476 



ttOKTl CU lT U R t 



April 3, 1909 



THE ROSE GARDEN. 



Written for the Amenioii Kose Society 



Meeting at Bullalo, N. V., Iiy J. K. 



lluss, llaitford, Conn. 



It may be an inopportune moment 

 to write, when nature is in winter 

 garb, about tlie Rose Garden; still the 

 very name is enough tor the rose 

 lover to stimulate his thoughts, which 

 bring back everything so highly inter- 

 esting in the rose garden. Everyone 

 may not care to have a garden of roses 

 exclusively, but who among lovers of 

 flowers would not like to have in his 

 own garden such a scene as that of 

 three years ago which the Rose Com- 

 mittee witnessed at our place in Hart- 

 ford, which for private uses may be 

 taken as a model. 



But we cannot leave the rose with 

 this notice. Grand as are the masses 

 of roses we have occasionally met 

 with, we have never yet seen anything 

 even approaching our conception of 

 the scenes of grandeur and beauty 

 that might be worked out by the mass- 

 ing of the modern varieties of roses. 

 A rose garden is now almost indis- 

 pensable, either as a part of, or as an 

 adjunct to, every large and comprehen- 

 sive garden. If in the original plan 

 of a garden it cannot be conveniently 

 worked in with the general floral ar- 

 rangement, then a separate piece of 

 ground is set aside for the purpose. 

 This I have often seen, and always 

 found it a most interesting spot. But 

 apart from the immediate question, 

 whether there is a separate rose gar- 

 den or not, roses should be found 

 plentifully in every general garden, on 

 account of the varied forms they are 

 capable of assuming, either naturally 

 or by training. They are seldom out 

 of place anywhere. What with dwarfs, 

 standards and climbers, there exists 

 ample material to adorn the most se- 

 lect position, or to obliterate the most 

 awkward spots, bringing them into 

 harmony with the general design. But 

 what should the form of a rose garden 

 be? I will give my ideas as briefly as 

 possible. 



The Form of the Rose Garden. 



It should be formed, if possible, on 

 level ground, with as many beds as 

 the space selected will allow. Such 

 beds should be four feet wide, planted 

 with three or four rows of plants, two 

 feet apart, and a grass border three'of 

 four feet between beds will enable 

 anyone to reach each plant to cut the 

 roses without stepping into the bed. 

 Such grass borders are very easily 

 kept, mowing them once a week with 

 the lawn mower. At the same time 

 this grass walk sets off the flowers to 

 great advantage. With some fifteen or 

 twenty beds, with a double amount of 

 well selected, best flowering varieties, 

 say, forty plants in each bed, it will 

 well make a very attractive collection. 

 These beds may be in the form of a 

 square or oblong. The rose garden 

 can be made very attractive and artis- 

 tic. All depends upon the gardener 

 who has charge, or upon the land- 

 scape gardeners who have to make de- 

 signs for a small bed or a regular rose 

 garden. The rose garden should be 

 surrounded with a border, three feet 

 in width, which should enclose it, 

 planted with Hybrid Teas, a few fine 

 standards of French Briars, or of laxa 

 stock, which are the two most flexible 

 stems for the layering in the fall. A 

 very light wire fence with a three- 



fourths inch iron post, with two or 

 three wires a foot or eighteen inches 

 apart, and planted with Crimson Ram- 

 bler roses will make an excellent ap- 

 pearance from the distance. 



Pergolas and Terraces. 



A still further imposing scene can 

 be obtained by forming a pergola, 

 which can be easily constructed with 

 three-fourths inch gas pipe driven into 

 an eighteen inch cedar or locust post, 

 eight feet high with a cross on the 

 top from one post to the other, with 

 a grass walk between, as many of our 

 rose visitors will remember having 

 seen at our place, which was pro- 

 nounced by all as a veritable Paradise 

 of Roses. Such a pergola or arch 

 should be planted with as many varie- 

 ties as there are posts, or not more 

 than two to a post, as with our prog- 

 ress in hybridization of so many valu- 

 able climbing roses the choice is at 

 ■everyone's command-, and the most 

 'gorgeous sights can be obtained of 

 most bewildering beauty with plants 

 that Ijring forth their blossoms at the 

 same periods as the Hybrid Perpetuals, 

 Teas or Hybrid Teas. Again a rose 

 garden may be, laid out on a terrace, 

 as ours is located. There may be a 

 bank sodded or 'sown with grass seed. 

 But such a bank should be in full har- 

 mony with the rest of the rose garden 

 and should be planted with trailing 

 roses pinned down, making it a "bed 

 of roses." It wiir'add greatly to the 

 rose garden. Good taste and art 

 should be exemplified in every detail 

 of a rose garden. We have a great 

 many dwarf roses, like the Baby Ram- 

 blers and the Midget roses, that are 

 used to form borders, especially around 

 Hybrid Perpetual beds, to hide the 

 bare ground. They are very attractive, 

 and the result is one that will meet 

 with delightful approval from every 

 lover of rose gardens. 



