LJBRARY 



COLUMBIA UMVci\SITY 



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I GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



I (OF AMERICA) 



I Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 



I Vol. XXVII 



JULY, 1923 



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No. 7 I 



Things and Thoughts of the Garden 



WILLIAM N. CRAIG 



TMERE appears to be a steadily increasing interest in 

 hardy roses in all sections of the United States, and 

 the various "Rose Pilgrimages" planned by the 

 American Rose Society have done not a little to enthuse 

 amateur growers in the Oueen of Flowers. Those of us 

 who rarclv go afield and do not know what others are 

 growHig, or are doing, are aiJt to lead too self-satisfied 

 lives and to have a somewhat exaggerated idea of our own 

 productions. It is the very best form of horticultural 

 education lo do some visiting at rose time and make men- 

 tal and pencil notes which are bound to prove helpful. I 

 have attended outings where dahlias, gladioli, peonies, 

 iris and S]>ring bulbous plants were in season but with 

 none of them did the enthusiasm at all equal that mani- 

 fested in hardy roses. There is such an infinite range of 

 colors and types whicli are being constantly added to, and 

 the wonderful additions to the hybrid tea, palyantha, 

 rambler, Pernetiana classes and species keep interest 

 keyed up. 



The great interest today is divided between the hybriil 

 teas and ramblers ; the hybrid perpetuals are year by yea'- 

 being more pushed to the wall. In some respects this is 

 regrettable as for our colder states they are by far the 

 most dependable of our bush roses as they are much 

 hardier than the hybrid teas and are longer lived. The 

 name "perpetual'" is something, however, of a misnomer, 

 as with a few exceptions such as Frau Karl Druschki. 

 Mrs. John Laing, and Airs. R. G. Sharman Crawford, 

 they carry one good crop of flower,s in early Summer and 

 bloom rather sparingly thereafter. I have had many 

 plants of hybrid perpetuals which have lived from fifteen 

 to twenty-five years and in some cases even more, in the 

 immediate vicinity of Boston with no Winter protection 

 but soil, which by the way is far the best covering in cAd 

 latitudes. This Is something we cannot say of the beauti- 

 ful but more tender hybrid teas. It is tme that Grtiss an 

 Teplitz, Mmc. Caroline Testout and one or two others 

 are as dependable as the hybrid perpetuals, but they are 

 decided exceptions to the general rule. 



A hardier tvpe of rose which will be a persistent bloom- 

 er and adaptable for culture in our cold northern states 

 would seem to be entirely possible if hj-bridizers would 

 use the hardiest possible stocks. In the great number of 

 species of roses, both native and foreign, surely one can 

 be found which will satisfy our needs in this respect. Vi'e 

 may not be able to get the big handsome exhibition roses 

 we are well acquainted with, and possibly the orange, apri- 

 cot, old rose, and some other delightful shades "would 

 have to he eliminated and blooms of a moderate size, in 



)nany cases carried in clusters, would be given, but some 

 day, it may be nearly half a century away, we shall have 

 such a race which ivill thrive in almost every state in the 

 L'nion. There is a great field for hydridizers, and there 

 will surely arise men of the type of the late lamented Dr. 

 \"an Fleet, and M. H. Walsh to give us a real American 

 race of hardy roses. 



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The passage of Quarantine i7 with the debarment of 

 all roses except a very limited number of the newer sorts 

 has naturally stimulated rose propagation in America. 

 ■California is now the state par excellence for rose pro- 

 duction • plants sent from there are of good size, although 

 usually budded much too high. The trouble is that while 

 the manetti stock is now used in the main, there is an evi- 

 dent tendency to speed up production by using such tender 

 stocks as Rose odorata. which can be propagated with re- 

 markable rapidity, and while these roses will no doubt 

 prove satisfactory in the balmier sections of the country 

 they are sure to prove most disappointing in the colder 

 states, and are unlikely to prove of any value in that At- 

 lantic coast section where horticulture has a great number 

 of devotees. It is a fact that much Californian stock is 

 now being p'lantcd outdoors in the East ; personally I 

 would very much prefer stock biidded in New Jersey or 

 some more vigorous climate as more likely to give satis- 

 faction. 



Another type of rose has come to the front during the 

 past year or tw'c, and much of it is being advertised and 

 sold for "field grown stock." I refer to greenhouse roses 

 which have done ser\'ice for several years in beds or 

 benches and were formerly thrown away and burned. 

 These plants are now being dried off and rested for a few 

 weeks, pnmed back and sold for hardy stock. I have 

 known these roses to winter over under favorable con- 

 ditions and give a very good account of themselves the 

 second and third seasons. They can always be depended 

 upon to produce a fine late Summer and Fall crop' the same 

 year thev are planted. But it is too much to hope that 

 plants which have been forced in greenhouses for. in some 

 cases as manv as six years, will prove as satisfactory in 

 the garden as outdoor grown stock. One firm of rose 

 specialists advised me that they had sold 23,000 of these 

 old forced plants as "hardy garden roses" at a fiat rate of 

 $S per dozen. I consider this a distinctly dishonest prac- 

 tice, one which will do much towards discouraging the cul- 

 ture of roses in the garden. Still another large rose special- 

 ist wholesales this discarded stock at $100 per 1,000, and in 

 small lots at $3 per dozen. This grower, however, adopts 



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