IOO 



IRISH GARDENING 



Exhibiting Decorative Roses, 



Bv the Rev 



II. Pemberton. 



We have already offered a few brief notes on 

 showing the so-called " exhibition " Roses — 

 those solitary specimen flowers grown one on a 

 stem — whose merit is found in form and size. 

 But there is a far larger class of Roses which 

 must now claim our attention — a class more 

 suitable than the purely " exhibition " Rose tor 

 the decoration of the garden, house, and person. 

 These are known as " decorative " or " garden 

 Roses, and are usually exhibited in masses 

 several stems of one variety placed in a single 

 vase, basket, or other receptacle. Broadly 

 speaking, these decorative Roses fall into two 

 divisions — namely. (1) dwarf -growing Perpetual 

 flowering varieties, chiefly Hybrid Teas grown in 

 beds on the lawn and (2) Cluster Roses, grown 

 as large bushes or up pillars, the majority of 

 them being Multifloras and Wichuraianas, having 

 only one crop of flowers in the year. There is 

 more pleasure to be had in cultivating " decora- 

 tive " than " exhibition " Roses : they are 

 becoming more popular every year, and no Rose 

 Society can be considered a progressive society 

 if it does not provide in its exhibition schedules 

 some classes for decorative Roses. Therefore 

 the exhibitor, if he desires to move with the 

 times, must cultivate decorative Roses for the 

 purpose of exhibition. 



I. A Selection of Decorative Roses. 



Out of the Large and varied number of decora- 

 tive varieties suitable forexhibition it isexceed- 

 Lngly difficult to make a small selection, so much 

 depends on the space available. But as forming 

 i he backbone of a colic tion one would certainly 

 include t he following : — 



(1) Dwarj Perpetual Flowering Roses. Ecar- 

 [ate, Madame Leon Pain Madame Abel Chate 

 nay, Prince de Bulgarie Joseph Hill and Mis. 

 Alfred Tate. These should be planted in 

 masses not jusl out or two here and there— 

 because a bunch of one sort will be wanted. 



(2) Cluster Roses. -Blush Rambler, Dorothy 

 Perkins, American Pillar Claire Jacquier, 

 Hiawatha and Trier The firsf five are summer- 

 flowering pillar Roses i he [asl is a perpetual of 

 bushy habit. Three plants of each will be 

 sufficient to star! with. 



II. The Qualities of \ Decorative Rose. 



Before going further it is well to remember 



the merits and defects in a decorative Rose. 

 The National Rose Society points these out in 

 rules for judging. They are as follows : The 

 exhibit of each variety, whether shown in vase 

 stand, basket, or specified number of blooms in 



a box or otherwise, shall be considered as a unit. 

 In each unit the judges have to look for — 



(1) brightness (i.e., colour, brilliancy, freshness) ; 



(2) form of flower (and a truss in cluster Roses) ; 



(3) foliage ; (4) arrangement. Defects in a unit 

 are — (1) disease (of flowers, stems or foliage) ; 

 (2) damaged or dirty flowers or foliage ; (3) faded 

 or past blooms : (4) overcrowding, either in the 

 exhibit as a whole or of the foliage or bloom. 

 in each unit or truss. 



Thus we see at once what to strive for and 

 what to avoid. Many of the decorative varieties 

 have single or semi-single flowers. The chief 

 beauty of such lies in the freshness of the 

 stamens. The brighter the stamens the more 

 brilliant the bunch. Single Roses burst into 

 bloom quickly ; an apparently tight bud to-day 

 will be wide open to-morrow ; and. although the 

 blooms may last for a day or two. yet there is 

 only one day — in some cases only a few hours — 

 in which the stamens will retain their brilliancy 

 and not turn dull or black. Therefore, in cutting 

 we must time the blooms, gathering them in 

 such a stage of development that at the exact 

 hour of judging the stamens will lie golden — 

 that is to say. the flower in question must be a 

 bloom of the day of the show, a bloom 

 just out. 



111. (Vtting. 



Let us suppose the show is to be held on a 

 Saturday. Well, with regard to Hoses in 

 Division I. the method of cutting will be on the 

 lines advocated for " exhibition "' Roses ; they 

 should, if we can spare the time, be cut on 

 Friday afternoon. Bring the boxes with tubes 

 of water to the bed. put the (lowers immediately 

 in water and convey them to the staging shed. 

 Remember, never cut any Roses on the day of 

 the show: they will not last. As to Hoses in 

 Division 2 Cluster Hoses they should all be 



gat hered before seven o'clock on Friday morning. 

 And here comes in the difficulty, because every 

 morning by about six or seven o'clock all the 

 blooms of the day will lie out. and there will be 

 no more out until the next morning. As a con- 

 siderable time will be occupied in putting the 

 sprays of Cluster Hoses into bunches, cutting 

 cannot be deferred until Friday afternoon, and 

 we must certainly not gather them in the heat 

 of the day. so cut them early on Friday morning. 

 The blooms are fleeting, but with a little c\ 

 perience we shall find it just as easy to cut 

 flowers of to morrow or even the day after as 

 we can the flowers of today. In the case of 

 most Ramblers Blush Rambler for example — 

 the blooms of to morrow, which are what we are 

 searching for. are buds whose petals show 

 colour tighl buds, with petals just pushing out 

 of the 'jreeii sepals. To morrow's blooms of Una 



