Apbil 13. 1016. 



The Florists' Review 



55 



THE NEWER BOSES. 



[A raper by Stephen Mortennen, of Southamp- 

 ton, Pa., entitled "A Symposium on the Newer 

 Roses," read before the rose meeting of the 

 Florists' Club of Philadelphia, April 4, 1916.] 



A small grower like myself cannot 



afford to waste much valuable space 



for testing novelties, because that is 



really what it amounts to. I notice, 



however, you say a symposium on the 



"newer roses;" that is, those that 



have been tested during the last few 



seasons. This, I presume, will include 



Sunburst, Brilliant, Ophelia and Had- 



ley. These four varieties I grow in 



quantities of from 2,500 to 6,000 plants 



each, and I am pleased to give you 



my experiences with them. 



Sunburst and Ophelia. 



From the viewpoint of dollars and 

 cents, which is the point a commercial 

 grower must always consider first, Sun- 

 burst is considerably ahead of the sev- 

 eral other varieties I grow. It has 

 been so for the last three seasons and 

 it is so again this season, although I 

 increased my plantings to over 5,000 

 plants. Some of the knowing ones told 

 me I would make a mistake in planting 

 so many yellows; that the new rose 

 Ophelia, in a measure, would take the 

 place of Sunburst. I have not found 

 it so. Sunburst, as stated before, still 

 is in the lead. It has, like all roses, . 

 its faults, the worst being its weak 

 stem, especially during the cloudy 

 days of November and December, and 

 the tendency of the heavy canes to 

 come almost white. Its good qualities, 

 however, far overbalance its faults. It 

 is an all-year rose, a free bloomer and 

 does not need to be pinched to produce 

 flowers with stems of a salable length. 



You all know the good qualities of 

 Ophelia. You saw it in all its glory 

 at the National Flower Show. It 

 stands second on the list with me. 

 I believe this rose will be planted in 

 much larger quantities by many grow- 

 ers next season, and there is a possibil- 

 ity that there will be an oversupply 

 of it next winter. It has one fault, its 

 peculiar tendency to throw crooked 

 necks. 



Hadley and Brilliant. 



In Hadley we have what I consider 

 the finest rose in cultivation today. 

 When I say this I am not alluding to 

 my own flowers; on the contrary, I *m 

 thinking of those wonderful blooms pro- 

 duced by Joseph Heacock, of Wyncote; 

 A. S. Burns, of Spring Valley, N. J., 

 and Edward Towill, of Koslyn, Pa. 



These blooms we all admired at the 

 show. While I can not grow such 

 wonderful blooms as those referred to, 

 Hadley is doing well with me and I have 

 confidence in its future and .shall con- 

 tinue to grow it. It is to date the 

 lowest on my list in what it returns me 

 in dollars and cents, but I am certain 

 when the season is over it will not be 

 the lowest. Its fault, with most grow- 

 ers, I think is its tendency to send up 

 blind wood, but this can be overcome 

 by proper handling, partially at least. 

 Brilliant last season was a disap- 

 pointment to me. It did not return as 

 much per plant as White and Double 

 Killarney although as a novelty it 

 ought to have brought more. This year, 

 however, it is quite satisfactory and it 

 will be retained another year at least. 



Other Boses of Merit. 



Old Gold is a beautiful semi-double 

 rose, with long, pointed buds. The 

 color is reddish orange, with coppery 

 shadings. It is a fine rose when grown 

 cold — a good winter rose. 



Lady Alice Stanley is a good all- 

 year rose. I discarded this rose be- 

 cause of its weak neck. This' can be 

 overcome, I understand, by a cooler 

 treatment than what I gave it. John 

 Welsh Young is growing this variety 

 to perfection and you should ask either 

 him or C. Upton how it is done. 



Mme. E. Herriot is the sensational 



Daily Mail rose of England, grown by 

 Pernet-Ducher, a fine rose with a most 

 unique color, hard to describe. With 

 me it had rather a weak stem, but tou 

 possibly can be overcome by proper 

 treatment. 



Mme. Edmond Bostand is a fine rose 

 when at its best. It is a fine grower, 

 with large, heavy foliage. It has two 

 faults: First, its color, a beautiful 

 reddish yellow in the bud state, but 

 fading to salmon as it expands; second, 

 it is not always constant, varying a 

 little according to weather conditions. 



September Mom and ClanwlUiam. 



In September Mom we have a rose 

 with a most pleasing shade of shell 

 pink; an all-year rose I would call it, 

 for it seems to open fairly well during 

 the winter months. I have not given 

 this rose a fair test as yet, but as it 

 is a sport of Paul Euler, which is being 

 redisseminated by the Florex Gardens, 

 of North Wales, Pa., I should not hesi- 

 tate to recommend it. 



During the season of 1914-15 I im- 

 ported from England some twenty-five 

 varieties of new roses. While some of 

 these may do as garden roses, on the 

 whole, I must say they were disappoint- 

 ing to me. I will not tire you by going 

 over this list. I will only mention one, 

 Countess Clanwilliam. It has at least 

 some of the earmarks of a commercial 

 variety. The color is peach pink, 

 striped or edged with cherry red. The 

 buds are long and pointed, but not 

 double. The petals, however, are of 

 good substance. It is a free bloomer, 

 with long, stiff stems. 



MEXICAN TUBEBOSES. 



I have received some bulbs of the 

 Mexican everblooming tuberose and 

 shall appreciate it if you will give me 

 some information concerning their 

 proper culture, time to rest, etc. I 

 have planted some in four inches of 

 soil in flats, using two parts rather 

 heavy clay soil, one part sharp sand 

 and one part well rotted cow manure. 

 We have frosts here rather late in May, 



Roset and the Red CroM Tea Garden at the New York Show. 



