380 



HORTICULTURE 



March 23. 1907 



OUT-DOOR ROSE CULTURE. 



A paper read before the American Rose 

 Society by Tlieodore Wirth. 



I consider It somewhat presumptive 

 on my part, to appear before you ex- 

 pert rose growers, and to thinlv that I 

 might be able to say anything that 

 may be new and possibly instructive 

 to you. and I confess, that when 1 first 

 received our president's request for a 

 paper, I was readily inclined to de- 

 cline. My eyes, however, took in the 

 letter-head on which Mr. Simpson's in- 

 vitation was written, and up in the.left 

 corner it read:— "A Rose for Every 

 Home. A Bush for every Garden." 



Gentlemen, this being the motto of 

 our society, I am with you heart and 

 soul, and I appear before you as a 

 strong advocate of using the society's 

 Influence and working organism, to ad- 

 vance out-door rose culture iu general 

 and by every available means, and not 

 as a rose grower of special e.xperience 

 and knowledge by whose suggestions 

 and explanations you might profit. 

 Most of yo>i, undoubtedly, are growing 

 roses under glass, and while you take 

 due interest in out-door culture and 

 probably sell plants in planting sea- 

 son and cut flowers during the Month 

 of Roses, still your main business in- 

 terests are centered in your indoor 

 cultures, in your winter roses which 

 bring you satisfactory pecuniary re- 

 turns, reward you for your labor, in- 

 vestment, energy and the patient 

 watchful care bestowed upon your 

 plants. 



The exhibits in the hall show us your 

 skill, your wonderful achievements of 

 hybridization and cultures and your 

 love for your noble profession; and 

 with you we are proud of your achieve- 

 ments, and with you we enjoy our 

 sojourn amoi.gst those creations of 

 yours,— the roses of mid-winter, while 

 all plant-life outside is dead. But as I 

 look over this splendid display, my 

 thoughts wander ahead, my vision 

 leaves the narrow enclosure of this 

 room, the hall and your hundreds of 

 acres of greenhouses, and my longing 

 lands me in a fairyland, in God's own 

 Paradise, the home of our Queen of 

 Flowers, the Out-Door Rose Garden. 



I want you to accompany me on this 

 most pleasurable of all pleasure trips, 

 and I want you to start out early. It 

 is June, the month of roses, and truly 

 the month in which I wish we could 

 hold our convention. The sun is rising 

 on a clear sky, and the dew is on 

 flower, leaf, frond and blade. The at- 

 mosphere is refreshing and the birds 

 are jubilant in their renewed joy of 

 life. We enter our garden of well 

 cultivated roses, and God! what a glo- 

 rious sight. How beautiful are the 

 plants in their perfection of foliage, 

 their abundance of sweet scented, 

 strong, well-built flowers; what a rich- 

 ness and variety of colors and shades, 

 and what a wholesome and refreshing 

 fragrance is in the clear morning air. 

 Reverently we walk along those beds 

 of indescribable beauty, under these 

 arches of drooping bowers of flowers, 

 all glittering and sparkling with the 

 new-bcrn sunshine, reflected in mil- 

 lions of diamond dew drops. 



We have met the rose at home in 

 her very best form and beauty, in her 

 modest garb and surroundings; and 

 gentlemen, you will all agree with me 

 that your very best creations of forced 

 culture, be they displayed in the cost- 



liest, most luxuriantly furnished 

 apartment of the millionaire's man- 

 sion surrounded by priceless art treas- 

 ures and draperies, are outshone in 

 this garden, and that the wealth with 

 which your coveted products are sur- 

 rounded is an insignificant factor 

 compared with this garden's draperies 

 and attractive backgrounds of simple 

 but majestic trees, shrubs and vines. 

 The effect of the displays of your cre- 

 ations and products artistically and 

 tastefully arranged with all known 

 arts of decoration is gorgeous, pleas- 

 ing, fascinating; but the effect of our 

 rose garden in all its simplicity is un- 

 surpassingly sublime. 



