THE 
FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
May 1, 1841. 
ROSES-THEIR NUMBER AND VARIETY. 
To write any thing in praise, or even in description, of the Rose, 
as a genus, including all its species and all their varieties, would 
be an unnecessary as well as a hopeless task. It may be said to 
be the oldest of celebrated flowers ; and, in the impassioned 
strains of the ancients, we find it associated with the Lily of the 
Valley, as expressive of all that is pleasing to the senses and 
renovating to the mind. In the mythologic ages it was sacred 
as the flower of young affection and endearment, and of mature 
love, — the favourite of Cupid and of Venus ; and stripping this 
of the mythological phraseology, which in all cases was a fictitious 
mantle thrown around something previously felt, no similitude of 
any flower could be more appropriate. 
The Rose-bud, the sweetest subject that appears in the garden, 
is typical of all beginnings from the issue of which enjoyment 
and pleasure are expected. The early dawn,—the lamb playing 
its first gambols around its mother,—the young bird trying its 
half-fledged wing,—young schemes and projects,—young life,— 
young love, (though the last is especially subject to a “worm i’ the 
bud,”)—and a hundred other young associations, all of delightful 
kind, are linked with the Rose-bud. There seems even a physical 
attraction in it beyond all flowers, in every stage of their growth, 
and an attraction which addresses itself strongly to the human 
VOL, II. no. v. 
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