42 THE BOOK OF ROSES 



nearly to the ground and thus fairly cover the plant with 

 bloom. March is the time for pruning these Roses. 

 The various Species, with some exceptions, need prac- 

 tically no pruning. They are best left to run fairly wild, 

 only some of the dead wood being removed yearly. 

 Where the tips of the young shoots have been nipped by 

 the frost they should be cut back to well-ripened wood. 



The Chinas need thinning rather than pruning, but if 

 the base of the plant is getting bare some of the strongest 

 growth should be cut back so as to throw some of the 

 strength of the plant into new shoots from the base. This 

 should be done in March, as should the pruning of the 

 Bourbons. 



These latter are excellent for bushy standards and 

 bushes and do not need very hard pruning, a good deal 

 of the best lateral-bearing shoots being retained as they 

 bloom largely on the lateral shoots from ripened wood. 

 They want vigorous thinning. The Noisettes should 

 be pruned in March, and will be found to need the 

 cutting away of old unsound wood, though as much as 

 possible of the sound old wood must be left, as the flowers 

 are produced on laterals from it. Diseased wood, new or 

 old, should be sternly removed. 



The little dwarf Pompon Polyantha Roses ask for very 

 simple treatment, merely needing to have the old flower- 

 stalks cut away in March, leaving the plant to break 

 again from the base and from the upper buds. 



The Rugosas should be pruned in February, and an 

 excellent method of doing this, though at first sight 

 rather heroic, is to cut the whole plant each year nearly 

 down to the ground. They then bloom rather late but 

 freely. If preferred, the best of the strong young suckers 

 from the base may be left about 4 feet long, so as to 

 make a good bush, when new growth and flowers will 

 be produced from the heads of the branches. They 

 always break freely from the base. 



