Round the Year in the Garden 



their associations, for their fragrance, or for the mere 

 pleasure of possessing them. It must be confessed that 

 many of them have no real worth as garden flowers, 

 if one judges them in comparison with modern varieties. 

 Nevertheless, it is a melancholy thought that such flower 

 links with the past are wearing so thin that the final 

 breaking cannot be far distant. Those most likely to 

 persist are the fragrant ones. The fault of old-world 

 sorts, as Roses are appraised nowadays, lies in their 

 being summer-flowering only, and doubtless, for this 

 reason, they will never again be planted freely. For 

 delicious Rose perfume, the old Cabbage or Provence Rose 

 is not surpassed, and those who value this quality above 

 all others in Roses should plant a bush or two. Both 

 this and the Moss Rose, which is a near relation, are 

 hardy and long-lived, especially when raised from cuttings, 

 and thus grown as own-root Roses. Moss and Provence 

 Roses soon degenerate in the hands^of unskilled growers, 

 forming loose, ungainly bushes, bare at the base and full 

 of weakly shoots at the top. The reason is not far to 

 seek ; it is found in injudicious pruning. In autumn, old, 

 weakly, worn-out shoots should be removed and, in 

 spring, the remaining growths ought to be fairly hard 

 pruned. Then the plants make sturdier growth, give 

 better blooms and are altogether more satisfactory. 



The old York and Lancaster Rose, striped red and 

 blush, is a variety of the Persian Damask, now seldom 

 grown. More commonly met with under the same name 

 is Rosa Mundi, a handsome flower, striped crimson and 

 white ; it is not a Damask at all, but a variety of Rosa 

 gallica, the old French Rose. Of the real Damask Roses 

 the Old Red is best worth garden space. It associates 

 charmingly with the Madonna Lily ; both are in full beauty 

 at the same time, and, if freely grouped, together, provide 

 a delightful display of old- world flowers. The useless 

 shoots should be cut away in late summer or autumn, and 

 in spring the remaining growths need only be shortened 



56 



