48 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES 



there is never to be found in the orchid-house the 

 simultaneous splendour of the Rosary in July — 

 the abundant glistening foliage, the sweet perfume ; 

 and comparing the individual flowers, which would 

 a lover take to his beloved — which would his darling, 

 herself 



* A Rosebud set with little wilful thorns, 

 And sweet as English air can make her/ 



osculate and pet the most? 



And the stove, truly, is a gladness and refreshment 

 — gay, when all without is bleak and dismal, with 

 the golden Allamanda, the rosy Dipladenia, so 

 truthfully termed amabilis, the bridal Stephanotis, 

 the brilliant Anthurium, the gorgeous Amaryllis, 

 the Bougainvillea, Eucharis, Franciscea, Gardenia, 

 Gloxinia, and many more ; but what will you find 

 there like the Rose? Place Marechal Niel by the 

 Allamanda, La France by the Dipladenia, a truss 

 of Madame Bravy by the Stephanotis, Charles 

 Lefebvre by the AmarylHs, and, like fair maids of 

 honour and beautiful ladies in waiting, these inmates 

 of the hothouse must bow before their Queen. 



It is the same in the conservatory. The Camellia 

 is of faultless form, but it has not the grace, the 

 ease, the expression of the Rose. It is like a face 

 whereof every feature is perfect, but which lacks 

 the changing charms of feeling and intellect. It is 



