August 29, 190S 



HORTICULTURE 



289 



OUT-OF-DOOR ROSES. 



(A Paper Head Before the So.-iety of 



American Florists by \V. C. Barry, 



Rochester, N. Y.) 



In consenting to prepare a paper on 

 "Out-of-Door Roses" for the 24th An- 

 nual Meeting of the Society of Ameri- 

 can Florists, 1 must admit that I dhl 

 so with consideration, realizing full 

 well that my statements, observations, 

 and conclusions would be subject to 

 the consideration and criticism of ex- 

 perts. 



Your fame for rose growing under 

 glass is world wide. You have 

 achieved a reputation of which not 

 only you who are directly engaged in 

 this business, but our countrymen as 

 well, may be proud. This happy con- 

 dition is the result of hard work, se- 

 rious study, and long practice on your 

 part. Aiming to grow the best, you 

 have adopted and pursued methods 

 which have acomplished the end. Your 

 practice has been commended and fol- 

 lowed by workers in other countries. 

 Each year you have made advances, 

 and your ability has been amply de- 

 monstrated in the careful selection of 

 varieties which you have adopted for 

 forcing. It would be an easy matter 

 to blunder seriously in this regard, 

 but your judgment has been tried and 

 found to be wise and correct. 



I premise my remarks with these 

 statements because you have justly 

 won a high place in floriculture, and I 

 am among the number of those who 

 believe that your pursuit is so com- 

 mendable, beneficial and elevating in 

 its aims and influence, that it should 

 be justly valued and your achieve- 

 ments should have the recognition and 

 appreciation which they deserve. 



I have been invited to consider a 

 subject hardly in line with your work 

 and you may feel that I am occupying 

 your time unprofitably, and yet I know 

 and appreciate your great love for the 

 Queen of Flowers. The Queen of Floral 

 Beauties has been uppermost in your 

 mind for years— you have thought 

 about her, dreamed about her, exerted 

 your best efforts in her behalf and 

 your success in every case has been 

 most gratifying. In the Floral King- 

 dom are to be found innumerable beau- 

 tiful and choice subjects each one 

 possessing charms peculiar to itself, 

 but among the vast number the rose 

 has been accorded the highest place. 

 To her we bow. To her do we exclaim 

 in endearing tones, "Your charms of 

 color, and form and fragrance are un- 

 equalled. We recognize your incom- 

 parable beauty, and as loyal subjects 

 we vow to do all in our power to se- 

 cure a better and higher appreciation 

 of vour virtues." With this in mind, I 

 trust you will not feel that I am wast- 

 ing your time, but that you will cheer- 

 fully lend your attention, for a brief 

 period, while we consider together as 

 lovers of the Rose, what may and 

 should be done to forward the move- 

 ment of Out-of-Door Rose growing in 



this country- 



We have, I know well, in many sec- 

 tions, a climate so severe that Rose 

 culture is extremely difficult if not 

 impossible, and yet I can truthfully 

 say that that territory is of small ex- 

 tent. In the Southern States Rose 

 growing is comparatively easy. In the 

 North we will confess that it is some- 

 what difficult, that is, Roses grown in 

 the North need some protection in 



winter such as hilling up with earth 

 or covering with evergreen boughs, or 

 both. The care and attention required 

 to carry out these important details 

 are often neglected and disappoint- 

 ments and discouragements follow. 

 With the introduction and employment 

 of the Hybrid Teas more care than 

 ever must be taken in this particular. 

 In addition to the covering referred to 

 a shelter of boards to shed the water 

 is recommended for the more tender 

 varieties. 



Roses should always be planted in 

 a place and in a manner which will 

 permit of their being protected. By 

 this I mean that instead of scatter- 

 in the plants here and there in the 

 garden, border, or lawn, I suggest 

 planting them together in beds, groups 

 or masses; not in the most conspicu- 

 ous place in the grounds, but rather at 

 the side, or in the rear, or in an in- 

 closure, with a hedge about them, 

 the idea being that the plants may 

 not be too prominent when out of 

 flower. I think many planters err in 

 this regard frequently. Rose gardens 

 large and small have their place, 

 but surely it is not in the front 

 vard or in the most conspicuous 

 part of the lawn. The ever blooming 

 sorts like Baby Rambler, Killarney, 

 Gruss an Teplitz, Testout, Kaiserin, 

 Cecile Brunner, Baby Dorothy, White 

 Cochet, Pink Cochet, Clothilde Soupert 

 are such continuous bloomers that they 

 may be excepted and planted where 

 they may be seen to advantage all 

 summer long, but most varieties 

 should be planted as I have suggested. 

