IV 



PLANTING 



45 



through nearly the whole of the year, and they have 

 such a multitude of other things to attend to that they 

 cannot compete even with a single-handed man who 

 gives all his time to his Roses. 



What, then, shall our Rosarium be like in pattern 

 and shape and general effect ? Here I fear I shall prove 

 too practical and utilitarian for the taste of many persons. 

 Mr. William Paul in his large work gives several 

 carefully drawn diagrams of geometrical arrangements 

 and of noted Rose-gardens new and old, some of them 

 laid out quite from the landscape gardener's point 

 of view. And Dean Hole says : " There should be beds 

 of Roses, banks of Roses, bowers of Roses, hedges of Roses, 

 edgings of Roses, pillars of Roses, arches of Roses, fountains 

 of Roses, baskets of Roses, vistas and alleys of the Rose." ' 

 But though these things are good and desirable, they 

 will probably be beyond the means of most of my 

 readers as they certainly are beyond mine. Also it 

 must be remembered that the Rose is not like a bedding 

 plant which will keep up continual masses of colour 

 throughout the summer, but that the flush of flowers 

 is not for more than a month at most, after which many 

 sorts, even of the Teas, will be off bloom for a while and 

 the general effect will be spoiled. Further, that for per- 

 fection of culture the best situation must be chosen, even 

 in defiance of artistic surroundings. And lastly, I may 

 say for myself that, given the most perfectly arranged 

 Rosarium that ever was seen, I would leave it for 

 a few plants in a bed in the kitchen garden with cab- 

 bages on one side and onions on the other, if there 

 alone could be found the perfect blooms. 



As to the shape of the beds, it seems evident that 

 they should not be so wide as to necessitate treading 

 upon the soil to reach and cut the blooms. This points 



