292 



II OHT I CULTURE 



Kfliruui) 26, lyn; 



NEW ROSES 



ulreis of E. G. Hill, Richmond. Ind., Before the Chicago Floritts' Club, 

 February 10. 1916 



It «oii|,| |:a\. 1 . , II l.i'ltiT iiiiiiu you 

 ba\o proMiilfil iiiiuii one of your local 

 momliers to ix-rforni this serviic. for 

 Burcly wlicrc rose growing occiiplos so 

 large a Held as nt ('liicaKo. opportunity 

 to write up new roses from observa- 

 tion iind inforumtlou rcrluinly obtains 

 OTcr that given to one distant from 

 the great centers. 



Some Experiences With Sunburst. Rus- 

 sell and Mock. 



To go back to tlie introduction of 

 Sunliurst. and consider the qualities, 

 good and bad, of those introduced since 

 the advent of this famous yellow rose 

 Is, I take It, wiiat you have in mind. 

 Quite a number of varieties believed 

 to have forcini; possil)ilities have ap- 

 peared during this time; some have 

 made siood, others are succeeding in 

 Bome places, while failing in other 

 localities. A case in point is the 

 celebrated Mrs. Clias. Russell. This 

 rose has made good, if we may credit 

 all that it is said about it by the Chi- 

 cago growers; in fact, growers distant 

 from Chicago are succeeding admir- 

 ably with it, wiiile on the other hand, 

 failure has attended the growing of 

 this rose by some very up-to-date and 

 experienced growers, and with a good- 

 ly number has disappointment followed 

 their best efforts. A recent visit south 

 was instructive and of great iuterest 

 as pertains to Mrs. Chas. Russell; it 

 was. in the great majority of the places 

 in the south, doing remarkably well. 

 and thriving amazingly in a few places. 

 It occurred to your speaker that the 

 rose likes abundant sunshine and con- 

 etderable heat to do its best, but your 

 club members are better able to dis- 

 cuss this point than myself. This rose 

 has great merit and is well liked by 

 those who appreciate a long stemmed 

 variety that possesses good keepin;;; 

 qualities. Those two qualities certain- 

 ly give it standing with critical rose 

 buyers. The Waban Rose Conserva- 

 tories are sending out two sports from 

 Mrs. Russell, which most of you have 

 had opportunity to inspect and criti- 

 cize. These two varieties. Mrs. Bay- 

 ard Thayer and Dark Pink Russell, 

 should certainly commend themselves 

 to all who do Russell well. The last 

 named, maintaining as it does, its 

 fine rich color, should make it a dan- 

 gerous rival of its parent. Mrs. Thayei 

 certainly will be in demand, and I pre- 

 dict a goodly number will be grown in 

 the near future. 



Jonkherr J. L. Mock Is a variety 

 with an uncertain future — it certainly 

 Is a most magnificent rose in the 

 spring time, when there is sufficient 

 sun heat to open its buds, 1 tlioughl 

 the vase of this rose staged at the 

 New York show in 1914 by Robert Simp- 

 son was the handsomest vase of roses 

 ever staged. As a spring and summer 

 rose It should find a place, but It gives 

 too many deformed buds in dark 

 weather to be profitable. 



Richmond's Rivals. 

 There have been many entries in the 



ml inMj c hi,-.,, iiii ir.Mii;; to uu.'-t Hh-li- 

 niond. but they are having a hard 

 time of It. .Milady, n.s grown by a very 

 few, would sconi desirable, but it has 

 Its faults, and with your speaker It 

 has not behaved sallsl"a<t(irlly. W. J. 

 Kelniel and Adolph I'oeblniann seem 

 to be able to get results. 1 think Mr. 

 Keimel was undecided some time ago 

 whether or not to go on with the va- 

 riety, but this gentleman finally said: 

 "I will coutinue to grow It until I find 

 a better red." 



Prince fcl C. de Arenberg Is unsatis- 

 factory In many ways; It opens wide 

 Immediately on exjiosure to the heat 

 of a room; it is a line, strong grower, 

 but the size of the bud does not meas- 

 ure up with Its fine foliage and heavy 

 stem, 



A few more petals, and a little more 

 scarlet in its color scheme, would have 

 put Crimson Queen in the front rank 

 as a forcing variety. 



Francis Scott Key is liked by a few, 

 but I predict its speedy eclipse as a 

 forcing rose. 



Hadley is a rose that has had exten- 

 sive trial and is a grand variety when 

 well done. It certainly is fine when 

 grown as it is done in its home town — 

 nothing could be more desirable in a 

 red rose if it were productive enough; 

 its great fault is the unusual amount 

 of blind w'ood produced, especially in 

 winter. I Tear this rose will not hold 

 place for the reason just mentioned. 



