146 BEDDING ROSES. 



in their own gardens ? The answer will we know be " yes," 

 with a stress laid on the word " occasionally? conveying the 

 impression that the task is not easy to accomplish. But 

 this, in our judgment, is not the case. The task is easy if 

 only the right means are pursued towards its accomplish- 

 ment. The Rose as a bedding plant is seldom fairly and 

 properly treated. It is known to be a hardy plant, and is 

 treated as such ; that is to say, the ordinary nursery plants 

 are taken at planting time, put out at once, and expected 

 to do for themselves what in the case of ordinary "bedding 

 plants " is done in advance by the cultivator. These latter 

 are grown under glass with the utmost care till they be- 

 come strong, planted out in the most suitable soil that can 

 be made, and afterwards tended with assiduous watchful- 

 ness. Now, if lovers of Roses would attain a like measure 

 of immediate success, they must not shrink from the same 

 forethought and care. It would pay them a handsome 

 rate of interest could they be induced to buy their bed- 

 ding Roses a year in advance, grow them the first year in 

 pots, and plant them out in May after the spring frosts are 

 gone, for then the same brilliant effect would be obtained 

 the first season as with other bedding plants. It is, further, 

 more important with permanent plants than with those 

 which are replaced every spring that the soil should in the 

 first instance be made all that is requisite, because there is 

 not the same opportunity of after modification or renewal. 

 Lovers of Roses, treat your favourites with the same con- 

 sideration and care that your friends give to their " bedding 

 plants," remembering that from the slower growth of the 

 Rose a longer period of time is required to obtain the 

 strong-established plants they work with, and your gardens 

 will be varied and improved by the addition of one of the 

 richest and most effective of bedding plants. 



Taken from a practical point of view, bedding Roses 

 may be arranged in three groups according to their habit 

 of growth the dwarf, the moderate, the free. In a good 

 soil and climate we should prefer the dwarf and moderate, 



