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'ptember, 1988 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



187 



Retarding and Forcing Roses 



A. Forsyth, Hamilton, Ont. 



Hf: roses that it is impossible to success- 

 fully force varieties such as General 

 lacqueminot, J. Hopper, M. P. Wilder, 



iBruss Au Teplitz for Christmas bloom. 



HHiat has not been my experience. While 

 some of the varieties are not quite amen- 

 able to Christmas forcing, I have had 

 General Jacqueminot to cut at that time 

 for eleven consecutive years, while associ- 

 ated with my father in business. Before 

 my time, my father's boast was that for 

 fifteen years previously he had never 

 missed, and had never had a blijjd crop, 

 which is easy to get with these varieties. 

 I see no reason why any grower of roses 

 should fail to get General Jacqueminot 

 to a Christmas cut, and John Hopper, 

 Marshal P. Wilder, John Laing, Mrs. 

 Shannon Crawford, La France, Caroling 

 Testout, Capt. Hayward, Ulrich Brunner, 

 etc., etc., for January and February cut- 

 ting, as it has been done for years in the 

 greenhouses in England and is still being 

 done where the conditions are not so 

 favorable as here for successfully retard- 

 ing them. While trying to retard them 

 in England, the greatest difficulty is ex- 

 perienced in trying to dry the plants off, 

 owing to the rains for which that country 

 is noted. Often after drying them for a 

 week, another week of rain follows, which 

 Starts all the buds growing again, so that 

 it is rather a trying time to get them re- 

 tarded without losing one's temper at 

 the weather man. 



The following advice, if followed out, 

 I think would give any grower a good cut 



of reds for Christmas, and for fragrance 

 and color, Old General Jacqueminot has 

 yet to be beaten, when properly grown. 

 Of course, let it be understood that 

 success depends on the care and atten- 

 tion given. Also close attention to forcing 

 heat is necessary as it is a simple matter 

 to have 80 per cent of the cut come blind, 

 if not properly attended to. For best 

 results, I recommend that these should 

 be grown in six or eight inch pots. Say 

 for example, you receive plants in 

 the spring. Pot these into eight inch pots 

 and plunge outside till August, keeping 

 them in water till the second week in 

 August. Lift them and stand nearly pot 

 thick outside and gradually dry them off. 

 The first week, water three days, the 

 next week two days and so on, diminish- 

 ing the water each week without letting 

 them die, till the leaves have mostly 

 fallen off, or shrivelled up; time, about 

 one month. 



Shake Out and Pot Back 

 The second week in September they 

 should be ready to shake out and 

 pot back in the same sized pots in a 

 compost that should be mixed at 

 least three weeks previously of one-third 

 heavy loam, one-third stable or cow 

 manure, well rotted and one-third sand. 

 A good dressing of bone meal and any 

 good artificial manure, as dried blood, 

 crushed hoofs and horns (we use sea-gull 

 manure), or Peruvian guano. I would 

 recommend dried blood for anybody not 

 used to guano, as it is safer, not being so 

 liable to burn. The plants should be 



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potted firmly, given a g6od watering to 

 ensure a thorough wetting of the soil and 

 allowed to stand outside till the end of 

 October. Then bring them into a cold 

 house, keeping them from time of potting 

 on the dry side. Prune back to three or 

 four buds and space out through the 

 house. Loosen up the top soil when 

 pruning and weed them on November 5. 

 Use a gentle night heat, increasing week 

 by week, till 55° or 60° is obtained, but 

 your glass should show 45° every morning 

 till buds are formed. 



Plenty of Ventilation 

 After getting well started 80° sun heat 

 won't hurt them. Give plenty of ventila- 

 tion to keep down mildew, taking care 

 that wind does not blow directly on the 

 plants. Water with can and keep the 

 house fairly dry, as mildew is more to be 

 feared at this time of the year than red 

 spider. Water only the pots that require 

 it, and see that they obtain it once a 

 week. Give a liquid manure watering. 

 A little soft coal soot now and then will 

 work wonders if given as a liquid. In 

 this way, you should obtain a good cut 

 for Christmas and be finished cutting by 

 the end of the second week in January. 

 You can now place the plants fairly close 

 and obtain half the house or thereabouts 

 to run some other crop along, dropping 

 your heat considerably to rest your roses, 

 which should be brought on steadily for 

 another crop or kept as dormant as pos- 

 sible till you can put them in a cold 

 house or outside. I used to, after Christ- 

 mas forcing, drop the heat down and grow 

 them along very slowly, nearly pot thick, 

 till I could get them in a cold house or 

 outside, flowering inside the third week 

 in April, and outside in May. 



If at time of potting, in vSeptember you 

 don't find them drying off just to your 

 liking, you can still further ripen them by 

 laying them on their sides for a few days 

 in a wet season, but I personally don't 

 like it unless forced to do so by weather 

 results. 



Methods of Growing Bulbs la the House. 

 Thn-e is no class of plsnts for house bloomini; that gives mon satisfaction, with so litUe siritt , tlun the various bulbs. They 

 need occup j no space in the window until in liud or bloom, and are easily managed (set accompanylnK article on this pate) . 



Forcing Bulbs in Winter 



A FEW pots of tulips, hyacinths, or 

 narcLssi in the living rooms, in 

 winter and early spring, help to 

 make them more cheerful and pleasant. 

 By making a careful selection it is pos- 

 sible to have a great variety of flowers 

 in the window-garden all winter. Such 

 things as hyacinths, tulips, narcissi, 

 freesias, Chinese lilies, crocuses, snow- 

 drops, scillas, etc., could be forced gently 

 in the living room and would give a large 

 variety of bloom all winter. 

 Planting 

 Tulips, narcissi, and Roman hyacinths 

 could be planted three to five in a pot in 

 good soil, or if for cutting, in boxes (C) ; 

 small bulbs, such as snowdrops, crocuses, 

 freesias, etc., several in a pot or pan (F), 

 to look well, and the large hyacinths 

 singly in four -inch pots. The bulbs are 



