878 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



November 16, 1912, 



ROSES AFTER RAIN* 



1 1 



In a cliarming essay 011 " Bad Weather^ 

 Leigh Hunt teiis iis ''It is not by grumbling 

 agaxnst the elements that evil is to be 

 done away^ but by keeping oneself in good 

 Jieart with one's fellow creatures. 



We all know what pleasant companions 

 and fellow travellers are those of our 

 friends who can be cheerful in spite of the 

 many minor evils the elements may intro- 

 duce into a days journey. We also know 

 how depressing are those others whose 

 philosophy succumbs to the first touch of 

 misfortune or discomfort. 



A walk round my garden after a pouring 

 wet October day, followed by a gusty night, 

 suggested to me the idea that roses are 

 very like human l>eiugs in this respect, and 

 that as we are fortunate if we include in 

 our household some at least who " keep in 

 good heart " through good and evil for- 

 tune, so we are wise if we plant liberally 

 in our gardens those roses which look briglit 

 and cheerful even after stress of autumn 

 storms and rains. Those who only grow 

 exhibition varieties will find their rose 

 borders looking rather melanclioly as soon 

 as any wet weather comes in autumn. There 

 may be plenty of buds on such varieties sls 

 Madame Maurice de Luze or Mrs. Myles 

 Kennedy, but the moist and cool nights 



ted 



from opening quickly. 



and so their petals become stuck together 

 and the bushes are made unsightly by the 

 brown spongy balls^ which is all the buds 

 can develop into. Now and then we may 

 find a brave Hugh Dickson or Fran Karl 

 Druschki, but if wo want to see how gay 

 a rose garden can be in late Ocrtober we 



must take a peep at one in which decorative 

 roses are grown in quantity, though even 

 among thevSe there are many that Icse their 

 colour, and with it one of their chief 

 charms^ when the leaA'os l>r^;in t(i tako to 

 themselves autumnal liU(\s. 



Most of the yellow and < M';hm iijscs are 

 disappointing at this time ot year. The 

 tAVO best of these shad(\s in the gardt^ti art^ 

 Sulphurea and Mrs, David Mackee. It is 

 astonishing how such delicately coloured 

 roses can keep fresh and clean looking after 

 heavy rain, but these two varieties have 

 discovered the secret, and I feel very grate- 

 ful to them for yielding their soft creamy 

 blossoms so late in the year. Sulphurea, 

 indeed, seems to reserve itself for the 

 autumn ; in the summer it is rather nig- 

 gardly in the matter of flowers. Of the 

 flesh-coloured roses the stately Pliarisaer 



!*age 



and 



Dorothv 



the deeper tinte<l 

 Roberts are two of the most rain-nvsistiiiii 

 Dorothy Pagf^ Roberts is far iiior*^ Ix^auti 

 ful in latr aiitiiinn than it was in tht 



it was HI 



summer ; it ]H)>sesses the qualitif^s that 

 tend to niaU(' a gfMxl wet-weather i-ose. 

 namely, a .small numlKM' of very substantial 

 petals. In cool w<*atluM' these unfold gra- 

 dually and CTirve tlu^msdxes into most fas^'i- 

 nating shapes. The only fault to Ix^ found 

 with this variety as a rose for tlu* garden 

 is that it is not sufficientlv frw flowerinu. 



But, l)eautiful as many of these light- 

 coloured roses are in themselves and as cut 

 flowers, in the autumn garden, they can- 

 not compare in value with the bright pinks 

 and crimsons, whose glowing flowers make 

 spots of warrntli and colour in the gardi^n 

 landscai)e, ev(Mi in late October. Among 

 the pinks, Gustav Griinerwald, Corallina. 

 and Mrs. Wakefield Christie-Miller are 

 good; while Griiss an Teplit/. Marquise de 

 Salisbury. Ecarlate, and T.ibertv should all 

 have a place for the sak(^ of their late 

 (•rinison blossoms, fienera! MaeA rtlmr <]oes 

 not stand the rain so well as those I have 

 mentione<]. A newer varit>tv, Mrs. Ed- 

 ward Powell, has been flowiMMnf^- v(^rv cf)n- 



tinuously this autumn^ and it is well worth 



growing, 



The 



i the bright clear crimson of its 

 large petals is well set off by the very 

 dark bronzy-green of the handsome foliage. 



