WINTER-FLOWERING PLANTS. 91 



GARDEN CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 



One of the most difficult questions that the florist has 

 to answer to his customers is what kinds of Roses are the 

 most suitable to plant. If in a section of the country 

 where there are only slight frosts, and the thermometer 

 never falls lower than twenty or twenty-five degrees above 

 zero, then the Tea, Bourbon, Bengal, and Noisette, all 

 of which are evergreen and ever- bloom ing, should alone 

 be grown, as they will all stand over the winter in such a 

 temperature. The so-called Hybrid Perpetual Roses, 

 which are hardy in the Northern States, do but little 

 good in such climates as that of South Carolina, Louisi- 

 ana, or Florida, for the reason that, being deciduous that 

 is, they lose their leaves in winter the warm climate 

 denies them the rest their nature requires, and, conse- 

 quently, they either die outright or continue a feeble 

 existence. It is not easy to draw the line at which these 

 Roses fail, or where they succeed. As a rule, it may be 

 said, that the hotter the climate the more unsatisfactory 

 they will be. At the North, again, we are met by the 

 difficulty that nearly all the Monthly Roses are too tender 

 to stand our winters, where the thermometer reaches 

 zero. 



An old German florist, in reciting his tribulations on 

 this subject to me a few years ago, said: "I haf so 

 mooch trouble with de ladies when dey come to buy 

 mine Rose. Dey all wants him hardy, dey wants him 

 dooble, dey wants him nice goolor, dey wants him nice 

 shape, dey wants him fragrant, dey wants him moondly, 

 dey wants him to be everydings in one Rose. Now I 

 haf to say to dem ladies, though not what you call an 

 ungallant man, I say, dat I sees not dat lady dat is 

 rich, dat is young, dat is good demper, dat is beauti- 

 ful, dat is healdy, dat is smart, dat is everydings in one 

 lady. I sees her not mooch." 



