170 
THE ROSE. 
of having the plants of various heights is concerned, whether the border be a straight one, 
or have a wavy and broken margin. Perhaps, however, variety is the more characteristic 
and necessary when the outline of the border is irregular. 
Particular care should be given to use some of the boldest plants along the extreme 
front, although the first rank should be at very different distances from the walk, and 
have as much contrast as possible in height and hue. Occasionally, too, the hold points 
should be made up of a group instead of a single specimen. And they must be distributed 
through the border at as great a variety of distances from each other, and from the walk, 
as if nature herself had occasioned them. 
These larger plants or groups will vary in kind very much according to the size of the 
border, and the materials with which it is stocked. If the border be broad, and planted with 
a general stock of the usual mixed sorts, the salient points must of course be composed of the 
largest evergreens, such as Pines, Evergreen Oaks, Hollies, Arbutus, &c. But if it be narrow, 
and filled with smaller things, a lower-growing tribe will serve to diversify it, as Rhodo- 
dendron, Standard Roses, and many of the finer kinds of shrubs. Tall weeping plants, 
and climbers trained to poles, will often be useful towards the front, while the climbers 
may ever be distributed advantageously throughout the entire border. 
Whatever specimens are employed to break the front line, they should always be well 
formed, and be clothed with branches quite down to the ground, so that they may have a 
similar use, in this respect, to lower things. If, likewise, they are made to stand on the 
grass at a few points, their purpose will be still better answered. Deciduous plants are, 
however, somewhat undesirable for this latter object, as they are apt to kill the grass 
beneath them when they are covered with leaves, and this presents a withered and bad 
appearance when they are again denuded of foliage. When, therefore, deciduous plants 
are used to stand out as specimens on grass, they should be chiefly Thorns, Mespilus, or 
such other kinds as do not feather down to the ground, so that the grass below them may 
not be killed in summer. 
THE ROSE. 
Yet ’mid the melancholy night, 
Some scatter’d honours give delight ; 
And here and there a Rose is found 
Neglected on the chilly ground. 
The increased taste for Horticulture, which has of late years manifested itself so remarkably 
in England, and the rapid progress made in the practice of that delightful art, has rendered 
the history of every plant, coming under its protection, a source of useful and interesting 
study. While on the one hand we are invited to consider such plants in connection with 
their natural habits and localities, so on the other are we allured, by the promise of 
information and pleasure, to inquire into their early history and associated legendary lore. 
The Horticulturist has ever bestowed upon the “ daintie Rose ” especial notice, and by 
his evening caution, and his morning care, by watchfulness for many days, how often has 
he attested the anxiety with which he awaits the unfolding of this cherished flower ? By 
such, some few memorials of the Roses, culled from classic fields, and breathing an almost 
unequalled love for them, will be received with interest. 
Among both the Greeks and Romans, great attention was paid to the cultivation of 
flowers, which were generally employed as ornaments, and as offerings ; as offerings in the 
temples of their deities, and as ornaments on occasions of public or private festivity. Like 
as it has been, and is now, though less frequently, among ourselves, so was it with those 
ancient nations ; the bride was decorated, and her pathway strewn, with flowers ; flowers, 
too, were scattered on the bier, and were found fading on the tomb. They floated also in 
the wine-goblet of the fastidious epicure, shone in the chaplet of beauty, and in later 
times formed the victor's wreath. 