Hoosier Beauty, as grown for two 

 years at Richmond, Ind., has fully sus- 

 tained the claims made by the Dom- 

 ers: in fact, visitors who have noted 

 its behavior throughout the winter 

 with us, have only words of praise for 

 the variety. We have had most grati- 

 fying results from the 10,000 plants 

 grown by our firm the present season. 

 It has its faults like every other va- 

 riety, but its virtues offset any tend- 

 ency to weakness of stem in the short 

 growths of the variety. Unlike Had- 

 ley, it does not produce any blind 

 wood. It is fine in color and is a 

 wonderful keeper and shipper. I under- 

 stand failure has attended the grow- 

 ing of this rose by some of your large 

 growers hereabouts, but further exper- 

 ience 1 think will put the variety in 

 the front row of forcing reds. Too 

 heavy feed and too much heat are the 

 two things that have caused disap- 

 pointment. It is a wonderful hot 

 weather rose. 



The Killarneys. 



One of the roses most criticized has 

 been Killarney Brilliant. This rose, 

 for some reason or other, did not move 

 off in growth the first season after dis- 

 semination; up to December we 

 thought the variety totally lacking in 

 vigor, but after that time and up to 

 the present, its growth and flowering 

 qualities are all that could be desired 

 — certainly its fine color commends it 

 to all, for it does not have the faults 

 of its parent as regards color. 1 cheer- 

 fully commend Klllarnev Brilliant to 



all who want an Improved Killarney. 



Lady .Mice Stanley Is u beautiful 

 two-toni'il pink ruKo and In esteemed 

 by roHc faiii Icrs. This Ih a high class 

 \arlety and will always bring a good 

 price In the retail HhopH, It has fine 

 foliage and Is fret- from any tendency 

 to weakness of growth. We shall grow 

 an Inireasiyl iiiiantlty the coming 

 .season. 



Killarney tiiiccn has had a meteoric 

 existence and Is grown In limited quan- 

 tities only; setting two or throe plants 

 together Is urged, a few claiming when 

 so planted that it gives a profltublo 

 cut. 



There have been other sports of Kil- 

 larney. viz.: Dark Red and the Double 

 Killarney, but these two sorts have 

 been dropped almost entirely. 



Double White Killarney has a place 

 and is considered by a great many 

 growers to be a decided acquisition In 

 a white forcing rose. It Is certainly 

 superior In summer to the old white 

 Killarney In Its keeping qualities. 



Euler and Tipperary. 



.Madame P. Euler is finding favor 

 with a great many growers on the 

 Pacific slope, and under the bright 

 sunshine and climatic conditions of 

 California it will make a large place 

 for itself. Our firm was the first to 

 test and try out this rose after its In- 

 troduction; we found a small percent- 

 age perfected themselves, but the 

 major portion were bull-headed, as the 

 growers use the term. If it succeeds 

 in the eastern part of the United 

 States, I shall be pleased to know It, 

 for it is a beautiful rose when nicely 

 developed. 



Lady Hillingdon has gone by the 

 board, so to speak; a few are still 

 growing it, but its tendency to fly open 

 and its lack of petals, have been the 

 determining factors in its non-use. 



If a fine corsage and bowl rose is 

 desired 1 can commend Tipperary as 

 filling the bill. This rose is free In its 

 production of bloom, and is greatly 

 esteemed by our two stores, many pre- 

 ferring it to Mrs. Aaron Ward, 



Ophelia — the Ideal Forcing Rose. 



Ophelia — Certainly this magnificent 

 variety deserves all the praise be- 

 stowed upon it; a seedling of Antoine 

 Uevoire x Taft. having all the good 

 iiualities of its parent, without any of 

 its faults. Surely this rose comes 

 nearer being the ideal cut flower 

 forcing rose, measuring up to Killar- 

 ney in its productiveness, but without 

 its tendency to mildew. As one noted 

 rose grower puts it: "The finest and 

 most useful of all roses." One noted 

 grower said: "What we want is a 

 pink, a red and a white Ophelia, then 

 surely the rose millennium will have 

 come." At Richmond, we have select- 

 ed out of 2,200 seedlings flowered this 

 present season, some 20 or more to 

 test further. In a cross between 

 Ophelia and Mrs. Geo. Shawyer we 

 seem to have found the good growing 

 qualities of Ophelia with the fine shape 

 and coloring of Shawyer. 1 might tell 

 you of other seedlings, but if nothing 

 unforseen happens, we hope to be able 

 to exhibit the coming fall some of the 

 results of patient, careful cross breed- 

 ing. 



Mrs. Geo. Shawyer. with many, is 

 considered the finest of all pink roses. 



