THE SUMMER ROSE GARDEN. 59 



THE WHITE ROSE. 



(ROSA ALBA.) 



Rosa Alba, or the White Rose, so called be- 

 cause the original species is white, is a native of 

 middle Europe, and was introduced to our gardens 

 in 1597. In some of the old farm and cottage 

 gardens of Hertfordshire and Essex a semi-double 

 variety is frequent ; this is but a slight remove 

 from the single flowering original species, and 

 grows luxuriantly without culture in any neg- 

 lected corner. The roses of this division may be 

 easily distinguished by their green shoots, leaves of 

 a glaucous green, looking as if they were covered 

 with a greyish impalpable powder, and flowers 

 generally of the most delicate colours, graduating 

 from pure white to a bright but delicate pink. 



Attila is one of the deepest coloured varieties 

 of this division, with large and partially cupped 

 flowers of a perfect shape. Belle Clementine, an 

 old but very pretty variety, a hybrid departing in 

 a slight degree from the characters of the group, 

 often produces flowers finely mottled ; it is a lux- 

 uriant grower, and forms a fine standard. Blanche 

 Superbe, or Blanche de Belgique is a much older 

 variety than the preceding, with all the characters 

 of this division, and producing very large and 

 double flowers of the purest white. Blush hip is 

 a hybrid, possessing more of the characters of this 



