THE BLUE ROSE.

Colonist, Volume LIII, Issue 13052, 11 March 1911, Page 3

THE BLUE ROSE.

The announcement in the London "Daily News" some timo, ago that Mr Alfred Smith, rose specialist of Downley, Bucks, had succeeded in raising a blue rose, drew letters of inquiry and applications for the rose from all parts of the wor,Jd. The applications are. iot only for specimen blooms and buds, but also for trees. Lady Coventry, the new blue rose, is of exceptional quality and colour. Its production is tho result of four or five, years' experimenting. It is a cross between the well known "Mile. Eugene Uerdier," and several other varieties. The rose, in opening, is vermillion, shaded, and veined with intense blue. The blooms are large and handsome, and require no special treatment, while the, stock is exceptionally hardy. Mr Smith has had considerable experience, as a grower and exhibitor, having been awarded two medals at the International Exhibition in London in 1892, and half a dofecm medals'at the Royal Botanic and Crystal Palace shows, besides a host of other prizes and distinctions at shows in different parts of the country. The production of the blue rose has created great interest among florists and those specially interested in rose culture.