I suppose I have made myself clear 

 by this time that I am an enthusiast 

 on out-door rose culture, without any 

 attempt to belittle your efforts and 

 achievements as indoor growers and 

 decorators. Indoor rose culture has 

 many advantages over out-door cul- 

 ture, as it has within its reach an un- 

 limited list of varieties and better yet 

 a practically unobstructed field of hy- 

 bridization. Yet the list of varieties 

 of all classes of roses, available for 

 out-door culture is so large as to sat- 

 isfy practically all reasonable de- 

 mands; in fact, it is nearly as much a 

 matter of cleaning out and discarding 

 many that are not worthy of culture 

 because they are superseded by so 

 many betters, as it is to get new 

 varieties. 



Thanks to the earnest and success- 

 ful efforts of the modern hybridizers 

 of both America and Europe, the list 

 of real everblooming roses adapted 

 and hardy for out-door culture is in- 

 creasing from year to year. I refer 

 to the class of Hybrid teas. 



I notice in the last catalogue of 

 Alex. Dickson & sons of Newtownards. 

 Ireland, that out of a list of 82 pedi- 

 gree seedling roses, 43 are Hybrid teas, 

 21 Hybrid perpetuals, 9 Teas and 9 

 Singles. This is but the cream of a 

 numberless list of new seedlings, but 

 many of them, undoubtedly, will prove 

 available for out-door culture. The 

 Hybrid teas are now on comparatively 

 the same epoch of development as 

 were the Hybrid perpetuals some 30 

 years ago, when the firm of Eugene 

 Verdier of Paris alone, offered be- 

 tween 40 and 50 new hybrids of that 

 class every year from 1872-1880, and 

 the number introduced since then is 

 legions. 



The Hybrid tea rose will win for it- 

 self recognition and preference, as an 

 out-door rose, the more its hardiness 

 becomes known. It is in reality this 

 class which is entitled to the name 

 "Perpetual Bloomers" in the proper 

 sense of the word. I think that Hy- 

 brid-reinontant is the proper name 

 for what we call now Hybrid 

 perpetual; for the word "remontant" 

 really means what they do — bloom a 

 second time (once more), but not con- 

 tinually during the season, as do the 

 Hybrid teas. Teas and Polyanthas. 



Let us see what we have today 

 amongst the old standbys and new- 

 comers well adapted for out-door cul- 

 ture. I do not claim for all those I 

 mention the title. The Best, for there- 

 in we differ according to taste, experi- 

 ence and observation. I simply men- 

 tion them as varieties with which I 

 have been successful and which seem 

 to me to merit a place in every rose 

 garden whose climatic condition is 



congenial to their growth. Every 

 color and shade is represented. 



In white and shades we have the 

 following Hybrid Remontants: 



Frau Karl Eiruschlsi, Mabel Morrison, 

 Marchioness of Londonderry, Margaret 

 Dickson. Mavourneen, Perfection dea 

 Blanches. Coquettedes Blanches and Co- 

 i]uettedes Alpes. 



Hybrid Teas— Augustine Guiuoisseau, 

 Helene Gulllot, Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, 

 Mildred Grant. Marquise Jeanne de la 

 Chataigneraye, Souv. de Mme. Kugenle 

 Verdier, Maman Cochet. 



In red and its many shades we have 

 the following Hybrid Remontants: 



Etienne Level. General Jacqueminot, 

 Gloire de Margottin, Horace Vernet, Jules 

 Margottin, Jubilee, Marie Baumann, Oscar 

 Cordel, Prosper Langier, Reynolds Hole, 

 Kobert Duncan, Sultan of Zanzibar, Hy- 

 brid Teas — Balduln, Dean Hole, Btoile de 

 France, Ferdinand Jamin, Gruss an Teplitz, 

 Liberty. Rev. David R. Williamson, Rich- 

 mond, Papa Gontler. 



