AUTUMNAL ROSES. in 



siasm of his warm and kindly nature. This was the first 

 strongly-marked divergence from the now old-fashioned 

 Damask Perpetual Roses, which were then so much in 

 vogue, and from which this sprang. Fortunately this 

 hybrid produced seeds freely, and in three years we had 

 no less than twenty varieties. Now the number is legion, 

 and they take much the same position in the garden now 

 that the French Roses did a quarter of a century ago. 

 Well, they are the finest of Roses, and improving at a 

 more rapid rate than any other group ; form, colour, and 

 fragrance are here in perfection, and they are the hardiest 

 and finest of Autumnals. In looking through the list of 

 candidates for election it is a task of no ordinary nature 

 to bring down the number within reasonable limits. One 

 has a claim for form, another for colour, a third for 

 fragrance, and in some cases in which one or the other 

 of these requisites may be absent, the general habit of 

 the variety is so good or so elegant that it outweighs or 

 negatives these important considerations. I shall confine 

 my remarks at present to the cream of the old varieties, 

 reserving what I have to say of New Roses for a special 

 paper. 



Anna Alexieff is one of those hard) 7 free-flowering 

 Roses that is invaluable for masses and conspicuous 

 situations in the garden ; the foliage is good and the plant 

 is almost always in bloom ; the flowers are rosy pink, of 

 good size and form, usually arranged in clusters. Anna 

 de Diesbach is quite the opposite to the last in every 

 character but colour; the flowers are composed of fine 

 thick petals, of immense size, but few and far between. 

 Auguste Mie is a truly beautiful silvery pink Rose of 

 exquisite form ; the shape is almost equal to Coupe 

 d'Hebe, which it resembles in some respects; it is good 

 for standard, pot, or pillar. Baronne Hallez is a dark- 

 red Rose of average size and superior form, sweet and 

 free, but hardly vigorous. Cardinal Patrizzi is one of the 

 finest Roses grown under glass, but it is uncertain out of 



