CHAPTER VIII 

 PROTECTING THE ROSES 



"... the summer rose 



That opens to the morning sky." 



— Richard Henry Wilde 



MULCHING. — There is a treble object in this: First, to 

 retain the moisture; second, better to preserve a suitable 

 temperature in the soil; third, to stop weed-growth. What 

 is called a "dust-mulch," maintained by frequent hoeing, is, per- 

 haps, the best method, although, where the summers are warm, a 

 covering in early July of long, "strawy," cow-, pig-, or horse-stable 

 manure that will not heat, will accomphsh the same object. The 

 lighter and more chafF-Hke portion should be removed in the 

 spring and the richer part dug in. Peat-moss we look upon as even 

 better than a manure-mulch, because the latter may encourage 

 root-gro^^1:h nearer the surface than is desirable. We have also 

 tried sawdust for covering the beds in summer. It certainly 

 prevented need for weeding and otherwise seemed beneficial. 

 Another plan is to plant some low-growing and shallow-rooting 

 ground-cover plant, hke violas (pansies) or portulacas. These 

 grow quickly from seed and should be established by mid-July. 

 A good friend of mine in Santa Barbara, Cahf., fmds satisfaction 

 with violets, though to my mind any other plants than roses 

 in the rose-bed seem to me to smack of an apology for inabilit}' 

 to keep one's roses fully furnished with healthy foliage. 



Protecting from Frost. — In northern IHinois, W. C. Egan, 

 the eminent horticulturist, succeeds admirably in keeping his 

 roses over winter, as does also the superintendent of the McCor- 

 mick estate; and yet, north of Chicago, where they hve, the 

 severe winters and the cold winds blowing over Lake Michigan 

 often kill the Wichuraianas and Rambler roses to within a foot 

 of the ground, when not protected. An eminent judge, living 

 north of Detroit, by the work of his own hands, protects his 

 Hybrid Teas so that they triumphantly weather zero winters. 

 On the famous shore-front at Newport, R. I., we found the 

 tender Gloire de Dijon rose, which we had supposed could not 

 be grown north of Washington, D. C, green and thrift}' to the 



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