirely without roses 

 in flower. I have picked good flowers from the monthly 

 China roses in January, and in 1888 I picked a good 

 bunch of fairy roses on Christmas Eve. I know of no 

 other flower that can come near the rose in this respect ; 

 the daisy possibly comes the nearest. This may per- 

 haps be gathered during nine months of the year, but 

 very seldom in November, December, and January. 



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