142 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES 



Midland Counties, and has been flourishing for many 

 years on my house at Caunton. 



The Boursault Rose is called, from its habitat, 

 Rosa Alpina^ and, when once established in con- 

 genial site and soil, has an agility in climbing which 

 entitles to membership in the Alpine Club. The 

 old crimson Amadis is very beautiful when the 

 evening sun is low, and the soft light rests upon 

 its glowing flowers, and the blush variety is large and 

 lovely (albeit the floral cottager was right who told 

 me that he 'considered them Roses flothery')\ but 

 Ichabod is soon written on flower and leaf, and the 

 habit of growth is anything but graceful, * Gracilis ' 

 itself forming no exception. They may be trained 

 both to climb and droop. But there are better 

 Roses, and therefore they are disappearing from the 

 lists (as fair ladies do when no combatant wears 

 their glove in his helmet) ; and I sigh to count the 

 happy, happy years which are gone since I laid 

 *the Garland,* as an Immortelle, upon the tomb 

 of ' Madame D'Arblay.' 



Most beautiful of the mural Roses are some of 

 those varieties which are classified as Hybrid Bourbon 

 and Hybrid China, such as Blairii 2, Charles Lawson, 

 Coupe d'Heb^, Paul Perras, and Paul Ricaut, de- 

 scribed in the succeeding chapter. Their longitude 

 and latitude, their abundant and lovely blooms, their 



