ROSES 



41 



cally the same treatment as they. In borders with her- 

 baceous things ; on walls with hardy climbers ; over 

 banks and hedges ; in shrubberies ; beside large trees ; 

 covering arches, pergolas and fences ; combining in a 

 hundred beautiful ways with garden flowers of every 

 kind. Now that Roses are raised in such infinite variety 

 of habit, and their flowering period has been prolonged 

 from a few weeks to many months, there is hardly a 

 position in the garden where they may not be planted 

 and enjoyed. 



One of the worst features of Rose growing as usually 

 practised, is the bareness of the earth surrounding the 

 trees and bushes. To see the majority of Rose gardens, 

 one would suppose that the queen of flowers was a 

 fragile weakling, which would speedily be choked out 

 of existence if other plants were allowed anywhere in 

 the neighbourhood. Possibly too, the craze for winter 

 mulching has something to do with it ; anyhow, we 

 nearly always find that dull patches of naked earth, or, 

 worse still, unsightly layers of manure and litter, are the 

 backgrounds against which the brown shoots and fra- 

 grant blossoms are displayed. This is the way of the 

 nurseryman and the prize hunter, but no one who cares 

 for flowers for their beauty in the garden will think of 

 sacrificing general effect for the sake of a handful of 

 show blooms. If Roses are planted in borders which 

 have been properly prepared, they will remain in health 

 and vigour for a number of years without the smallest 

 necessity for winter mulching. Permanent systems of 

 planting are much to be desired in all gardens y not that 

 we may avoid labour by adopting them, but because 

 they enable us to see flowers in their full measure of 

 beauty, and give us interest at all seasons, even in winter. 

 The continual uprooting of beds, so that hardly have 

 one set of plants finished blooming before they are 

 cleared away to make room for others, reminds one of a 



