In selecting roses suitable for bedding, several necessary qualifications must be considered. When we plant roses in isolated positions, we often do so having regard to some special qualities which by themselves would not make them of value for massing together.

The requisites for a good bedding rose are freedom of bloom, healthy habit of growth, good form, pure, steadfast color, fragrance, and sufficient fulness of flower.

The following varieties are, in my opinion, the best for the purpose :

The Best Six

Gerard Desbois

Bright red ; one of the hardiest Teas.

Homer

Mottled salmon rose.

Jean Pernet

A beautiful light yellow, not so well known as it should be.

La France

The founder of the new race of hybrid teas; a constant bloomer and the sweetest of them all.

Marie Van Houtte

Pale yellow, the edges of petals very often shaded with rose, producing a unique effect. A most charming sort.

Mons Furlado

This and Jean Pernet are the most valuable pure yellow teas.

For The Best Twelve, Add

Appolline (Bourbon)

Not quite so full as some of the others, but beautiful rosy pink flowers of good cupped shape. If kept cut back, it is like La France, always in bloom.

General Tartas

Deep mottled rose; fine habit, good buds.

Madame De Vatry

Rose, with a shade of salmon.

Madame Lombard

Reddish salmon, but of variable shades. Very fine.

Sombreuil

Creamy white ; a superb rose out of doors.

Triomphe De Luxemburg

Coppery rose.

For Best Eighteen, Add

Bougere

Rosy bronze.

Countess Riza Du Pare

Bronzed rose with a shade of carmine.

La Princesse Vera

Flesh shaded with yellow, outer petals bordered with coppery rose.

Marie Ducher

Salmon rose.

Marie Guillot

Creamy white; a lovely rose, but unfortunately almost without fragrance.

Rubens

Flesh shaded with pale rose.

For Best Twenty-Four, Add

Catherine Mermet

Silvery pink ; the most beautiful of all the teas.

Comte De Sembui

Salmon and rose, base of petals coppery yellow.

Hermosa (Bourbon)

This well-known sort is constantly in flower, but is not equal in quality to others named.

Jean Ducher

Bronzed rose.

Perle Des Fardins

A beautiful straw color.

Queen Of Bedders (Bourbon)

This is another variety constantly in flower, but it is of rather poor growth.

Color a deep crimson, somewhat the shade of Charles Lefebvre.

Besides the varieties named, there are some which will be found very useful for their beautiful buds, if planted in a position where they are not constantly exposed to the sun's rays. Such are Agrippina, Bon Silene, Douglass, Isabella Sprunt, Safrano, Souvenir d'un Ami. In a very sunny spot, all of these varieties open their buds very quickly and would not then be desirable.