An Encyclopedia of Horticulture. 



317 



Bosa — continued. 

 beautiful, and generally very floriferous ; they may be 

 employed with good effect for covering- arches, arbours, 

 pillars, &c., and also for training up trees and tall- 

 growing shrubs. 



Transplanting of all the more hardy Roses may best be 

 done in October and November. Tea varieties, and any 

 others of a tender nature, are generally not safe to with- 

 stand the winter unprotected, and are consequently planted 

 in spring. Dwarf plants should be allowed a space of 

 from 2ft. to 3ft. clear between them, standards not less 

 than 3ft. Sometimes, both are planted alternately in 

 beds. Roses are better arranged by themselves in this 

 way than intermixed with other plants ; and this remark 

 also applies to the iiowers when cut. It is so customary to 

 find Roses mixed with well-nigh everything in the way of 

 cut flowers that few persons keep them exclusively by 

 themselves; but it is only by doing so that their full 

 beauty as cut flowers may be seen The foliage, too, that 

 belongs to plants from which the flowers have been cut 

 seems to suit each so well individually that some of it 

 should always be used ; tlie foliage, for instance, from Tea 

 Roses does not look well with Hybrid Perpetuals, that 

 of neither sort of leaves will do for mixing with flow'ers 

 from any of the species, and so forth. 



The priming of different Roses depends a good deal 

 on the class to which they belong, the way in which 

 they are trained, <&c. Autumn and spring pruning are 

 practised, the latter most extensively, especially since 

 the springs of late years have been so precarious. If 

 a shoot is shortened back in autumn, the eyes that 

 arc left, with the intention of their remaining dormant 

 until the following spring, will often be excited into 

 growth during winter, because of the prevalence of 

 mild weather ; they then succumb to the first frost. 

 Spring pruning may generally be performed from the 

 middle to the end of March ; but the season varies 

 according to the weather and the state of the trees. 

 The young shoots will frequently grow out several 

 inches at the top : and although this growth will have to 

 be sacrificed, it would be unsafe to prune, unless the 

 season were sufficiently advanced to insure the develop- 

 ment of the eyes that are left, without injury from frost. 

 Standard Hybrid Perpetuals have to be ciit rather severely 

 to keep their heads within limits. All small shoots should 

 be kept removed, and the strongest ones allowed plenty 

 of space. Dwarf plants of this class may be allowed to 

 grow more freely ; but the shoots must be kept thinned, 

 in order that they may become thoroughly ripened. 

 Badly-ripened wood never bears good flowers ; it should, 

 therefore, in pruning, be removed first, and afterwards 

 other shoots which are misplaced or tend to cross each 

 other and destroy the form and symmetry of the trees. 

 Hybrid Perpetuals may be cut back to from four to 

 eight eyes, according to their vigour and habit. Teas, 

 in the open air, with a few exceptions, seldom grow 

 very vigorously, and a thinning and slight shortening 

 of the shoots are often all they need. Hardy Pillar and 

 Climbing Roses, such as varieties of R. sempervirenf, 

 may have their lateral growths shortened back after 

 flowering ; this admits light and air to the others left. 

 and but little further pruning will be necessary in 

 spring. If more vigorous shoots are required than those 

 which develop, hard [iruning to two or three eyes will 

 cause their production. The amount of pruning wliich 

 Roses need, and the time and manner of performing the 

 operation, are subjects very widely discussed, and upon 

 which much difference of opinion exists. The principal 

 conditions are : judgment on the part of the operator, a 

 knowledge of the varied habits of Roses, and treatment 

 of each individually as its requirements suggest. 



Roses in Pnts and under Glass. Greenhouses and 

 conservatories without Roses are rarely found, as, fortu- 

 nately, no one with a cool glass house need be afraid of 



Bosa — continued. 



inserting a plant to cover the back wall or a portion of 

 the roof, if pot culture cannot be attempted. The Teas 

 are especially well suited for pots, and also the Hybrid 

 Perpetuals ; with a sufficient quantity of plants, and by 

 forcing and management, flowers may be obtained nearly 

 or quite the whole year through. Plants for pot culture 

 are best on their own roots — that is, raised from cuttings 

 or layers — but others worked on Manetti stocks or .seed- 

 ling Briars are available. They may be grown from tbo 

 first in pots, or lifted from the open ground, in September 

 or October, and potted. A ricli compost of turfy loam 

 should be prorided, with some decayed manure, charcoal, 

 and, if convenient, a few Hn. crushed bones intermixed. 

 If the plants are intended for forcing, they should be 

 established in pots at least for a season ; the flowers 

 seldom develop properly on those lifted only a short 

 time from the open ground. The Hybrid Perpetuals may 

 be plunged outside during winter, or until required for 

 forcing, and protected with dry litter or bracken ; the 

 Teas should be placed for safety in a cool house or pit. 

 As the growth allowed in pots must be somewhat limited, 

 close pruning will be necessary, particularly in the early 

 stages of training, and the shoots must always be kept 

 well thinned by summer disbudding. Established plants 

 do not need repotting every year ; if their roots arc 

 healthy and not pot-bound, a top-dressing of rich soil some- 

 times answers better than potting, and liquid manure 

 may be given when the flowers are developing. 



For forcing Roses to flower in early spring, artificial 

 heat is necessary, and the plants should have been grown 

 some time previously in pots, as already noted. After 

 being pruned and otherwise prepared, a portion may be 

 introduced into a little heat during December, or early 

 in January. About SOdeg. at first will suffice, but when 

 growth commences, and the days lengthen, this may 

 gradually be raised to about 6.5deg., with plenty of air 

 on all favourable occasions. Syringing may be practised 

 daily until the flowers begin to expand, when the plants 

 may be transferred to a cool greenhouse, unless they are 

 only required for providing cut flowers, when they should 

 be subjected to a cool temperature and plenty of air. 

 After flowering, the plants may be placed in a sunny 

 position outside until the autumn, but they must not 

 be neglected in watering : the proper maturation of the 

 wood for the succeeding year must be one of the main 

 objects in view. 



Other methods of growing Roses have to be adopted 

 when the plants are trained to a greenhouse roof 

 or rafter. For this purpose, they are best planted 

 in a prepared border, which may usually be made 

 inside the house ; good soil and drainage must be pro- 

 vided here, as in other situations. Nurserymen supply 

 pot plants specially grown with long shoots for train- 

 ing ; or the growths may be easily trained lip, if a 

 light, suitable position can be provided, which, however, 

 is not always convenient when stages and hot-water 

 pipes come in the way. Roses permanently planted 

 under glass must be allowed their full season of rest 

 all the winter ; their roots should then be kept mode- 

 rately dry, but almost any quantity of water may be 

 given during the summer. Thinning of the numerous 

 flowerless shoots wliich appear must be constantly at- 

 tended to in the growing season. This will admit light 

 and .air. and prevent the necessity of removing the large 

 quantity of wood at pruning time that would otherwise 

 be necessary. Many climbing varieties of Tea Roses 

 are unsurpassed amongst greenhouse climbers during 

 spring and summer. 



Fungi. Several species of Fungi, belonging to widely 

 different groups, are parasitic upon the living leaves and 

 young branches of cultivated Roses, and many others are 

 found growing upon dead and withered parts of the 

 plants. The latter do not need further mention, though 



