Autumnal Blooms. 



167 



preferred for naming plants in the ground. If well painted, and the names written with 

 a dark pencil when the paint is wet, the writing will remain plain for four or five years, 

 and often much longer. When stuck in the ground, the lower end of the stick should 

 be covered with pitch for an inch or so above the line of the level of the ground.* 



To have Roses in bloom during the chilly months of Autumn is the greatest 

 triumph of modern cultivators ; and perhaps this property of the Rose has recommended 

 it to popular notice more than any other. Now, although we do not in a general way 

 recommend Summer pruning, yet it is desirable to practise it to obtain late Roses. 

 Here, as with Roses in pots, I once cut back the main shoots of about thirty sorts of 

 Autumnals in August, and on the I7th of November I gathered flowers which, if not 



Fig- 53. WEEPING ROSE AYRSHIRE SPLENDENS. 



so large were fresher and as beautiful as any I had ever seen in Summer. Some buds, 

 which were gathered at the same time and placed in a vase in a warm room continued 

 to unfold for several days. It is especially necessary to remove decaying flowers 

 during Autumn, as from the moisture they retain at that time they cause the rapid 

 decay of those which surround them ; a pair of scissors is very useful for this purpose. 

 It is an excellent plan to wash the stems of old Rose-trees in the Winter, which is 

 a time of leisure in the garden. A mixture of cow-dung, soot, and lime, two parts 



* There are now many contrivances for naming Roses. I find Yeats' Metallic Garden Labels, written on 

 with Prepared Indelible Ink, cheap, neat, and durable. The "Acme" Label, which saves the trouble of writing 

 the names, is perfection. 



