linivrrw^pqiiB^imvi^nvvypp^ 



rj'vw^'^f^-R vr-'cr 



March 28, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists* Review* 



1455 



^. OUTDOOR ROSE CULTURE. 



rA synopsis of a paper by Theodore Wlrth, of 

 MlnneaDOlis, Minn., read before the annual con- 

 venUon of the American Kose Society at Wash- 

 ington? D. C, March 13 to 16, 1907.] 



Of all plants deserving special care 

 and attentive culture, the rose, in my 

 mind, is first. I regret that some of our 

 growers and distributers to amateurs 

 should state in their catalogues and 

 guides on rose culture that the necessity 

 of thorough preparation of soil, proper 

 cultivation, etc., is a story of ancient be- 

 lief, and that roses will grow in any 

 soil, location and condition. 



They will grow, yes, but will they flour- 

 ish? Do not let us deceive and disap- 

 point the lovers of roses for the sake of 

 making easy money, for it is unjust and 

 does not pay in the end, for one dis- 

 appointed customer will discourage many 

 prospective buyers, while every success- 

 ful amateur rose grower will induce and 

 instruct all his friends and neighbors. 



Let us tell the people that the rose 

 is a great feeder and delights in a heavy, 

 loamy soil, enriched by cow manure, and 

 let us ask them to prepare their beds 

 before planting, to a proper depth, pro- 

 vide the necessary drainage, that thor- 

 ough cultivation is better than continu- 

 ous watering and sprinkling; in short, 

 give them the information that will make 

 them expert rose growers, and we will 

 make them happy and our friends for- 

 ever. The real lover of roses will not 

 shrink from the expense and labor in- 

 volved in such culture and his success 

 will convert others. 



The very growers who advocate the 

 planting of roses in any old way seem 

 to have to go away from home to find 

 subjects fit for illustrations in their cat- 

 alogues, intended to show good rose cul- 

 ture. 



Culture* 



The part of the plant above ground de- 

 mands equal attention. Beginning in 

 spring we must induce and balance the 

 growth of the flowering wood, by proper 

 pruning, and to do this properly we must 

 consider the habit, character and strength 

 of the plants. Vigorous hybrid remon- 

 tants we should relieve of all weak and 

 superfluous wood, being satisfied with 

 from six to eight main shoots to a plant, 

 and those we must cut back to from five 

 to seven eyes. Weaker plants we must 

 prune more severely, cutting back to 

 three or four eyes. The hybrid teas, 

 which do better in not too heavy a soil, 

 we must relieve of all weak and dead 

 wood, and cut the remainder back one- 

 quarter or one-third of their length. Teas 

 and polyanthas, of course, we won't cut 

 back at all, except to remove old and 

 dead wood, with the object in view to 

 keep the plant vigorous by inducing and 

 favoring a certain percentage of young 

 growth. 



During the flowering season we must 

 constantly be on the watch. Passing 

 flowers should be picked off every day, 

 and that before they drop all their pet- 

 als. We can procure a second, and with 

 some varieties of the remontants an al- 

 most continuous crop of flowers, by prun- 

 ing past-flowering shoots radically back 

 to six or eight eyes during the «eummer 

 season. 



We must supply the necessary atmos- 

 pheric moisture to our plants by a thor- 

 ough syringing from below, applied after 

 sundown, a treatment to which the rose 

 readily responds during dry weather. 

 Such sprinkling, furthermore, at least 

 partly overcomes the minor insect pests, 

 such as the aphis, red spider and rose 



New Rose Queen of Spain. 



hopper. We must closely watch for the 

 arch enemy of the rose, the chafer, and 

 pick him off for his kerosene bath, while 

 we have to crush the leaf-roller with un- 

 relenting energy and thoroughness. 

 Slug-shot, hellebore, Bordeaux mixture, 

 whale-oil soap and similar remedies must 

 be on hand for ready use for other pests, 

 mildew and other diseases, and must be 

 applied in good season and effective 

 manner. * 



For the over-wintering of our roses 

 we must take due precaution, by provid- 

 ing the necessary cover. The most ef- 

 fective, in fact the only satisfactory 

 method, is to tie the shoots together and 

 heap up the soil around the root-stalk 

 as high as possible, and if the plants are 

 properly distanced, namely two feet to 

 two and one-half feet for the hybrid 

 remontants and sixteen to twenty inches 

 for tlie hybrid teas, such heaping is en- 

 tirely feasible. Then after frost has 

 pet in, put a good covering of manure 

 around these hills and ordinary bedding 

 or litter between them. In spring re- 

 move the bedding, pull the manure down 

 between the hills, rake your soil over it 

 and do your pruning as soon as the eyes 

 begin to break. 



Standard roses I think are most suc- 

 cessfully grown by lifting them every 

 fall and burying them in eighteen inches 

 or more of soil. Better yet, plant them 

 in small tubs and bury tub and all. 

 ("limbers can be bent down and buried in 

 the ground. By this method the bark is, 

 however, easily cracked if not carefully 

 handled, and the result is the loss of 

 many of the main shoots. Thorough 

 binding up in long straw with outside 



paper cover, therefore, seems the most 

 advisable cover for climbers in need of 

 such protection. 



Where the winter is not too severe, I 

 consider fall planting preferable to 

 spring planting, provided the planting 

 is done in good season, say not later 

 than November 15. 



These, in short, are the general cul- 

 tural directions under which I have seen 

 the happiest, results in the rigorous cli- 

 mate of the east — Connecticut, for in- 

 stance. 



To us all these matters of culture are 

 a matter of course, but for the amateur 

 they are perplexing to begin with, but 

 should not be discouraging. No one to- 

 day hesitates to acquire an automobile, 

 not knowing the least thing about its 

 mechanism, or underlying principles of 

 locomotion. To begin with, he or she 

 will be puzzled; but, as gradually 

 through experience and study the mech- 

 anism and working principles of the ma- 

 chine explain themselves, the amateur 

 ihauffour becomes the self-confident mas- 

 ter of this complicated creation of the 

 professional machinist, and he not only 

 runs the machine, but attends to ordi- 

 nary repairs and before long has some 

 suggestions to make for improvements. 

 Why should the same amount of intelli- 

 gence not be able to solve the so much 

 easier problems of competent and sensi- 

 ble "rose culture? 



Budded or Own Root Roses. 



For instance, there is quite a difference 

 of opinion as to the relative value of 

 budded or grafted plants and plants on 

 their own roots. I think we most all 



