some others of the true Provence Roses, its clusters of bloom are too heavy and pendulous to be seen with effect on dwarf plants. Illustre Beauté, or Célestine, is a hybrid Provence, with flowers extremely double, and not quite so globular as those of the true Provence Roses; but a most beautiful rose, and a very abundant bloomer. The King of Holland is a very old variety, with immense globular flowers, and curious sepals; so that the flower-bud seems surrounded with leaves. The Lilac Provence is a pretty distinct rose, with globular flowers of a lilac tinge. Laura is a new variety, with remarkably bright rose-coloured flowers, but not a true Provence. The Monstrous Provence, Cabbage-leaved, or centifolia bullata, has that large and curious inflated foliage, which we have no expressive name for, but which the French call "bullée: " it is a vigorous-growing plant, with flowers like the Old Provence. La Reine de Provence really deserves to be the queen of this division. Its large and finely shaped globular flowers have a good effect when suspended from a standard: these are of a pale lilac rosecolour, distinct and beautiful. The Scarlet Provence is an old variety, one of those misnomers that in flowers so often lead to disappointment: it was probably the first Provence Rose that made an approach to scarlet; but the faint carmine of its flowers is very far removed from that rare colour among roses. The Spotted is a hybrid Provence of great beauty, with large globular flowers of the deepest rose-colour, delicately spotted. This fine rose has large leaves, and makes upright shoots of great luxuriance and vigour. The Striped Provence is a delicate variety, with flowers of a pale flesh-colour, often striped with red. This rose has smooth glaucous green shoots, and leaves much resembling the Striped Moss, and the Old White Moss.

The Unique Provence is a genuine English rose, which, I believe, was found by Mr. Grimwood, then of the Kensington Nursery, in some cottage-garden, growing among plants of the common Cabbage Rose. This variety was at first much

However, this

esteemed, and plants of it were sold at very high prices. Most probably, this was not a seedling from the Old Cabbage Rose, as that is too double to bear seed in this country, but what is called by florists a sporting branch or sucker. In describing this and the next division, I shall have occasion to notice more of these spontaneous deviations. The Striped Unique is one; for this was not raised from seed, but, a flowering branch of the Unique having produced striped flowers, plants were budded from it, and the variety was "fixed," as the French florists term it. is certainly not fixed; for it is a most inconstant rose, in some soils producing flowers beautifully striped, in others entirely red, and in the soil of this nursery most frequently pure white. In Sussex, where, this season (1837), it has bloomed finely in its variegated character, it has been honoured with a new name, and is now known as "the Maid of the Valley." The Wellington Provence is one of the largest of this division, something like Grand Bercam in the colour of its flowers, which are of a beautiful deep rose, very double, but not quite so much so as those of the Dutch Provence. This forms a splendid standard. Wilberforce is a new variety, and very splendid. This, and La Simplicité, are slightly hybridised with some dark variety of Rosa gallica, which has greatly added to their beauty, as they both produce flowers approaching to dark crimson, a rare colour among Provence Roses.

There are but two ways in which Provence Roses can be employed as ornaments to the flower-garden, -as standards for the lawn, and as dwarfs for beds. Standards of some of the varieties, if grown on a strong clayey soil, form fine objects of ornament, as their large globular flowers are so gracefully pendent. In this description of soil also, if grown as dwarfs, they will not flourish unless they are worked on the

* A term used to denote any portion of a plant departing from the character the entire plant should sustain. Thus, one stem of a carnation will often produce plain-coloured flowers, while the remainder of the plant has striped flowers: it is then said "to sport."

Dog Rose; but in light sandy soils it will be advisable to cultivate them on their own roots. The freedom with which they grow in the light sandy soils of Surrey points out this method of culture on such soils as the most eligible. In pruning, they require a free use of the knife: every shoot should be shortened to three or four buds. If not pruned in this severe manner, the plants soon become straggling and unsightly. In poor soils, they should have annually, in November, a dressing of rotten manure on the surface of the bed, to be washed in by the rains of winter.

THE MOSS ROSE.

(ROSA CENTIFOLIA MUSCOSA.)

