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NOVBMBER 15, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



1701 



Roses for Spring. '■'' 



A most important Easter plant is the 

 hybrid perpetual rose; none more so, for 

 everybody loves the rose. The hybrid 

 perpetual class of roses is not nearly so 

 important a class to the average florist 

 as the hybrid tea and the true tea, but 

 these beautiful everblooming roses do 

 not make so attractive pot plants as the 

 hybrid perpetuals do, especially of some 

 varieties. We have a successful grower 

 of these hardy roses in this neighbor- 

 hood, producing 6-inch pot plants of 

 Gabriel Luziet, with ten to fifteen flow- 

 ers and buds, and this with plants dug 

 from the field in November. This suc- 

 cessful man is Conrad Forbach, of Pine 

 Bidge, famed also for his splendid re- 

 sults in Begonia Gloire de Lorraine. Mr. 

 Forbach gets most of his inspiration 

 from his bright and attractive wife, who 

 is an ardent reader and admirer of the 

 Florists' Eeview, bo there is no mys- 

 tery about his success. 



HandIio2 Hybrid Prepetuals. 



For the last three years we have com- 

 mended a certain method of handling 

 these roses, which it was hard work to 

 get adopted at home, but last year it 

 was faithfully done, with great success. 

 The critical time with these roses is the 

 period from digging to their being start- 

 ed into growth. One important item is 

 this: The wood or canes of these roses 

 should be well ripened before they are 

 dug, and surely this year they should be, 

 for we have had a warm, beautiful sum- 

 mer, a glorious fall, and of late frequent 

 light frosts which arrest growth and 

 ripen the canes. 



If you buy of nurserymen have them 

 send the roses by express. The small 

 difference of expense over a freight 

 charge will be made up a hundred fold 

 by the freshness of roots, and remember 

 that a week on the road means a drying 

 out of roots and wood, which is a poor 

 start. Let me say here that our Amer- 

 ican nurserj-men can supply the finest of 

 plants for this purpose. 



As soon as unpacked, if the roots are 

 the least dry dip them into a puddle. 

 Puddling the roots of trees and shrubs 

 is a nurseryman's phrase and practice. 

 Use simply a thick mixture of clay and 

 water. Dipping the roots into what may 

 be called mud will cover every particle 



of roots, and prevent the minute fibers 

 from drying out. As soon as possible 

 get the roses into 5-inch or 6-inch pots, 

 and pot firmly. Few will go into 5-inch 

 pots, and a 6-inch is not an unbecoming 

 size. Do no pruning now, or only a 

 shortening back of the longest growths. 

 Water thoroughly, so that you are sure 

 every particle of soil is wet. 



Storing Outdoors. 



When the soil in the pots is dried out 

 enough to be slightly firm, choose a spot 

 in your garden where no surface water 

 will lie, and ]«jr down your roses. Make 

 these beds of any convenient size to suit 

 your conditions, and let the tops of each 

 succeeding row overlap the pots of the 

 preceding row. Then dig from the 'side 

 of the beds sufficient soil to cover the 

 roses, pots, tops and all, four inches deep 

 with soil, and leave them there without 

 further attention till time to bring in to 

 force. 



Some will say: "In our climate the 

 whole mass will freeze tight. ' ' Quite 

 true, in some winters. When severe 

 weather sets in cover the beds with five 

 or six inches of stable litter, as we do 

 our tulip beds. This is all there is to do 

 till time for bringing into the house, 

 which may vary according to when you 

 want them in flower. 



Let me say here that during the time 

 between potting and bringing into the 

 greenhouse, if the tops were exposed to 

 light and air there would be sure to be 

 some evaporation from the stems and a 

 shriveling, while the soil being closely 

 packed around every stem and twig of 

 the plant will restore the wood and eyes 

 to the plumpness and vigor they had in 

 the field before the roots were dis- 

 turbed. 



Forcing Into Bloom. 



These roses will make no roots outside, 

 and therefore the starting should be 

 slow; 40 degrees at night should be the 

 highest for the first two weeks. By that 

 time the roots will have started, and heat 

 can be gradually increased, but remem- 

 ber always that these roses will have 

 larger, fuller flowers, of better color, if 

 they are never over 55 degrees than if 

 forced in 65 degrees. 



These roses should have at least ten 

 weeks in the greenhouse, and when 



bringing them in is the time to perform 

 the all-important job of pruning. It is 

 difficult to tell in print just how low or 

 high these roses should be cut — too low 

 and you will save only blind, feeble 

 eyes; if too high, thesplant will have a 

 leggy, naked appearance. If it were pos- 

 sible to give any definite height at which 

 the canes should be cut, I would say six 

 inches above the soil for strong, heavy 

 growths, and four inches for weaker 

 ones. Size and plumpness of eyes should 

 be the guide. 



The Ramblers. 



This plan of covering the tops of roses 

 with four or five inches of soil is also 

 good for the Bamblers, providing the 

 wood is ripe when dug. The Bamblers 

 grown during the summer in pots are . 

 sure to have ripened their wood, and do 

 not need the treatment. It is time now 

 to lay them down in a frame and cover 

 with evergreen boughs, or dry straw, to 

 prevent sudden changes of temperature. 

 Covered with sacks or boards, they can 

 rest there till time to start them. 



These summer-grown Bamblers never 

 have the deep green foliage, or as well 

 colored flowers as those lifted from the 

 field in November, because the pots are 

 full of roots, and befori^ flowering time 

 they are somewhat exhausted. This con- 

 dition can be helped largely when start- 

 ing them in the greenhouse by digging 

 out an inch or two of the surface soil in 

 the pots, and replenishing with some 

 heavy loam, with an equal part of cow 

 manure not too rotten. 



Summer Bloomers. 



If you have any plants of Maman Co- 

 chet. President Carnot, Kaiserin Augusta 

 Victoria, or any good summer-blooming 

 teas or hybrid teas, they should be lifted 

 and potted at once. Little pruning is 

 needed with these; only cut away the 

 latest unripe growth that would wilt. 

 Plunge in a frame from which you can 

 keep severe frost, or perhaps, what is 

 safer, winter them on a bench in your 

 coolest house. There is always a general 

 demand for this class of roses for bed- 

 ding every spring, and always difficult t6 

 procure them of any size that wiU sat- 

 isfy your customers. Young plants of 

 the varieties mentioned planted out last 

 spring will now be of good size, and will 

 repay good care during winter, for you 

 are warranted in charging a good price 

 for them next May. 



Best H. P. Roses for Pots. 



If you have not yet bought your 

 hybrid perpetual roses for next spring's 

 forcing I will mention a few varieties 

 especially good for the purpose. There 

 are many superb hybrid perpetuals that 

 are grand as individual flowers, but not 

 full enough to make good pot plants. 



Qass for Twenty-five Distinct Varieties at the Boston Exhibition. 



