Random @houghts from Behind the Beard 
A rose-garden must be varied to be beautiful. If you prefer red roses, 
that's fine—have a lot of ‘em, but that does not mean that every other 
color is inferior except to you. And even red is enhanced by contrast. 
A lady wrote that Grey Pearl was the only hybrid tea she had ‘permit- 
| ted” in her garden, yet the ARS membership rated it a dismal 37%. The 
lady and the membership both are wrong, thinks the catalog-writer. 
Those who say "I have no use for once-blooming roses” are condemning 
most of the lovely Mosses, Gallicas, Damasks, Centifolias, etc., denying 
themselves rose beauty which has delighted many of the greatest ros- 
arians of all time. 
The finest rose-gardens, large or small, are those which give the most 
pleasure, not only to your lone contemplation but to your visitors also. 
Can you deny a thrill of pride when someone says—"’This is the loveliest 
rose-garden I have ever seen?” 
Once I pointed out to a lady, my great favorite among the single-type 
roses, the lovely Kathleen Mills. She looked at it coldly and said with 
finality, ‘I prefer Dainty Bess.” This illustrates why we are so insistent 
that you do not leave the selection of alternates to us. 
The ARS national rating of “Charles Mallerin” is only 67%, chiefly be- 
cause some feel the growth habit is not “symmetrical.” Would you low- 
rate Sir Winston Churchill, for instance, because he is old, bald or some- 
times loquacious? 
There is no perfect rose ... all require tolerance of some faults. Per- 
fection in anything is just an unreachable goal... of course its fun 
trying for it. 
“T will have no roses in my garden whose ARS rating is below 80%”, 
writes a lady of positive decision. This eliminates, among the many 
reported last year, such varieties as Buccaneer, Confidence, Dr. Debat, 
Ena Harkness, Fandango, First Love, Golden Scepter, Lilibet, Mojave, 
Suzon Lotthe, etc., etc., and even my beloved Grey Pearl! Madame, rose 
merit cannot be judged by mathematics alone. You are missing something! 
Says perfectionist Harris Darcy—"I am not much interested in so-called 
‘fool-proof’ roses. To me, a low ARS rating is a challenge . .. Anybody can 
grow good roses of a variety that everybody approves.” 
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