But were my "bad-weather" rose gar- 

 den to be restricted to two varieties, I 

 should have no hesitation in choosing what 

 to plant. My pink rose would l)e Mrs. 

 G. Hill, and my crimson would be Uich- 

 mond. Richmond is so well known there is 

 no need to waste words in describing it ; 

 its bright crimson, fragrant buds open a 

 better colour and shape in cool weather 

 than they do in the heat of summer, and 

 it blossoms with the freedom of a China 

 rose. The brilliant coral-pink, Mrs. E. G. 

 Hillj ought to be in every garden, for it 

 is the only rose I know which really merits 

 the description I read in some optimistic 

 catalogue of a variety which revels in all 

 weathers I'' October has almost passed 

 away as I Avrite, and its last days have been 

 stormy and very wet, yet our groups of 

 Mrs. E. G. Hill still hold ere^^t their big 

 sprays of glowing pink expanded blossoms 

 and deep carmine buds. Yesterday I picked 

 enough flowers from one group to make a 

 table decoration entirely with this variety, 

 and they lend quite a look of summer to 

 our dining-table ; and this morning (Octo- 

 ber 29), on visiting the same group after a 

 rain-storm of unusual severity, I found 

 fresh flowers and buds had opened, and 

 there was scarcely a trace on the great 

 shell-like petals of the bad weather which 



liad worked havoc among the neighbouring 

 roses. 



It is surely a wonderful record for any 

 plant to flower freely and continuously, as 

 these two roses, Richmond and Mrs. E. G. 

 Hill, have done here, from early June till 

 the end of October, and to show promise, as 

 they do, of blooming for many more weeks 

 if only the frost will withhold its ''icy 

 hand." I would, before closing, remind 

 readers that such generous out])ut must 

 be met by generous treatment. Such roses 

 deserve the best soil of turfy loam and well- 

 rotte<l manure that we can devise for 

 them, and through May and June they 

 appreciate weekly doses of welWliluted 

 liquid manure. Insect pests, mildew, and 

 other fungoid diseases must be kept under 

 by constant hand-picking and syringing. 

 In a word, we must give them our' constant 

 attention and they will repay us throughout 

 the long summer and autuinn months with be^'sirS"^^^^ 

 their bright, consummate flowers." y!Jv lt^^, 



White Ladv. 



A Muscat Vine Fruiting^ Late. 



— Last spring I aci'idcntly broke away a 

 lateral growth from a vine rod when ' the 

 shoots were l>eing tied down. For a time 

 the spur remained witliout growth, then 

 well, back, a young siioot grew from' it and 

 l>ore a bunch of grapes. AVith the exception 

 of (mce stopping the shoot and thinnino- out 

 tlie l>errie8 nothing was done to this growlh 

 Nub-laterals being allowed to grow as they 

 were not strong. Tlie berries Fet as freely as 

 Black Hamburghft, and, although they are 

 rather under-8ized and the bunch is small 

 the grapes have coloured very well indeed! 

 ■ — (J .1?. 



Rose Gruss an Teplitz. — 



HOLLOW TREES. 



Prevention and Stopping 

 of Hollow Stems. 



There is no doubt that hollow plao^^i in 

 the trunks and limbs of trees formed by 

 decay are better filled up. If the cavity h& 

 a large one the appearance of the trunk is 

 thereby improved, and if it be small and pro- 

 perly treated decay is often arrested and new 

 bark encouraged to grow over the lilled-up 

 cavity. It privents the entrance and accu- 

 niulation oi moisture, and thereby removes 

 one of the chief predisposing conditions of 

 decay. 



