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ROSE.

Helleborus niger.

MONGST the "old-fashioned flowers" that one might look for in the little out-door paradise of Lady Corisande, there would be none more worthy of care and honour than the Christmas rose. It is quite a proper thing for a Londoner fond of flowers to visit Covent Garden Market at an early hour on a morning of December to see the Christmas roses that are offered for sale. They appear in surprising quantities, and the visitor unused to the ways and doings of the market will ask, "Where But their size, their perfection,

do they come from?" their perfect purity of colour are more surprising than their number, and he will perhaps ask a second question, "How is it done?" And thereby hangs a tale.

The Christmas rose is one of the easiest plants to grow, but when left entirely to itself it flowers late, and the flowers are much torn and discoloured by the unkind

weather that usually prevails in its flowering season. The plant is a native of Southern Europe, and needs for its perfect development better conditions than are usually secured for it in English gardens, more especially as it flowers at a time of year when the elements are in a mood to make war upon every green herb, and tear away the one last leaf that still hangs upon the tree. To put this plant in a common border is not quite fair to it. A sheltered nook should be chosen, and a plot of ground prepared by draining it thoroughly, unless it is naturally well drained already, and by deep digging and liberal manuring. It does not need any particular kind of soil, for any fairly good garden loam will suit it perfectly, but the station should be well prepared, and the plants should be put out upon it when their leaves are dying down, and they are going naturally to rest. Sheltered, half-shaded, grassy banks answer admirably for plantations that are to be left to flower naturally, but the plantation in the sheltered nook we are now considering is not to be left to flower naturally. As soon as they begin to push in the late autumn they should all be covered with frames or handlights, which must be freely ventilated in mild weather, but during frost must be kept close, both to prevent a check and protect the flowers. By such management early flowers will be secured, and they will be large, thick, and pure. Like those of the white Japan anemone, they may be likened to water-lilies, but they need not be likened to anything-it is enough to know that they are Christmas roses. An anonymous poet, weaving the "winter rose into the garland of his hopes and cares, has indulged in the fancy that the flower is fragrant, but it requires quite a poet's imagination to extract an odour from the flower.

دو

"Alas! on thy forsaken stem

My heart shall long recline,

And mourn the transitory gem,
And make the story mine!

So on my joyless winter hour

Has oped some fair and fragrant flower,

With smile as soft as thine.

"Like thee the vision came and went,

Like thee it bloomed and fell,

In momentary pity sent

Of fairer climes to tell;

So frail its form, so short its stay,

That nought the lingering heart could say,

But hail, and fare thee well!"

In the growth of the new taste for hardy plants, which we may regard as a revival of old-fashioned gardening, the hellebores have obtained a fair share of attention, and they now constitute a very important feature of the hardy garden. As the trumpet daffodils are called "Lent lilies," so the spring flowering hellebores are called "Lent roses." One of the most interesting of the late flowering kinds is the sweet hellebore (Helleborus odorus), which produces pale green leaves, and greenish drooping flowers which are agreeably scented. The Olympian hellebore (H. Olympicus) is a handsome plant, producing purplish flowers. The Oriental hellebore (H. Orientalis) is strikingly handsome, the flowers being large, of a soft rose-colour, and accompanied by an ample and elegant leafage. The purple hellebore (H. atrorubeus) produces beautiful flowers, which at first are violet-purple, and afterwards dull purple, with an admixture of green. There remain two fine species that are particularly well adapted to plant in woodland walks. They are H. abchasices, with greenish flowers, and H. fætidus, with greenish-purple flowers. These have hand

some winter foliage, and there should be a few clumps of each in spots where they are likely to be seen during a walk round on a sunny winter day.

A few beautiful garden varieties have lately been introduced from the Continent, and have found much favour with English amateurs. They are mostly of German origin, and are produced by crossing the purple and green flowered species, the result being in some cases flowers richly spotted, and of various shades of greenish-white, maroon, purple, and purplish-rose. The conspicuous yellow stamens, which contribute so much to the beauty of the white-flowered Christmas rose, are distinct and welcome features of these new varieties of Lent roses, adding an element of cheerfulness that compensates for their otherwise dull colouring, for the colours of the petals are in all cases toned down by infusions of green and purple that render them impure. A collection of hellebores may now be looked for in every garden of hardy plants, to combine with the daffodils to "take the winds of March with beauty."

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