In Rose or pink we find Hybrid 

 Remontants: 



American Beauty, Anna de Dies- 

 bach, Baroness Rothschild Baronne Pre- 

 vost. Clio, Caroline de Sansal, Comtease 

 Cecille de Chabrillant, Countess of Rose- 

 berry, Duchesse de Vallombrosa, Dupuy 

 Jamln, Eugenie Verdier, Helnrich Schul- 

 theis. Helen Keller, La Relne, Mme. Gabriel 

 Luizet, Magna Charta, Marchioness of 

 liownshire. Marchioness of Dufferln, Mar- 

 guerite de St. Amande, Marquise de Caa- 

 tellane. Mrs. John Lalng. Mrs. R. J. Shar- 

 man Crawford. Oakmont, Paul Neyron, 

 Pride of Waltham, Kev. J. B. M. Camm, 

 Susanne Marie Rodocanachl, Victor Ver- 

 dier. Hybrid Teas — Cactain Christy, Caro- 

 line Testout, Dr. J. Campbell Hall, Kll- 

 larney. La France, Mme. Abel Chatenay, 

 Maman Cochet, Mrs. W. J. Grant, Relne 

 Marie Henriette, Kate Moulton. 



In a class all by themselves we have 

 the Polyantha roses, which in my 

 opinion, are not known and grown 

 enough. I should like to call them 

 the children's roses. They are so eas- 

 ily grown and are the real bedding 

 roses. There are as many as 30 or 40 

 varieties of easy culture, namely: 



Red — La Prosperine, Leonie Lamesch, 

 Llllput, Mme. Norbert Leravasseur, (Baby 

 Rambler), Ma Petite Andree, Pink Soupert, 

 Perles des Rouges. 



Rose or Pink — Glolre des Polyantha, Ma 

 I'lllettc, M'lle. CecUe Brunner, Mignonette, 

 Petite Constant, Petite Madeleine, Philip- 

 pine Lambert, Primula. 



White — Annie de Montravel, Bellina Gull- 

 lot, Clothilde Soupert, Flocon de Nelge, 

 Josephine Burland, Katherine Zelmet, 

 Marie Pavie, Miniature, Mosella, Paquer- 

 ette, Princesse Marie Adelaide de Luxem- 

 bourg, Schneewittchen, Snowball. 



Yellow— Etolle d'Or, Etolle de Mai, 

 Emilie Potin. Eugenie Lamesche, FlUua 

 Strasshelm, Golden Fairy, Le Bourguignon, 

 Perle d'Or, Princess Elizabeth Lancelottl. 



The Rugosa family is also becoming 

 more prominent through recent intro- 

 ductions and we tiave now the follow- 

 ing varieties: 



Red — Atropurpurea, Mme. Chas. Worth, 

 Mrs. Anthony Waterer, Rugosa rnbra, 

 Souv. de Pierre Leperdrleui. 



Rose — Belle Poitevine, Calocarpa, Conrad 

 Ferdinand Meyer, Dellcata, Rose Apples. 



White — Blanc double de Coubert, Flm- 

 brlata, Mme. Georges Bruant, Rugosa alba. 



The following Moss roses deserve a 

 place in the garden: 



Red — Celina. Crimson Globe. 



Rose — Crested, Mme. Moreau. 



White — Blanche Moreau, Comtesse de 

 Murinais. Perpetual White, White Bath. 



In way of trailers and climbers we 

 have also a large variety representing 

 Hybrid Remontants, Hybrid Teas, 

 Teas, Noisettes, Bourbons, Polyanthas, 

 Mosses, Rugosas, Gallicas, Wichura- 

 ianas. Hybrid Multifloras, Moschatas 

 and Sempervirens: 



Red— Cheshunt Hybrid, H. T.; Climb- 

 ing Jules Margottin. H. B.; Climbing Papa 

 Gontler, H. T.; Crimson Rambler, Pol.; 

 Euphroslne, Pol.; Hiawatha, H. Wleh.; 



