J98 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



hardy varieties. They are too well known 

 to need any comment. They propagate 

 easily, and when planting them out they 

 should be protected for the first few 

 years or till they get a good start. 



Some of the best of them are: Balti 

 more Belle, blush white; Bennett s Seed 

 ling, pure white^ Gem of the Prairies, 

 rosy carmine; Dundee Rambler, pure 

 white; Allister Stella Gray, orange; and 

 several others. 



For this purpose, too, we have the mag 

 nificent ramblers, of which the Crimson 

 Rambler was the forerunner. There are 

 now yellow, pink and white forms of it, 

 and as hardy climbing roses they are un 

 equalled. 



The hardy climbers have a fine burst 

 of bloom in June, but do not flower 

 again that season. 



V/ichuraiana Roses. 



This is a very new and distinct strain, 

 and produced by crossing the Wichurai- 

 ana with many of our cultivated roses, 

 including some of the well-known teas. 



I cannot speak from experience, but 

 some of them are said to be valuable 

 plants for forcing in pots. W. A. Manda, 

 of South Orange, New Jersey, has sent 

 out many fine varieties of these roses, 

 among others: Universal Favorite, large 

 double flower of a soft light pink; South 

 Orange Perfection, blush changing to 

 white ; Manda s Triumph, a splendid 

 climber, bearing large clusters of flowers. 

 Those crossed with the tea varieties have 

 the evergreen character of the latter, and 

 if they prove hardy and inherit the ever- 

 blooming qualities of the tea roses they 

 must prove a great acquisition to our 

 gardens. 



Undoubtedly the greatest acquisition 

 of all these rambler roses is the well- 

 known Crimson Eambler. Either in a 

 mass in a bed, or treated as a climber 

 for a veranda it is unequalled. And 

 grown in pots it is now a leading Easter 

 plant. One of the handsomest beds of 

 this rose was the exhibit of F. E. Pier- 

 Bon at the Pan-American Exposition, 

 and as the writer had the handling of 



Rose Mme. Alfred Carriere at Portland, Ore. 



Some of them will take high rank as 

 climbers, and some being creeping or 

 low-growing, will be adapted for cover 

 ing roekwork and for cemetery use. Some 

 have their flowers distributed along the 

 stem, which gives them a handsome 

 wreath-like appearnnce, and others flower 

 in clusters like Crimson Rambler. Others 

 have the fragrance of the sweet briar, so 

 their pedigree is of vtiriou? sources. 



these plants a brief account of their care 

 may not be out of place. 



The bed was about 30x75 feet, of ir 

 regular form. The plants were not re 

 ceived till the second week in June, and 

 were dry little sticks that gave little 

 promise of ever breaking into growth; 

 the date was at least six weeks later than 

 it should have been to expect good re 

 sults. They were planted in the only 



correct way, watered in the hole that 

 held the roots, and the tops were cut so 

 low that it was difficult to locate the 

 plant; that was their salvation. 



Slowly they almost all started into 

 growth and with a mulching a few weeks 

 later and copious watering every week 

 till September, they had covered the 

 ground with strong growths. As much 

 of the growth was made late in the fall, 

 it was soft and immature and therefore 

 would have winter killed had the 

 plants not been protected by a heavy 

 covering of evergreen boughs. In the 

 spring some of the strongest shoots were 

 tied up to iron stakes, but most of the 

 plants were left to grow and flower in 

 their natural way. In the early days of 

 July the bed was a sight. I shall never 

 forget it. Now, the only lesson to gain 

 from that great success was the severe 

 cutting back of the almost dry stumps 

 at planting time, and the liberal treat 

 ment they received after they did start 

 to grow. 



As is generally known, the rambler 

 roses make growth and canes during the 

 summer of one season, and flower from 

 the lateral growths of these canes the 

 following year, so that little pruning in 

 the spring is needed. In fact all the 

 pruning that is wanted is to cut out old 

 growths that have lost their vigor. So 

 in the case of the bed of ramblers de 

 scribed above there was not the slightest 

 pruning done of any sort. In this they 

 differ widely from the remontants. 



Other Classes. 



The Austrian briar roses are a small 

 class with bright yellow flowers, which 

 cover the bush when in bloom. They 

 don t last long but are very gay and 

 beautiful, and the plant is perfectly 

 hardy. 



There is a small class of roses that are 

 truly monthly or continuous-blooming 

 and yet perfectly hardy. Hermosa is a 

 good type of this class, which botanic- 

 ally may belong to several classes, but 

 for our purpose we will treat them all 

 as monthly. Agrippina is another, and 

 the polyantha rose, Clothilde Soupert, 

 requires the same treatment. Young 

 plants set out in early May will continue 

 to bloom till hard frost sets in. Some 

 protection should be given them in win 

 ter. 



These can be propagated during win 

 ter if you have a few plants growing 

 under glass, or in October you can take 

 the cuttings from outside and root them 

 in the propagating bed. 



Many of the Hermosa and Soupert 

 type are forced in pots for spring sales. 

 For this purpose plant out strong young 

 plants in spring, and encourage them to 

 grow till fall. Don t lift them till we 

 have had some good sharp frosts. Then 

 pot them and cut down to five or six 

 good eyes and plunge in a coldframe, 

 and be sure not to leave them without 

 ventilation on a bright, sunny day or the 

 buds may start, which would hurt them 

 very much if a cold spell again caught 

 them before they were brought in. When 

 you bring them in start slowly and in 

 crease the heat as flowering time ap- 



