420 



HORTICULTURE 



May 3, 1919 



Important Points About Varieties and 



Cultivation. 



Apparently there is a decided reviv- 

 al of interest in the growing of gar- 

 den roses. Amateur gardens are 

 planting them freely, while rose gar- 

 dens on large places which have been 

 neglected throughout the war period 

 are being put into shape again. Much 

 of the information about the culture 

 of roses which is being put out is not 

 altogether accurate, but the following 

 article which has been prepared by the 

 Missouri Botanical Garden for its 

 monthly bulletin contains many im- 

 portant points: 



Location. 



Roses are entitled to the choicest 

 location in a yard. Good exposure to 

 the sun, and proper protection from 

 prevailing winds will do much to make 

 the rose garden a success. While a 

 location with a full-day sun exposure 

 is much to be preferred, it is not ab- 

 solutely essential, and where a choice 

 must be made it is best to give roses 

 the morning sun. Beds should not be 

 located near trees or shrubbery. 

 Roses are heavy feeders and for their 

 best development require an unusual 

 amount of fertilizer; when planted 

 near trees or shrubbery, the roots of 

 the latter deplete the soil of nourish- 

 ment, with the result that the roses 

 suffer. If, however, planting in close 

 proximity to trees and shrubs is un- 

 avoidable, it is advisable each year to 

 dig a trench (about a foot wide and 

 two or three feet deep > around the 

 rose bed and fill with well-rotted cow 

 manure. This procedure will tend to 

 prevent the roots of shrubs from actu- 

 ally entering the rose bed. Sometimes 

 a concrete wall is constructed deep 

 enough to prevent this encroachment. 



Soil. 



Roses usually do well in any good 

 garden soil, but better results are ob- 

 tained if considerable care is exercised 

 in the preparation of the ground. 

 Roses require a heavy, well-drained 

 soil. To obtain this, the area to be 

 used for a bed should be dug out to a 

 depth of from eighteen inches to two 

 feet, and if the drainage is not good 

 another six inches should be removed 

 and this space filled with fine broken 

 stone, brick, or old flower-pots. Upon 

 this porous stratum six inches of well- 

 rotted cow manure should be placed. 

 and finally sufficient heavy soil to fin- 



ish the bed, raising it not more than 

 three inches above the surrounding 

 grade. This latter layer should, if 

 possible, be top soil (including sod) 

 from an old pasture. After making the 

 bed it should be allowed to settle for a 

 week before the planting is begun. 



Planting 



Roses may be set out either in the 

 fall or in the spring. The spacing de- 

 pends very largely upon the variety; 

 tea and hybrid tea varieties may be 

 planted about eighteen inches apart, 

 but hybrid perpetuals, on account of 

 their more vigorous growth, should be 

 spaced at least two and one-half feet, 

 and ramblers eventually need about 

 four feet. In any case an eight-inch 

 margin from the edge of the bed 

 should be allowed. Where potted 

 stock is being planted, the ball of 

 earth should be placed with its upper 

 surface about two inches below the 

 soil; field-grown stock may be set two 

 or three inches lower than its former 

 position in the nursery. The holes for 

 receiving the plants should be large 

 enough to admit the stock without 

 bending or crowding the roots, the soil 

 should be firmly packed around the 

 roots, and the plants thoroughly wa- 

 tered immediately after planting. All 

 stock should be so pruned that but two 

 or three buds remain on each shoot — 

 the upper bud, in each case, pointing 

 outward. 



Varieties to Plant. 



Rose stock may be either grown on 

 its own roots, or grafted or budded. 

 It may be well in this connection, h( w- 

 ever, to call attention to certain dis- 

 advantages which attach to budded 

 stock. In general, budded stock is 

 more easily killed in severe winters 

 than is stock grown on its own roots, 

 and in addition the shoots which in- 

 variably spring from the parent stock 

 frequently suppress the scion unless 

 cut away. On the other hand, there 

 are varieties of roses which it is im- 

 possible to grow satisfactorily unless 

 they are budded on to a hardier stick. 



Of the four or five thousand varie- 

 ties of roses at present on the market, 

 some growers list as many as eight 

 hundred, but of these only a few grow 

 to perfection in this latitude. As the 

 result of tests from the standpoint of 

 perfection of blooms, profuse flower- 

 ing, and general hardiness, the follow- 

 ing list of varieties has been prepared 

 as being particularly desirable: 



—, Hybrid Tea (Ever-blooming) — Gruss an 

 "Teplitz, scarlet crimson; Lady Ashtown, 

 pale rose; Mad. Julee Grolez, bright china- 

 rose; Indiana, red; La Detroit, shell pink; 

 Ecarlate, scarlet; Lady Ursula, fleBb pink; 

 La France, bright pink rose; Augustine 

 Guinoisseau (white La France); Otto von 

 Bismarck, bright rosy pink; Mrs. Aaron 

 Ward, Indian yellow; Killarney, pink; 

 Killarney, white; General McArthur, bright 

 crimson; Duchess of Wellington, deep 

 coppery yellow. 



Hybrid Perpetual, or Remontant (bloom 

 ing period I 6 weeks) Frau Karl Druscbki, 

 snow white; General Jacqueminot, bril- 

 liant scarlet crimson; Magna Charts, 

 bright ruse; (Jlrich Brunner, cherry- 

 crimson. 



Polyantba (Dwarf Hedge Rose)— Kath- 

 erine Zeimet (white baby rambler); <>r- 

 leans, geranium red (the best ever- bloom- 

 inn variety for hedges yet found); Clotilde 

 Soupert, flesh. 



Rugosa, or Japan Rose — Any variety 

 that is suitable (the single or Semi-double 

 only produce the scarlet hips or seed pods) 



Sweetbrier— Any Lord Penzance variety 

 that Is suitable (do well in partial shade 

 and shrubberj borders). 



Moss Roses— Any variety that is suitable. 



Wichuraiaua and Climbers— Hiawatha, 

 brilliant scarlet; La Fiamma, crimson and 

 white: Dorothy Perkins, litrlit pink; Dor- 

 othy Perkins, white; American Pillar, pink 

 with a clear white eye; Lady Gay, cherry- 

 pink. 



Spring and Summer Care. 



Before growth commences in the 

 spring, the surplus coarse manure 

 should be removed from the beds and 

 the remaining fine portion turned un- 

 der. Deep cultivation is not desira- 

 ble — three inches being quite sufficient 

 in beds which have not been trampled 

 on — as the roots are likely to be in- 

 jured or broken. For this purpose it 

 is desirable to use a four-pronged dig- 

 ging fork, as it is less likely to injure 

 the roots than a spade. Afterwards, 

 and until the buds begin to develop, 

 nothing more is necessary except fre- 

 quent stirring of the surface with a 

 sharp-pointed rake. As the flowering 

 season approaches, feeding with liquid 

 cow manure should begin and should 

 continue until the blooming season is 

 over, after which all stimulation 

 should cease. The liquid cow manure 

 is conveniently prepared by adding 

 about six pails of fresh cow manure to 

 a barrel of water (fifty gallons) and 

 allowing the mixture to stand a day or 

 two before using. If a half bushel of 

 soot contained in a burlap bag is hung 

 over night in the barrel of liquid ma- 

 nure, the beneficial properties of the 

 ferlilizer will be greatly increased. 

 About one-half gallon of this infusion 

 should be used for each plant and the 

 application may be repeated once a 

 week. It is safe to say that this is 

 one of the most efficient fertilizers for 

 roses. During July a light top 

 dressing of finely crushed bone is also 

 of advantage. 



