In the Garden Is there any flowering shrub in the
list that can rival Zephyrine Drouhin ? The individual rose flower is of course not remarkable, except in scent, but numbers atone for form. I started to count the flowers on one bush and stopped at 100, seeing that my work was not half done. The habit of the boughs, arching like a dog-rose's, is delightful, and the growth is free, but not excessive. It is quite thornless, and it is not only in meta- phor that virtue lies in " the rose without a thorn." Again, this rose is not so " fast of its scent " as other roses, but greets you at a distance. The first exuberance of blossom will not be repeated, but there will be an unbroken continuance for a good four months. Is there any other shrub that can rival this sum of qualities? Certainly none of your heavily shorn bedding roses is in the running, nor any lilac, barbery, buddleia, weigela, viburnum, prunus or what you will The nearest rival, perhaps, spring rhododendron, is ruled out, because it needs a special peaty, lime- free soil. There may be some other variety of rose that makes as comely and floriferous a bush, but what is it? W. BEACH THOMAS.
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