CHAPTER II 



HISTORY AND CLASSIFICATION 



The Rose is well known as the emblem of England, 

 and when we consider how often it has unhappily been 

 in conflict with the Lilies of France, it may seem 

 strange to find a large though decreasing proportion of 

 our Roses endowed with French names. 



Still, though so many of our favourites were raised 

 the other side of the Channel, England is the true home 

 of the Hybrid Perpetual Rose ; and that, not only 

 because it is more cultivated here with the minute 

 attention which is paid to a " florist's flower," but 

 also because the English climate is better suited to 

 its perfect development. 



Continuous sunshine is not the best weather for the 

 blooming of H.P.s ; they like two or three hot days, 

 and then a dull, dry, cooler one. Some will not open 

 in rainy weather, others do not mind it ; but almost all 

 this large class, so many of which were raised in sunny 

 France, will display far more beautiful blooms on a dull 

 and cooler day following after heat ; and it may be, I 

 think, safely said that the finest H.P. Roses in the 

 world are grown in England. 



The Rose is native to all countries in the world with 



