THE 



SUMMER ROSE 



THE PROVENCE, OR CABBAGE, 

 ROSE. 



(ROSA CENTIFOLIA.) 



THIS rose has long and deservedly been the 

 favourite ornament of English gardens; and if, 

 as seems very probable, it was the hundred-leaved 

 rose of Pliny, and the favourite flower of the 

 Eomans, contributing in no small degree to the 

 luxurious enjoyments of that great people, it 

 claims attention as much for its high antiquity, 

 as for its intrinsic beauty. 1596 is given by 

 botanists as the date of its introduction to our 

 gardens. That "prince of gardeners," Miller, 

 says that it is the prettiest of all roses ; and this 

 idea still prevails to a great extent in the agricul- 

 tural districts of England, where, in the farm and 

 cottage gardens, the Cabbage Rose and the Double 

 Wall-Flower are the most esteemed inmates ; form- 

 ing in their turns, with a sprig of rosemary, the 



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