Soil and Manure. 



Almost any soil will grow roses, as 

 we see them in yards or gardens, pro- 

 viding a proper selection of varieties 

 is made, and attention is given to the 

 application of suitable manure. Roses, 

 of course, enjoy a rich soil, but to keep 

 adding cow, horse, and pig manure 

 upon a naturally rich ground is not as 

 beneficial as a change to nitrate of 

 soda in the case of light soils, or soda 

 for those that' are naturally very close 

 and stiff. This subject is therefore 

 more a question of judicious manuring 

 than selection. The Golden Rule is to 

 add what the ground is most deficient 

 in, and never to apply close moisture- 

 retaining manure to a soil that is natu- 

 rally stiff and moist. A very dry and 

 sandy compost may easily be made 

 suitable, by adding a few loads of still 

 fibrous loam and clay, also by manur- 

 ing with fairly well-rotted cow ma- 

 nure; while in many cases, by adopt- 

 ing the opposite plan, a stiff, poor soil 

 may be worked into equally good' con- 

 dition. The ideal material is" fairly 

 stiff', not too wet, and, not less than at 

 least three feet in depth, with a good 

 drainage, so that by heavy showers 

 the roots are not left in water. With 

 such well-prepared rose beds they can 

 be enriched at will. Roses will thrive 

 perfectly well for at least eight to ten 

 years. After that time, if still in good 

 condition, they should be gradually 

 transplanted in late fall, the plants 

 well pnmed out, suckers cleaned out. 



and the soil deeply trenched and 

 mixed with good rotted manure, and 

 the roses replanted, when they will 

 thrive anew and will last for many 

 years. But we should never lose sight 

 of the newer varieties of roses, using 

 them to supplant such older varieties 

 as have lost their usefulness. A wide- 

 awake gardener or lover of roses will 

 naturally keep up with the times. 



Pruning and Tying. 



Pruning in the New England States 

 cannot be vei-y well done before the 

 1st of April, as the uncovering of the 

 winter protection is usually begun by 

 that date. This has been my experi- 

 ence. The pruning of every class of 

 roses is a very vital operation. All 

 useless wood should be carefully cut 

 out, retaining only the good strong 

 canes, and Hybrid Perpetuals and Hy- 

 brid Teas are pruned alike, say, a foot 

 from the ground. You can easily re- 

 tain the same height from year to 

 year, as they should always, every 

 year, be renewed with new canes and 

 the old ones cut out. As to climbing 

 roses the priming is very different, as 

 you keep five or six long canes around 

 each of the posts you have for the 

 arch, and keep these young ones as 

 long as they cover the intended arch, 

 or pergola. The old wood is cut, but 

 sometimes we have not enough canes 

 to fill the desired effect, and one or 

 two of last year's growth is retained, 

 and the side shoots are cut back to 

 two or three eyes. The canes are then 

 very carefully tied up with fine wil- 

 lows, as the European well-trained 

 gardener uses, or with any other ma- 

 teria! as is commonly used, in such a 

 clean way, so that strong winds will 

 not move them from their holdings. 

 The same operation Is used to decorate 

 a wire fence. As for the trailing 

 roses, they .ore pinned down so as to 

 cover well the bank with the low 

 canes, and top shoots are cut back to 

 two or three eyes. The pruning done, 

 the soil is at once loosed up carefully 

 with a spade fork. 

 Watering, Mulching and General Care. 



One thing should not be lost sight 

 of. and that is. to have water close 

 and conveniently at hand. As. soon 

 as the plants begin to bring up the 

 growth of leaves, they need to be 

 syringed nearly every day. to keep red 

 spidei', aphis, and green flies away in 

 the dry season. This method has been 

 followed with splendid success for 

 many years. And when later the rose 

 bug or chafer appears, slugshot is used 

 with splendid effect, and having the 

 water on hand, can easily be cleaned 

 off before visitors arrive. There is 

 nothing more inviting than to see a 

 clean, well-kept rose garden with 

 clean leaves and perfect flowers, but 

 careful watchfulness has to be kept 

 constantly over it. At the beginning 

 or middle of June give a good mulching 

 with short stable manure of two or 

 three inches thick, as roses like a 

 cool footing, and this is extremely 

 beneficial to excellent culture, prevent- 

 ing the soil cracking or drying off, 

 and it is the means also of retaining 

 good foliage and better perfection of 

 bloom. And when the blooms make 

 their appearance great care should be 

 taken of the common enemy, the rose 

 bug, which is a very troublesome one 

 in most localities; they must be 

 picked off and careful watch maintain- 



