‘Well, she has the same awkward shape as you,’ the Rose said, ‘but she’s redder — and her petals are shorter, I think.’

‘Her petals are done up close, almost like a dahlia,’ the Tiger-lily interrupted: ‘not tumbled about anyhow, like yours.’

‘But that’s not your fault,’ the Rose added kindly: ‘you’re beginning to fade, you know — and then one can’t help one’s petals getting a little untidy.’

Alice didn’t like this idea at all: so, to change the subject, she asked ‘Does she ever come out here?’

‘I daresay you’ll see her soon,’ said the Rose. ‘She’s one of the thorny kind.’