LATE SHOWERS & EARLY FLOWERS 



pruning ; in fact, they are injured by it, because the 

 wood has got so hard near the base that fresh growths 

 do not break freely from it. Only the small shoots on 

 the plant need be cut back ; the large ones may be left 

 unpruned, or at the most have the unripe extremities 

 removed. 



One sometimes reads that Hybrid Perpetual Roses 

 should be pruned hard, but Teas and Hybrid Teas 

 lightly. I think that b. 



this is taking an incor- 

 rect view. It is not the 

 class to which a variety 

 belongs, but the char- 

 acter of its growth, 

 which should decide the 

 degree of pruning. A 

 Tea Rose should be 

 pruned equally as hard 

 as a Hybrid Perpetual 

 if it is of similarly weak 

 growth ; indeed, some 

 Teas (Cleopatra, for in- 

 stance) may be pruned 

 harder than some Hy- 

 brid Perpetuals — notably Fran Karl Druschki. 



Universal hard pruning is only advisable in two cases 

 — (i) just after planting, (2) after injury by frost. Newly- 

 planted Roses are the better for being pruned hard. 

 Frost-bitten Roses must be cut back, and back, and back 

 until the pruner comes to white pith. 



It is not, as a rule, wise to prune either dwarf or 

 standard Roses annually to a greater extent than remov- 

 ing the tips if the branches are half an inch thick. Only 

 thin-wooded ones should be cut hard. 

 171 



April 

 1-15 



Fig. 37. — Pruning Pillar Roses. 



a. Roses on one pillar properly pruned. 



b. The Roses on another pillar unpruned ; 



the dark lines show where the pruning 

 must be done. 



c. Leading shoots which must not be cut 



off, but tied to the chain. 



