CHAPTER XVIII. ROSES 



I. Where Shall We Plant Roses ? 



By L. H. Bailey 



HAT depends on what you want them for. If you want them 

 primarily for fine flowers, plant them in an area by them- 

 selves, where they can have good care. Roses are highly 

 bred plants. They cannot shift for themselves and yet 

 maintain all their superlative excellences, any more than 

 potatoes or blackberries can. Thrust into the shrubbery, they suffer in 

 the corn-petition. The flowers deteriorate; the bushes dwindle and die. 

 Roses need special treatment and care. They are flower-garden subjects. 



If one wants a good mass of shrubbery, he must choose plants that are 

 vigorous, hardy, verdurous, and able in large measure to care for themselves. 

 The common named garden roses do not belong to this class of shrubs. 

 They are not verdurous. Their foliage is scant, not adapted to mass efi:ects, 

 and very liable to insect and fungous attacks. Highly bred roses should not 

 be mixed in the general border. 



To all these remarks there are exceptions. Some of the single and 

 wild roses are well adapted to shrubbery masses. This is particularly true 

 of the East Asian Rosa riigosa (page 317), which is hardy, has an attractive 

 habit, strong and picturesque canes, abundant and interesting foliage, 

 attractive large white or red single or semi-double flowers, large and conspicu- 

 ous fruits, and is practically free from insect and fungous attacks. This rose 

 has character as a shrub, winter and summer. 



When I say that roses should be planted by themselves, I do not mean 

 that they should be set in the lawn. They are out of place when scattered 

 over the yard. They mean nothing there. One cannot cultivate them. 

 They are unsightly when tied up in straw for the winter. Their period of 

 attractiveness is short. When the bloom is past they are uninteresting. 

 In the lawn, the plants must compete with the grass. They suffer from 

 drought. Being scattered, they receive only occasional attention. 



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