312 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



Roses in the Fall 



IT is a growing conviction with the writer that any Tea 

 or Hybrid Tea which has bloomed freely during a 

 single season has "squared itself" with the owner for its 

 purchase price. If it endures the Winter and again goes 

 about its work of beauty another year, the rose-grower 

 owes it at least care and gratitude, or a successor should 

 Winter claim it. 



The first expression of this care ought to be in proper 

 preparation for the Winter. Some parts of this prepara- 

 tion are here suggested. 



1. Do Not Stimulate Late Gro-uili. The Tea and Hy- 

 •brid Tea roses tend in Fall to renew active growth, and 

 many fine buds are produced in the weeks before frost. 

 To withhold fertilizing and extra water in these weeks 

 helps to ripen the wood for belter endurance of the Win- 

 ter. 



2. Clean Ground and CleODt Bushes. Not a weed 

 should be permitted to compete with the rose plant for 

 soil fertility. Now, in Fall, as at no other time, it is 

 especially important to have the bushes and the ground 

 clear of dead and diseased leaves and twigs. If "black- 

 spot" has been with you, every vestige of its ravages, 

 either yet on the plants or in fallen leaves on the ground, 

 should be removed and burned. Make sure that Jack 

 Frost has only healthy leaves to cut of¥, and that he 

 doesn't simply store for you unharmed next year's black- 

 spot infection. 



A heavy du.stine of the plants and the i^round with 

 the sulphur-arsenate powder (9 parts dusting sulphur. 

 1 ])arl lead arsenate) will be worth while, especial!}- as it 

 now appears that where this has been done for several 

 seasons the nasty rose-bug seems to be diminishing his 

 vigor. Mildew is also guarded against by this treatment. 



3. Fall Pruning. The longer canes of the Hybrid Tea 

 roses ought either to be cut off — say above two or three 

 feet — or tied in, so that wind whippings may not loosen 

 roots. Of course, the final pruning must l)e delayed until 

 Spring. 



Hybrid Perpetuals can be tied down after the longest 

 tips are cut away. Rugosas need no protection. 



Hardy climbers should also be made snug liy prelimi- 

 nary trimming, or better by tying down. In these roses, 

 ns in Hybrid Perpetuals, the next year's bloom shoots 

 arise from this year's wood, wherefore severe pruning 

 is wrong. 



4. Labeling. All roses ought to be so labeled that 

 there is no doubt of the variety. Whatever label is used, 

 it is important to properly consider its security in putting 

 the roses to bed for the Winter. 



5. Protection against Frost. Only hints may here be 

 given, Ijecn.use of the wide range of climate the .American 

 Rose .Society covers. .\ny rose is "hardy" anywhere if 

 adecjuately protected. 



Usually, wind and the sun do more harm than tem- 

 perature. The wind vastly increases evajjoration and tem- 

 perature etTect, and even \\'inter sun may stinnilatc 

 unwary buds to swelling, only tn be bitten later with the 

 frost. ' 



So protection should be against w ind and sun. To hill 

 up ground six to twelve inches around the smaller bushes 

 is a gofxl protection. To thickly cover tlie inishes with 

 evergreen boughs is excellent, and usually sufficient save 

 in the coldest regions. If field-mice do not al)ound, leaves 

 are good protection, prrivided they are so covered as to 

 keep them measurably dry, for sodden leaves, or sodden 

 manure, may rot rose stems. Protection need nni be ap- 

 l)liefl until the ground is lightly frozen. 



llea\v paper can be so used as to keep off wind and 

 sun, and the straw jackets once considered essential are 

 usually safe. 



In very severe climates much more elaborate protection 

 must be worked out, and, of this, information should be 

 sought in the immediate neighborhood by looking up the 

 nearest associates whose names are to be found in the 

 geographical list of meml)ers in this Handbook. 



6? Planting Roses in the Fall. Many of the best 

 rosarians insist on Iv'dl planting, having discovered that 

 the roses will thus be prepared for an early start. Plants 

 can usually be obtained in fine condition after the first 

 frosts, and if the ground is carefully prepared and the 

 roses carefully planted, a further covering of soil will 

 afford protection. Fall planting has much to commend it. 



lUit if for any reason b'all planting is not jiracticable, 

 we commend Fall purchase of the roses, (let them to 

 your garden, and bury the bundles of them ( divested of 

 wrapping, of course) completely under a foot of soil, 

 marking the place for convenience, and again covering 

 the soil with any litter to prevent the severest freezing. 

 Such "heeling-in" must of course be where water cannot 

 stand — no rose will endure wet feet. 



This P'all buying and home storing is the solution of 

 many rose trouldes, provided the purchaser also prepares 

 his next season's beds so that he can put the bushes where 

 they are to bloom at the earliest possible date when the 

 soil can be worked in the Spring. 



looses make root growth very early, and it is far bet- 

 ter to have that growth made in your garden than in the 

 nurseryman's rose-cellar. Planting a week or two earlier 

 in Spring may mean the gain of a whole season in rose 

 prosperity, and not infrequently mean's the saving of the 

 plants. 



Fall purchase and home storage secure not only the 

 earliest planting opportunity, but the first and best choice 

 of the freshest jilants from the grower. 



Getting Ready for 1923. Great advantage follows the 

 fireparation of the ground in the Fall, so that the beds are 

 read\- in earliest .Spring. The soil settles, the manure 

 breaks down, the sods decay, and the whole mass im- 

 proves over Winter, providing the best planting condi- 

 tions for Spring. 



No longer is the elaborately deep soil ])reparation con- 

 sidered essential. From eighteen inches to two feet of 

 good soil, including' well toward one-third its bulk of 

 thoroughly rotted stable manure, if cow manure is not 

 available, and with a basis of bone-meal equal to a trowel- 

 ful for each rose, will provide good feeding-ground for 

 roses. If the soil is heavy and the drainage poor, deeper 

 digging and heavy and rough miaterial at the bottom are 

 required. — /. Horace McFarland, Jlditor of Publications 

 of .Imerican Rose Society, in Members' Handbook. 



CLIMBING PLANTS 



/Ml climbing plants are vigorous growers, and unless 

 dealt with ,'U once soon become a t.angied and uninteresting 

 mass, almost im()ossil)le to sejiarate. When tying of any 

 description is done care should be taken to lie slightly, 

 allowing the subject a fair amount of freedom in order 

 to mainl;iin a loose and natural elTect. Once the fence, 

 jiergola or whatevc'r ilu- various subjects are intended to 

 clothe is furm'shed ;illo\\ tlie plants more freedom, and 

 ])retty effects will accrue, i liinatises, Pyrus, Roses, etc., 

 are often <le]>rived of their iialuial be;uil\ 1)\ the stiff 

 traininL"^ tlu'v receive. — (i. 



