124 THE GARDEN, YOU, AND I 



plants, this of course applying particularly to all 

 growths having woody roots, where breakage and 

 wastage cannot be rapidly restored. When a rose is 

 once established, its persistent roots may find means 

 of boring through soil that in its first nonresistant state 

 is impossible. While stiff, impervious clay is undesir- 

 able, a soil too loose with sand, that allows the bush to 

 shift with the wind, instead of holding it firmly, is 

 quite as undesirable. 



In planting all hardy or half-hardy roses, whether 

 they are of the type that flower once in early summer, 

 the hybrid perpetuals that bloom freely in June and 

 again at intervals during late summer and autumn, 

 or the hybrid teas that, if wisely selected and protected, 

 combine the wintering ability of their hardy parents 

 with the monthly blooming cross of the teas, it is best 

 to plant dormant field-grown plants in October, or else 

 as early in April as the ground is sufficiently dry and 

 frost free. 



These field-grown roses have better roots, and though, 

 when planted in the spring, for the first few months the 

 growth is apparently slower than that of the pot- grown 

 bushes, it is much more normal and satisfactory, at least 

 in the Middle and New England states of which I have 

 knowledge. 