ITie majority of such decayed hollows have 

 their origin in snags left by branches broken 

 off that have rotted back into the trunk 

 because th3i new bark has not been able to 

 glow over and seal up the wound. Branches 

 removed by design, or broken off by wind or 

 accident, should always be sawn off close to 

 the trunk, and the sawn surface should then 

 be coated over with ordinary coal tar. If a 

 snag or stump is left the bark cannot grow 

 over it; damp, fungoid parasites and decay 

 sooner or later follow and gradually find 

 their way towards and eventually into the 

 trunk. Such is the most frequent beginning 

 of cavities in the limbs and trunks of trees. 

 The coating of tar renewed every two or 

 three years, makes the v/ound watertight and 

 fungus-proof; its object being to serve as a 

 toniporary bark until a new natural covering 

 is formed. It is certain that the life of 

 many trees, historically famous or otherwise 

 notable, might be much prolonged if a close 

 vv^atch against the intrusion of decay into 

 the trunks and main branches was main- 

 tained. 



With regard to hollows that have already 

 formed the following treatment is recom- 

 mended : First clean out all the d-^cayed 

 m.aterial. especially the soft brown crumbling 

 wood and the soppy mass frequently found 

 at the bottom. Sound dead wood that has 

 become dry and hard does not matter. Tlien 

 wash the surface of the wood that is left 

 exposed with a strong solution of carbolic 

 acid. After allowing this a day or two to 



^ good thick coating of ordinary tar 

 should be laid on. This antiseptic treatment 

 is intended to destroy, as far as possible, fun- 

 goid parasites. It now remains to fill up 

 the cavity. If this Vie a small one Portland 

 cement may be used, and for round holes like 

 those made by woodpeckei^s a plug of oak, 

 cut to fit, will do. But if the hollow be large, 

 th^^ aid of the bricklayer may he obtained. 

 After the bricks are laid the whole should 



In the case of 



.... ^ ^ J 'be mixed with 



the outer layer of cement or it may be dusted 

 over thickly with soot whilst wet. An in- 

 telligent workman may be able also to imi- 

 tate the characteristic corrugations or mark- 

 ir.gs of the trunk. 



These, howev-.^r, are mere refinements. The 

 chief points are, the keeping out of moisture 

 and the provision of a surface over which 

 the new bark may grow. If a tree is in a 

 state of vigorous growth, as many hollow 

 trees are, the hark will in time close over 

 the stopping/' But unlet^s some surfo-ce 

 is provided on which the now wood can set 



itself it forms the thickened rolls usually 



hollow 



One 



pruned 



way or that way but I have a grand bush 

 of Grusri an Tenlitz that has scarcely beeh 

 pruned at all. It was raised from a cuttincr 

 and, occupying an isolated position on ffras's' 

 It was simply allowed to grow naturally: 

 ITie result res a handsome bush, full of richly- 

 coloured, lughly-fragrant flowers and buds 

 fttout shoots are continually l^^ing produced 

 from the base and each i.s terminated by a 

 large head of blossoms. Hie only pruning it 

 gets IS to Hhorten back two or three of the 

 longest shoots m spring, and to cut out any 

 exhausted wood. — S. W 



seen m hollow b?eeh trees. In very 



trees open on ono side a curious spiral grmvth 

 of wood ift sometimes seen in place of tlie^ie 

 thickened rolls, which is due to the new wood 

 continually being deposited on its own inner 

 surfaoa A remarkaWe example of this 

 enrious growth is exhibited in No. IV. Miiseum 

 at Kew, presented by Lord Iveagh. It is » 

 section of elm trunk that was so hollow as 

 to b© merely a shell a few inches thick. Chi 

 side of the trunk wacs a longitudinal sM- 

 The tree appears to have a good growth ana 

 to have made vigorous efforts to close up the 

 opening, but having no surface on which to 

 deposit a new wood and bark, and thus 



b rid fine 



'^'j J L\n jium tjy I IS VA) nil linn I fn,'-" . 



on th^ inner side two 



formed by its continual gro^ 



remarkable spl^aI^' 

 -W, J. Bean, lU 



iggesting a pair of scrolls. 

 Kew Bulletin." 



