106 GARDEN FLOWERS. 



flowers of her pre-eminence. In the east 

 generally, and in Persia especially, it points the 

 moral of the sage, and inspii'es the song of the 

 minstrel. Not only did Hafiz and Khusroo 

 sing of its beauty and odour, and tell how the 

 nightingale, "the bird of a thousand songs," 

 utters her plaintive lament when it is gathered, 

 but even to the present day, the Persian song 

 would seem incomplete did it make no reference 

 to " the garden of Gul in its bloom." 



It would be vain, in so small a volume as the 

 present, to attempt to enumerate the various 

 roses under culture in our country. More than 

 a hundred distinct species are known, and 

 about two thousand varieties are said to be the 

 objects of care to the British gardener. The 

 rose, in some one or other of its species, is a 

 Avild flower in almost every country of the 

 northern hemisphere of the globe ; from Sweden 

 to northern Africa ; from Kamschatka to Ben- 

 gal ; ■ and from Hudson's Bay to the lofty 

 mountains of Mexico : but neither South 

 America nor Australia can boast the rose-bush, 

 either on mountain height, or in deepest valley. 

 In the countries at the north of Europe, the 

 flower, in its wild state, is single, like our 

 wilding rose; but in Italy, Spain, and Greece, 

 it is often double. 



The two species of rose which were earliest 

 cultivated in the British garden, appear to be 

 the cabbage or Provence rose, and the musk 

 rose. The former {Rosa centifolia,) is well 

 known by its numerous petals, closely folded 



