244 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES 



house) are undoubtedly the best homes for the Tea 

 Rose ; but in this more genial temperature it blooms 

 long before the showman's opening day ; and I have 

 seen houses containing many hundred plants which 

 have not contributed to the exhibitor a single flower. 

 I have tried with these Roses many experiments, in 

 pots and out, al fresco^ under glass, under canvas 

 (movable), on their own roots, on the Manetti, and 

 on the Brier. Wherever you have a vacant mural 

 space, or a warm border, I again recommend that 

 Tea Roses be planted on the Brier from seed or 

 cutting, as being their best ally and friend. Timid 

 brethren forewarned me, when I first planted them 

 al fresco^ that the winter would kill them, and timid 

 brethren tittered merrily when a frost of abnormal 

 vigour destroyed nearly half of my first adventurers, 

 which had not been sufficiently mulched. Moreover, 

 my revered master and teacher, Mr. Rivers, had 

 written in ' The Florist ' that Tea-scented Roses 

 could not be cultivated with success out of doors, 

 unless in the extreme south or west of England, and 

 that although in mild seasons they might be protected, 

 a real English winter would kill them root and branch. 

 I persevered, notwithstanding. If one half withstood 

 an unusual severity, I might rely in ordinary seasons, 

 and with wiser precautions, upon complete success. 

 Defeat, moreover, and the derision of my friends, 

 evoked a noble rage, a more determined energy. In 