The Moss Rose, or Mossy Provence Rose, is most probably an accidental sport or seminal variety of the common Provence Rose; as the Old Double Moss Rose, which was introduced to this country from Holland in 1596, is the only one mentioned by our early writers on gardening. If it had any claims to be ranked as a botanical species*, the singleflowering Moss Rose would have been the first known and described; but the Single Moss, as compared with the Double, is a new variety. Some few years since, a traveller in Portugal, mentioned that the Moss Rose grew wild in the neighbourhood of Cintra ; but, most likely, the plants were stragglers from some garden, as I have never seen this assertion properly authenticated. The origin of the Double Moss Rose, like that of the Old Double Yellow Rose (Rosa sulphurea) is therefore left to conjecture; for gardeners in those days did not publish to the world the result of their operations and

* Miller says, with a most remarkable simplicity, that he thinks it must be a distinct species, as it is so much more difficult of propagation than the common Provence Rose.

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discoveries. I much regret this; for it would be very interesting to know how and where this general favourite originated. Probably, when first noticed, gardening was of such small consideration, that the discovery of a rose, however remarkable, would not be thought worth registering. That it is merely an accidental sport of the common Provence Rose, is strengthened by the fact, that plants produced by the seed of the Moss Rose do not always show moss: perhaps not more than two plants out of three will be mossy, as I have often proved. Those that are not so are most evidently pure Provence Roses, possessing all their characters. To show, also, the singular propensity of the varieties of Rosa centifolia to vary, I may here mention that the common Moss Rose often produces shoots entirely destitute of moss. In the summer of 1836, I also observed a luxuriant branch of the Crimson, or Damask, which is generally more mossy than the Old Moss Rose, having a remarkable appearance. On examination, I found it nearly smooth. This season (1837), it has entirely lost its moss, and has produced semi-double flowers, the exact resemblance of the Scarlet Provence. The White Moss is another instance of this singular quality, for that originated from a sporting branch; the Mossy de Meaux is also a curious deviation, the history of which will be given in the descriptive enumeration following; the Crested Moss, or Provence, is another case in point. It seems, therefore, very feasible, that the Provence Rose, from being cultivated in Italy through so many ages, produced from seed, or more probably from a sporting branch, the Double Moss Rose, that is, a double Cabbage, or Provence, Rose, covered with that glandular excrescence which we term moss; this branch or plant was propagated, and the variety handed down to us, perhaps as much admired in the present day as when first discovered. These Roses always have been, and I hope always will be, favourites: for what can be more elegant than the bud of the Moss Rose, with its pure rosecolour, peeping through that beautiful and unique envelope?

The first in the catalogue is the Asepala, or Rosa muscosa asepala; a new variety, something like the Provence Dianthæflora, curious, but of no beauty. The Blush Moss is a most beautiful variety of the colour of that well-known rose, the Celestial, so exactly intermediate between the White Moss and the common, that it is quite necessary in a collection. The Crimson or Damask Moss, sometimes called the Tinwell Moss, was originated in the garden of a clergyman at Tinwell in Rutlandshire; from thence sent to Mr. Lee of Hammersmith. As it was one of the first deepcoloured Moss Roses, it was much esteemed, and plants of it were sold at a high price. This is a more luxuriant grower than the Old Moss; its branches, leaves, and buds are also more mossy. It is an excellent rose for beds; for, if its shoots are pegged to the ground with small hooks, the surface is soon covered with its luxuriant foliage and flowers. For this purpose, it is better on its own roots, as worked plants so treated would throw up too many suckers. The French Crimson Moss is, perhaps, not quite so deep in colour, but much more double than the preceding, and not such a luxuriant grower. The Crested Moss, Crested Provence, or Rosa cristata, for it is known by these three names), is said to have been discovered growing from the crevice of a wall at Friburg in Switzerland. No rose can be more singular and beautiful than this. The buds, before expansion, are so clasped by its fringed sepals, that they present a most unique and elegant appearance, totally unlike any other rose. When the flower is fully expanded, this peculiar beauty vanishes, and it has merely the appearance of a superior variety of the Provence Rose. It should here be mentioned, that, if grown in a poor soil, its buds often lose their crest, and come plain, like the Provence Rose. As a standard, this rose is very graceful, its large flowers and buds drooping from their weight. Mousseuse de Vieillard has not yet bloomed here in perfection. In colour, it does not differ from the common moss; but it seems more dwarf and delicate in its habit, and more abundantly