 If quantities of bloom are desired, 

 then the plantation should be on a 

 large scale in the rear of the grounds, 

 setting the plants In rows and beds 

 with grass walks between them. This 

 arrangement is practical and orna- 

 mental. In large places a garden 

 should embrace one thousand plants at 

 least and in smaller places a pro- 

 portionate number. The amateur even 

 cannot expect to get satisfactory re- 

 sults from a few plants. We must be 

 generous in our plantings. The soil 

 cannot be too good or too rich. If 

 planted in good garden soil and 

 manured heavily with well decayed 

 manure I can predict with utmost cer- 

 tainty that the result will be satisfac- 

 tory. 



The Rose in good soil grows wonder - 

 tully, escapes diseases, and insects, and 

 loo!:s well having ample foliage. 

 Whenever possible means for watering 

 the plants should be provided, and a 

 liberal use of water will produce a mar- 

 velous effect. Water can be easily and 

 cheaply conducted to various parts of 

 the grounds' in small iron pipes laid 

 on the surface. This is better and 

 cheaper than rubber hose. The ex- 

 penditure in this direction will insure 

 not only the health of the plants but 

 render them capable of producing 

 blooms continuously. 



Budded and Own Root Plants. 

 Some planters will have nothing but 

 own root plants because of disappoint- 

 ments and success in growing the 

 stock, whether it be Manetti or Briar, 

 rather than the variety of Rose sought. 

 Growing the stock has given a black 

 eye to rose culture and it is difficult 

 to persuade those who have once been 

 disappointed to repeat their efforts with 

 budded plants. 



In general budded roses are the most 

 satisfactory, because the plants are 

 stronger at the start and they continue 

 so. They produce more and larger 

 blooms, and if they are watched and 

 the suckers removed when they ap- 

 peai no trouble will ensue. How to 

 distinguish the stock from the budded 

 variety is not by any means difficult 

 if pains be taken to study the differ- 

 ence. On request any gardener will 

 cheerfully point out to the amateur 

 the points of distinction and wheu 

 once they are recognized ;md under- 

 stood, no difficulty will be experienced. 

 But there are many who will insist on 

 having own root plants and I believe 

 their wishes should be respected. 

 Diseases and Insect Foes. 

 1 will not take your time mention^ 

 ing remedies for the control of disease 

 or the destruction of pests, but I will 

 say that if the plants are maintained 

 in a healthy condition by stirring the 

 soil, watering frequently, removing 

 blooms, and diseased foliage, they will 

 not be troubled seriously. Weakly 

 plants are the victims of insects and 

 diseases and it is the duty of every 

 rose grower to furnish ample nourish- 

 tain health. It is a mistake to con- 

 clude that rose culture is unsatisfac- 

 tory, if not impossible, because of in- 

 sect pests and diseases. 

 Pruning. 

 If there is one cause more impor- 

 tant than another for the failure of 

 roses, we would attribute it to faulty 

 pruning or perhaps to an entire lack 

 of pruning at planting time. Thou- 

 sands of roses are planted annually 

 without being pruned at all, either the 

 tops or the roots and consequently 

 fail and the seller has to take the 

 blame. At planting time it is abso- 

 lutely necessary that this operation 

 should receive attention or loss will 

 ensue. Dormant plants should always 

 be cut back to two or three eyes when 

 set out and in this way growth is in- 

 sured. Each year thereafter in the 

 Spring they should be cut back to two 

 or three eyes. Some varieties need 

 hard pruning, others moderate prun- 

 ing. 



Out of Door Roses. 



For growing out of doors beginning 

 with the hardiest, those adapted to the 

 severest climates and requiring the 

 least care and attention I would name 

 the Japan Roses rugosa and their hy- 

 brids. Extra hardiness is the distin- 

 guishing and most valuable character 

 of this family although their showy 

 and handsome foliage and fruit are al- 

 most as important qualifications. The 

 single red and single white varieties 

 are quite well known and have been 

 extensively used for shrubberies, 

 hedges, as well as single specimen 

 plants. Atropurpurea is a very beau- 

 tiful single, bearing maroon crimson 

 flowers. Mrs. Anthony Waterer hav- 

 ing semi-double deep crimson fragrant 

 blooms in clusters, has special value. 

 Agnes Emily Carman with semi-double 

 crimson flowers is one that has been 

 planted quite largely— being much es- 

 teemed in some places. Madam 

 Georges Bruant bearing large, double 

 white flowers in clusters is a beautiful 

 rose as is Blanc Double de Coubert, a 

 large and showy double white form of 

 rugosa alba. This will be prized by 

 all on account of its large well formed 

 blooms. Conrad F. Meyer of recent 

 introduction is a rose with a great fu- 



