August 21, 1806. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



137 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



CULTURE OF ROSES IN POTS. 



H 



ORMERLY, and that not 

 many years ago, the culti- 

 vation of Roses in pots was 

 li red difficult, ami the 

 results obtained were uncer- 

 tain : l.mt since the accession 

 of varieties of more tractable and free-blooming habit, Roses 

 at a season when then- beauties cannot be enjoyed out of 

 doors have ceased to be the greatest of floral luxuries. 

 They are no longer confined to large gardens, but arc also 

 successfully produced in small establishments, and in some 

 of these from want of space, as well as for other reasons, 

 large numbers of Roses are grown in pots to be bloomi '. 

 cither with or without artificial heat. A few hints on the 

 cultivation of Ptoses in pots having been requested by some 

 correspondents. I venture to offer the following remarks on 

 the subject, based on my own experience, and arranged 

 under three heads — viz.. 1st. Forcing: 2nd, E,oses for the 

 greenhouse : 3rd, Roses in pots out of doors. 



1st, Forcino. — The best R,oses for this purpose are those 

 which have been established a year in pots, particularly if 

 required to bloom early — say in January. I shall pre- 

 sume that the plants for early bloom have been obtained 

 in May. They should, after they have recovered from the 

 journey, be shifted from the small pots in which they are 

 usually received into pots 6 inches in ilia meter, draining 

 these to one-fourth their depth with broken pots, with a 

 little of the rougher parts of the compost over the drain- 

 age. I have found no better compost for pot Hoses than 

 that formed of turf from a pasture, the soil of which is 

 rather strong hazel or yellow loam. The turf having been 

 pared off 2 inches thick, and laid up in alternate layers 

 with sheep-droppings, or where the latter cannot be pro- 

 cured, with horse-droppings instead, should be allowed to 

 lie six months and then be turned, and in three more 

 again turned. At the end of twelve months an excellent 

 compost will be the result. Previous to use it should be 

 chopped with a spade, and made somewhat fine, but not 

 sifted. When the turf is of a light nature it is well to mix 

 it with cowdung in preference to horse-manure, and with 

 neither till it is a year old at least, using equal quantities 

 of loam and thoroughly-rotted manure of whatever land. 

 About one-sixth of sharp sand may be added to make the 

 soil porous. To keep worms out of the pots a little soot 

 may be sprinkled over the pieces of turf placed on the 

 drainage. 



In potting, turn the plants out of the small pots, pick 

 away the drainage carefully, press the balls, gently so as to 

 loosen them, and place the plant with its stem in the centre 

 of the pot : then fill in the compost (which should be iu a 

 medium condition as regards moisture!, round the ball, 

 and so that the roots may be covered about an inch. Press 

 No. 282.-Vol. XI., New Series. 



it well, give a good watering, and set the pots on slates 

 or a concn te door in an open and sunny situation, tilling 

 the intervals between the pots with tan or sawdust up to 

 the runs. 



In this situation the plants are to remain through the 

 summer, being well supplied with water, and frequently 

 sprinkled overhead or syringed. The very weak shoots 

 should be removed, and any showing for bloom are to 

 have the buds pinched out. The very long shoots must 

 be cut back to eight joints if they make more than twelve, 

 otherwise let them alone. Stopping the shoots should not 

 he practised until the middle of August. The pots should 

 be occasionally examined to see that the roots do not 

 make their way through the holes at the 'bottom ; the 

 object of placing the pots on slates is to prevent tins as 

 much as possible. 



Early in September, if all has gone well, the plants will 

 be strong, and have filled their pots with roots. This 

 being the case, shift them at once into eight-inch pots in 

 the same compost as before, adding, however, one-sixth 

 charcoal, with the dust sifted out, in pieces from the size 

 of a pea to that of a hazel nut, and this with the sand 

 may form one-fourth of the compost. Drain the pots well, 

 anil press the soil gently round the ball, which should be 

 loosened a little so as to disentangle the roots. If loam 

 from rutted turves cannot be procured, then the compos! 

 may he formed of two-thirds loam and one-third leaf 

 mould, or well-rotted manure, adding about one-fourth of 

 river or sharp sand and pieces of charcoal. After potting, 

 give a good watering, and place the pots on tie Lai is, 

 filling in the spaces between them with sawdust or spent 

 tan. 



In a month after potting the pots will have become full 

 of roots: the plants having the strongest and best-matured 

 wood should then be cut in to from four to six eyes, more or 

 less according to their strength. It should be borne in mini 

 that the weak are to be cut in most, and the strongest shoots 

 the least. The weak shoots may be cut in to two or three 

 eyes, those of medium strength to four eyes, and the strong 

 tu IV. a a four to six eyes. Now, if possible, protect the shoots 

 from wet by placing them in an open shed, and keep them 

 rather dry for a fortnight or three weeks. If pruned in 

 the second week hi October they may he thus rested until 

 the first week in November, then they will soon break well 

 if the pots be plunged to the run in a bed of tan or other 

 fermenting material, with a heat of not more than ;i> . in 

 a house with a night temperature of 15 . Here they should 

 be sprinkled through a syringe with water morning and 

 evening. 



When tho eyes have broken, and the shoots are an inch 

 or so in length, the night temperature may be raised to 

 50°, and that is as high as it need be for forcing Roses 

 until the buds show colour, then it may be increased to 

 55°. When in bloom a temperature of ."i 0° from fire heat 

 is sufficiently high. The plants should be kept near the 

 glass, and the roof must not be shaded by creepers or 

 otherwise. Avoid a high temperature from fire heat by 

 night ; in fact, it would be well to let the fire go out at 

 night in mild weather, lighting it in the morning, and 

 No. 934.— Vol. XXXVT^ Old Series. 



