AMONGST THE ROSES 49 



year is the tea G. Nabonnand — a poem in form 

 and colour. It does not glow with colour in the 

 garden, but half-open buds expand into flowers 

 with trembling petals painted with tender shades 

 — a mingling of softest salmon, buff, and pink, and 

 one detects the presence of this beautiful creation 

 by a fragrance sweeter than the flower brings 

 forth in the drowsy summer evenings. The white 

 Frau Karl Druschki gives freely of its symmetrical 

 blooms, and the joyous little Camoens defies even 

 the winter snow. A strange picture was a group 

 of Camoens in the snow, its cherry-red flowers 

 peeping up from the caressing mantle, but such 

 was the case once in my hilltop garden. I think 

 the dry soil and cool winds which blow across 

 the groups of roses may account for this unusual 

 picture — a marriage of rose and snow. 



But perhaps the greatest joy in late December 

 is to find in some sunny corner the graceful flowers 

 of Madame Laurette Messimy, the sweetest of the 

 China roses, hanging from the still evergreen shoots ; 

 or the monthly rose itself, which has been planted 

 more largely of recent years than generations ago, 

 when it was the pride of squire and cottager. I 

 never advise planting this pink " China " in a bed by 

 itself ; it is too vigorous — a strong leafy bush, and 



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