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32 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 





AtKiL G. 1911. 



PRUNING HARDY ROSES. 



Make Haste Somewhat Slowly. 



There is no advantage in early pnin 

 ing of hardy roses, as the plants are 

 likely to break away and late spring 

 frosts will seriously cripple such 

 growths. Early in April is sufficiently 

 early to prune in the colder states, and 

 in the more northerly latitudes the end 

 of April is better. When the winter 

 protection has been removed, it can be 

 readily seen how much fresh green 

 wood we have left to prune back to, 

 and it is always possible that after the 

 removal of mother earth, or whatever 

 other covering we may have used, 

 some of the newly exposed wood will 

 die back; therefore, wait a few days 

 after uncovering before pruning. In 

 the case of hybrid perpetuals, hard 

 pruning gives by far the best results. 

 Entirely cut out all dead, dying and 

 weak wood. Prune the strongest shoots 

 back to three or four buds and only 

 moderately strong shoots to two buds. 

 You are then fairly sure to have strong 

 growths and fine flowers, other condi- 

 tions, of course, being congenial. An- 

 other advantage of hard pruning is thit 

 winter protection is so much easier 

 applied; with light pruning it is quite 

 otherwise. 



The Hybrid Teas. 



The hvbrid teas, where thev have 



been laid over and covered with earth, 

 should now be uncovered. Those which 

 were lifted and either buried outdoors 

 or planted in coldframes, should be 

 planted as soon as possible. Keep the 

 grafts well below the surface of the 

 ground. Uo not let the roots become 

 dry, and tramp the ground firmly about 

 them. These and the teas want much 

 lighter pruning than the hybrid perpet- 

 uals. Cut out dead wood and only re- 

 move the ends of the live wood. One- 

 third the previous season's growth is 

 sufficient to cut away. While the hy- 

 brid perpetuals do their best in stiflF, 

 heavy soil, the hybrid teas are more at 

 home in lighter soil; even such as is of 

 quite a sandy nature will prove all 

 right if liberally manured, and if a 

 mulch of manure and occasional water- 

 ings are given in summer. 



The Ramblers. 



The ramblers want little pruning. 

 Dead and weak wood should be en- 

 tirely removed and the end of the long, 

 strong last year's growths cut back a 

 little. If they can be bent before tying 

 in, they will break stronger and more 

 evenly. Many growers of ramblers 

 spoil their plants by leaving on all the 

 old flowering wood. This causes the 

 plants to send up few or no suckers 

 from the base, and growers wonder why 

 their plants flower so poorly as com- 

 pared with those of their neighbors, 

 who cut out the old flowering wood 

 clean, thus giving a chance for strong 

 suckers to come up, and it is these 

 which we can depend upon to produce 

 big, handsome trusses. 



There is now a wonderful wealth of 

 material available in the wav of ram- 



blers and one almost wonders how we 

 managed to get along without them a 

 few years ago. Tausendschon and 

 American Pillar are two beautiful new 

 j^^orts v.'hich have come through the last 

 winter unscathed. It is no longer neces- 

 sary to i)lantj or rather overplant, Crim- 

 ^■on Rambler; fine though it is, the 

 many fine pink sorts are just as relia- 

 ble and few are more beautiful after 

 the flowering season has passed. Crim- 

 son Rambler's poor foliage is its great 

 drawback, while such sorts as Hiawa- 

 tlia, La;dy, Gay, Dorothy Perkins and 

 many others* all have beautiful shiny 

 foliage^ which they hold until the end 

 of the season. 



' A Word on Planting. 



Roses cannot be planted too early, 

 after frost has left the ground. Do not 

 prune them back hard at planting time. 

 Leave that undone for at least three 

 weeks. In planting roses avoid such 

 stock as has been carried over winter 

 in storage sheds, packed in sand. These 

 plants may look beautiful and green on 

 arrival, but an exposure to sun and 

 wind will speedily give many of them 

 a black, as well as shriveled appear- 

 ance. Plants dug from the open ground, 

 qr which have been heeled in outdoors 

 during winter, will give far the most 

 satisfactory results. In the warmer 

 states many growers have good success 

 with roses on their own roots. Grafted 

 or budded stock is, however, hardier 

 and more adaptable for the cold states, 

 also possessing greater vigor. 



GERMINATION OF SEEDS. 



Please let me know how long seeds 

 of hybrid teas require to germinate. I 

 gathered some early this year and 

 should like to try them. The seeds are 

 from Gruss an Teplitz. G. G. 



The hips, as soon as ripe, should be 

 placed in moist sand to stratify. When 

 the fruit portion is well rotted, take out 

 the seeds, wash and dry them well and 

 sow at once. The earlier they are picked 

 and sown, if ripe, the earlier will they 

 usually germinate. When sown in fall, 

 if placed in flats, they will generally 

 appear in late spring, but if they do 

 not show then, exercise a little patience, 

 as it may be fall or even another spring 

 1 ef ore they germinate. As a rule, how- 



^V^«^ 



Primulas (n Gold Basket. 



Oontstas In Dumb-bell Pottery. 



Appropriate Combination of Plant and Receptacle Doubles Salability. 



