WINTER-FLOWERING PLANTS. 93 



bloom, and is easier propagated ; consequently the plants 

 are now sold so cheap that many plant beds of them for 

 their value for summer flowers only. 



HYBRID PERPETUAL ROSES. 



This name is certainly misleading when the plants are 

 grown in our hot and dry summers, for they really give 

 only one good bloom in June with us, though in the 

 cool and moist climate of Great Britain many of the 

 kinds bloom nearly the entire season. Individually this 

 is by far the finest class of Roses. The flowers are of 

 the largest size, and nearly all have the delicious fra- 

 grance peculiar to the old Moss and Damask Roses. 

 The size of many of them is immense, often five inches 

 in diameter. All are hardy, requiring no care after plant- 

 ing ; but, as has been said, most of them bloom only 

 once, and hence are not so satisfactory in this respect 

 for our climate as the ever-blooming sorts. 



SOIL AND CULTURE OF ROSES IX THE GARDEN. 



Like nearly all other plants, Roses delight in deep, 

 rich, well-drained land. (See Chapter on Soils.) When 

 a bed of Hybrid Perpetual Roses is to be planted, the 

 soil should be dug to the depth of at least one foot, and 

 well mixed with a coating of two or three inches of rotted 

 cow manure. In the absence of that, sow bone dust on 

 the surface just thick enough to cover it, or about 

 half a pound to a square yard, and mix to the depth 

 of a foot with the soil. If Hybrid Perpetual Roses 

 are to be set out for a permanent bed, plant from eigh- 

 teen to twenty inches each way ; if Hybrid Teas, from 

 fourteen to sixteen inches ; and if Monthly or Teas, about 

 twelve inches. The Hybrid Perpetual and Tea Roses 

 require to be pruned like any other hardy shrub. Cut 



