August 23, 191S 



II o RTI CULTURE 



1;:. 



RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS OF 

 A ROVING GARDENER 



Some of the things which Mr. E. G. 

 Hill told his audience of commercial 

 growers at the convention of the 

 American Nurserymen's Association 

 might well be passed on to private 

 gardeners and to amateurs. Take for 

 example this sentence: "If I wished 

 to make friends for the rose, I should 

 recommend to novices the dwarf Poly- 

 antha type. These roses invariably 

 succeed under even adverse circum- 

 stances.'* Now, isn't this just exactly 

 what the average rose grower the 

 country over is looking for? Of 

 course, the dyed-in-the-wool rose 

 grower will not be satisfied with 

 flowers of this type alone. He will 

 want the splendid hybrid teas and 

 some of the hybrid perpetuals, even 

 though they are a little less generous 

 with their flowers and require a little 

 more coddling for best results. 



There are some of the baby ram- 

 blers, though, that are exceedingly 

 satisfactory, both for the suburbanite 

 who doesn't pretend to know much 

 about rose culture but who likes to 

 see flowers all the summer through, 

 and also for the man with a large 

 estate who can plant these roses in 

 large beds for mass effect. 



I have been watching a plant of the 

 Polyantha rose known as Echo in a 

 neighbor's garden this season. It Is 

 an exceedingly dainty little rose and 

 as near everblooming as any plant can 

 well be. Even a single bush beside 

 the door would be a delight to the 

 owner of a cottage home. Roses of 

 this type are perfectly hardy and if 

 given anything like decent care will 

 bloom until the buds are killed by 

 hard frosts. In the middle states 

 this may not be until Thanksgiving 

 time. Among some of the varieties 

 which Mr. Hill recommends are Mme. 

 Levavasseur, Mrs. Cutbush, Katherine 

 Zeimit and Clotilde Soupert. The last 

 named is a pretty little blush rose but 

 unfortunately the buds are ruined 

 every time there comes a rain storm, 

 which is unpleasantly often in many 

 seasons. 



While many people buy the hybrid 

 teas with the expectation that they are 

 going to bloom right through the 

 summer, there are few of them which 

 produce more than an occasional 

 blossom during the latter part of July 

 and the first of August. As a grower 

 and seller of roses. Mr. Hill admits 

 that after the flush of June blooms 



has passed there invariably comes an 

 interval of rest lasting until the cooler 

 nights which herald the approach of 

 autumn. It is at this season perhaps 

 that the baby ramblers are appre- 

 ciated most keenly. It is interesting 

 to read over Mr. Hill's list of the best 

 twenty-five hybrid teas, a list made up, 

 as he says, after a most careful scru- 

 tiny of the fine collection in the trial 

 gardens at Washington, and other 

 noted collections. Apparently this list 

 has been made most especially with 

 reference to bedding out, the matter 

 of fragrance and cut flower value 

 being given less consideration. At any 

 rate here it is: 



Radiance, Red Radiance, Lieutenant 

 Chaure. Hoosier Beauty, Gen. Mac- 

 Arthur, Gruss An Teplitz, Geo. C. 

 Waud, Janet, Indiana, Lady Ursula, 

 Lady Ashtown, Mme. Caroline Test- 

 out, Konigin Carola, Mrs. Wakefield, 

 Christie Miller, Mme. Jules Bouche, 

 Lady Alice Stanley, Killarney Queen, 

 Ophelia, Mrs. A. R. Waddell, Mary, 

 Countess of Ilchester, Robin Hood, 

 Columbia. Los Angeles, Duchess of 

 Wellington. Dorothy Page Roberts. 



In his report at the convention of 

 the S. A. F. at Detroit this week Mr. 

 Gude, the Washington representative, 

 emphasizes the fact that the rose 

 garden at the capital is not intended 

 primarily to be a show place, but is 

 purely a test garden, its one object 

 being to bring out the faults as well 

 as the virtues of all the new varieties. 

 This will answer some of the criti- 

 cisms which have been heard in the 

 last year or two. Perhaps it will also 

 stimulate the making of rose gardens 

 in other places where the general ef- 

 fect will be the point most considered. 



I have been interested to find that 

 even Minneapolis has an excellent 

 municipal rose garden, where is grown 

 all the roses which will endure the 

 rather harsh climate of that city. 



No doubt the exigencies of the 

 work make it necessary to arrange the 

 rose garden at Washington in its pres- 

 ent form. Still one regrets that it 

 cannot be made more beautiful. Some- 

 times it is possible to combine a test 

 ground with a landscape effect, as has 

 been done at the Arnold Arboretum. 

 Where trees and shrubs are the sub- 

 ject, perhaps this result is easier to 

 obtain. 



Last week I had something to say 



about the catalogue makers who have 

 departed from the beaten track and 

 commenced to blaze a new trail. The 

 pioneer in the instance mentioned 

 was a seedsman. I wish to say a 

 word now about a nursery firm who 

 has also got the spirit of adventure, so 

 to speak, and produced a catalogue, 

 or rather a series of catalogues, quite 

 different from anything else of the 

 kind ever put out. I refer to the Hicks 

 Nurseries. Isaac Hicks has never 

 been afraid to strike out in any direc- 

 tion, as will be testified by all who 

 know what he has done in the way of 

 making possible the transplanting of 

 large trees. 



The Hicks Nurseries have one large 

 catalogue, which while having several 

 unique features, is somewhat along 

 the conventional lines. In addition. 

 they have a series of smaller cata- 

 logues devoted to specific subjects, as 

 for example, Foundation Planting, The 

 Use of Evergreens, and so on. These 

 little catalogues, or as they might per- 

 haps be called brochures, have dainty 

 well colored illustrations which accom- 

 pany the text which show the reader 

 just how the plant, flower or fruit will 

 appear in his garden. The text is put 

 up in such a way that any special in- 

 formation which may be desired can 

 be found almost in a moment's time. 



One finds himself reading these 

 catalogues or booklets with interest 

 and pleasure, even though he has no 

 thought of placing an order. The 

 chances are good, though, that by the 

 time he has finished he will run across 

 something which appeals to him as 

 just what he needs to make his garden 

 complete. A catalogue of this kind 

 does double duty. It not only lists 

 the particular plants for which a cus- 

 tomer may be searching, but it leads 

 him along flowery paths until it con- 

 vinces him that his garden is far from 

 complete because it lacks the certain 

 things which are pictured and des- 

 cribed in such an alluring way. At 

 the same time there is no attempt at 

 exaggeration and no extravagant 

 claims. Consequently there can be 

 no feeling on the customer's part of 

 having been misled or taken in. 



Of course I am looking at the mat- 

 ter entirely from an external view- 

 point. I know nothing about costs or 

 rates. Whether it pays to get away 

 from the stereotyped catalogue form 

 is a question for the nurseryman and 

 the seedsman to consider. It does 

 seem quite reasonable to believe, 

 though, that if the making of cata- 

 logues is to be revolutionized, as some 

 people in and out of the trade predict, 

 then those who are among the first to 

 start will reap a sure reward. 



