384 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS 



EOSA 



them is from August to October. Each 

 plant on removal from the pot to the open 

 ground should have fine light or very 

 sandy loam with a little decayed manure 

 placed round it, to induce new roots to 

 form more quickly. 



No large garden should be without 

 Hybrid Perpetual and Tea Eoses on 

 their own roots, as the shoots thrown up 

 from the roots give a succession of bloom. 



Own-root Eoses may be obtained by 

 means of l cuttings or layers described 

 below ; but, to obtain a large stock in a 

 short period, resort must be had to bud- 

 ding at first, so as to obtain as many plants 

 as possible, from which cuttings may 

 afterwards be taken. 



Pruning Bases. — The pruning of Eoses 

 depends a good deal upon their natural 

 features. The main object of pruning is, 

 of course, to strengthen the plants, preserve 

 or mould their shape, and impart more 

 substance, size, and brilliancy of colour to 

 the flowers. A couple of sharp knives, 

 and a pair of pruning scissors for smaller 

 shoots or ones difficult to cut with a 

 knife, are the tools required, and a pair of 

 gloves is not to be despised. 



In pruning Eoses the chief things to 

 remember are : 1. That the strong grow- 

 ers should not be so severely pruned as 

 the weaker ones. If strong growers are 

 cut back close, they will send forth other 

 strong shoots, full of leaf but lacking in 

 flower. The branches of these, therefore, 

 should be only shghtly cut back to 5 or 6 

 eyes, but some of the others that crowd 

 the centre or have taken awkward turns 

 are to be cut away altogether, thus 

 giving more strength to those left behind. 

 2. Weaker plants, being less able to 

 support a large niumber of shoots than 

 the strong-growing varieties, are to have 

 every branch cut back to within 2 to 4 

 buds of the base — always taking care that 

 the bud nearest the cut is pointing out- 

 wards, as the direction of the bud of 

 course indicates the direction in which 

 the new shoot will naturally develop. 

 Varieties which flower freely require more 

 severe pruning than those which flower 

 poorly. Climbing Eoses require practically 

 no pruning, although now and again it 

 will be advisable to take out a branch 

 here and there. Tea Eoses in the open 

 air require only a little thinning out and 

 shortening of the shoots. In the event of 

 too many shoots appearing after pruning 

 the least desirable may be pinched or 



rubbed out with the finger and thumb. 

 This is called ' disbuddmg,' and where 

 exceptionally fine flowers are wanted, the 

 practice may also be applied to the flower- 

 buds — pinching off all except the one 

 required on each branch. March and 

 April are the best times for pruning, as a 

 rule, but the season must always be taken 

 into account, and the operation performed 

 at the most suitable time about this period 

 of the year. 



Pegging down Bases. — Where a mass 

 of bloom is required instead of a few large 

 handsome blooms, the ripened shoots may 

 be bent down to the soU, and pegged 

 down here and there. This is as a rule 

 best done in March, when the weather 

 is mild and the danger of particularly 

 severe weather is over. Strong stout 

 stakes about 1|— 2 ft. long may be driven 

 into the soil around the Eose bush, leaving 

 about 9-12 inches exposed. To this the 

 shoots may be tied after bending down to 

 the soil. Fresh shoots wiU spring up 

 during the season, and the following year 

 will bloom. The shoots that flowered the 

 previous year may be cut away at pruning 

 time or as soon as they have finished bloom- 

 ing, unless there is a chance of securing a 

 second crop of blossoms in autumn. 



Where pegging down Eoses is practised 

 a good deal of space is required for the 

 plants. Three or four feet apart is not 

 too much by the time the shoots are 

 covered with flowers. 



Labels. — Where a large number of 

 varieties are grown it is well to have the 

 plants labelled. An ordinary wooden 

 label, not too large, painted white, and 

 written upon while stUl damp, will be 

 found as suitable as any. It may be 

 attached with a piece of thin copper wire. 



By having the plants correctly labelled 

 nothing is left to treacherous memory or 

 to chance in recording the behaviour of 

 any particular variety. Some sorts 

 flourish in one garden and fail in another 

 under equally good cu-cumstances, and it 

 would be unfortunate if the failure or 

 success of an incorrectly named Eose were 

 credited to the real variety, which would 

 probably behave quite differently under 

 the same treatment. 



PROPAGATION 



Eoses are increased by seeds, cuttings, 

 layers, suckers, budding, anl grafting. 

 Seeds are only sown for the production of 

 new varieties or hybrids. They are best 



