THE AUTUMNAL EOSE GAEDEN. 193 



pots, so as to form very large plants. I must 

 here caution the reader, that occasional disap- 

 pointment must be expected in growing them in 

 pots for exhibition, as roses, like facts, are stub- 

 born things, and will often, in summer, bloom just 

 whenever it pleases them to do so, not being easily 

 retarded or forced : now, as days of exhibition are 

 usually fixed before it is known whether we are to 

 have an early or a late season, it is frequently a 

 complete lottery whether any particular plants of 

 roses will be in bloom or not. I have sometimes 

 known on days fixed for the exhibition at Chis- 

 wick, that I have looked over fifty plants of one 

 sort before I could find three or four perfect 

 flowers. Those roses recommended for green- 

 house culture, from their producing a succession 

 of bloom, must be most relied upon by the exhi- 

 bitor; but if by a lucky chance a collection of moss 

 roses, or some of the finer kinds of French and 

 Hybrid Bourbon roses, could be enticed to show 

 themselves in all their gay attire on the day, they 

 would make the greenhouse roses " hide their 

 diminished heads." 



To form a collection of hardy roses in pots, the 

 very best should be selected from the following fa- 

 milies : Moss, Provence, Hybrid Provence, French, 

 Damask Roses alba, Perpetual, and Hybrid Perpe- 

 tual. Some good lists have been given in the 

 Gardener's Chronicle ; but these contain too many 

 varieties with flaccid petals, which will not bear 

 o 



