ROSES IN THE TEMPERAMENTAL ZONES 
C. L. MELLER 
Superintendent of Parks, Fargo, N. D. 
Proving Themselves More Reliable Than Some of the Most Common 
Things They May Provide the Entire Planting of the Garden 
8 HERE the winter is long and weeks of zero weather are 
a certainty, where spring comes with a rush, where late 
frost nips the early buds and early frost the late ones, 
and where July and August are very apt to be hot and 
dry, as in the great Northwest, Roses are available nevertheless 
for almost every need of a well balanced planting design. 
To begin with, there are the Wild Roses, ready at hand 
almost everywhere and willing and able to bloom almost any- 
where, from the Wild Rose of the prairies, low and almost her- 
baceous with shoots seldom reaching a height of more than two 
feet from a spreading woody rhizome, to the taller woodland 
Roses which are just the shrubs for poor soil on which only the 
meanest weeds endure. I have grown these on a bank that is 
nothing more than a conglomerate of old Cedar blocks and man- 
ure with less than two feet of clay covering. Here, planted 
thickly, they fought and hid the weeds, and gave it a very tidy 
— and while in bloom, very joyous — appearance, as well. 
Warm and bright too in winter against the sparkling snow are 
the heps of the Wild Rose while in spring some of the early mi- 
grants among the birds, hard pressed for food, are glad of them. 
Wild Roses can be transplanted at any season of the year pro- 
viding the bushes are cut back about one half if they are in leaf. 
It is well also to take as much soil as possible with the roots, the 
one essential to success being that the roots do not dry out. 
In the Austrian Briars, such as Harison’s and Persian Yellow, 
we have foliage of a darker green with the vigor and hardiness 
of the Wild Rose. These likewise require no protection. The 
Moss Roses, too, are hardy and though their foliage is more or 
less subject to mildew, their exquisite buds seem to justify the 
use of a few bushes at least in every planting. They are the 
better for pruning and because of this they can be used for a low 
clipped hedge. 
T HE Rose par excellence for a hedge in a severe climate 
however is Rosa rugosa. How hardy it is surely every gar- 
dener knows and happily some of the newer double forms appear 
to equal the old-fashioned single type in this respect. Being of 
comparatively low growth it can be planted in front of the taller 
Rose bushes and further held down as low as desired by pruning. 
The old-fashioned Blush Rose, or Maiden’s Blush to give it 
its proper title — the double pink form of Rosa alba — has distinct 
value as a shrub and is very satisfactory as well. The Cinna- 
mon Rose also is available, and that “most spiny,” as the botan- 
ists have dubbed it, the Scotch, Rosa spinosissima, should also 
be added to the list of shrubby Roses. The fragrant foliaged 
Sweetbriarmaybe included, too, if somekillingback of the bushes 
be not considered too great a fault, for actually it is hardy at 
root. 
These are for the background, or the framework so to speak 
of the Rose planting. But the planter even in a most hostile 
climate need not confine the scheme of his garden to these alone. 
For among the Hybrid Perpetuals there are a great many and 
as a start I would suggest Paul Neyron, Marshall P. Wilder, 
Anne de Diesbach, Gen. Jacqueminot, John Hopper, Magna 
Charta, Fisher Holmes, Mme. Gabrielle Luizet, Clio, Margaret 
Dickson, Frau Karl Druschki, and Marchioness .of London- 
derry. Phis list includes red, crimson, pink and white — and 
there is no reason, obviously why one should not add newcomers 
as they meet one’s fancy. The American Beauty Rose even 
can be carried through our severest winter, though it is not 
ordinarily grown in the garden as it is much finer under glass. 
O PINION still is current that the most a garden in colder 
regions can hope for is a few Hybrid Perpetuals; but the 
writer’s experience with Gruss an Teplitz points to the Hybrid 
Tea as the Rose for climates where some of the “hardy” Lilies 
are not hardy; where “hardy” herbaceous perennials fail to 
reappear in spring; and where so rugged a shrub as Spiraea Van 
Houttei is killed back extensively in many a winter. The 
Hybrid Perpetuals are a little the hardier sure enough, yet to 
make them a safe investment they require winter protection; 
and as the Hybrid Teas ask no more, why give the former any 
preference? 1 find that two-year dormant field-grown stock 
set out in spring gives the best results. 
As to Cultural Attentions 
D URING the dry weather of summer, if there be small chance 
to water copiously, a constant stirring of the surface into a 
dust mulch will serve perfectly. For winter protection the 
bushes should be hilled up as one would hill up potatoes, cover- 
ing the branches to a little higher than they are to be pruned 
back in the spring. This should be done just before the ground 
freezes in the fall; and it is well to bring the soil for making the 
hills from other parts of the garden and fill it on about each 
bush. The bushes may be brought indoors through the winter, 
if extraordinary precaution seems advisable, and laid down under 
about a foot of soil, or another way is to prune back in the 
fall to about a foot in height and cover completely with earth. 
One may also have Climbing Roses in a severe climate in 
spite of the cold — not perhaps in that same profusion that 
milder climates are favored with, since they must be so grown 
that the canes can be laid down and covered in fall. The full 
length of each season’s growth can be carried through each suc- 
ceeding winter however underneath a foot of soil firmly packed 
over the canes. So do not hesitate to plant any climber that 
in vigor and hardihood approaches the Crimson Rambler, the 
Memorial Rose, or the Climbing American Beauty. 
WILD ROSES MAKE AN IDEAL SHRUBBERY WHEN MASSED 
Sure to grow in the climate to which they are native, 
here is a class that furnishes great delicacy of bloom in 
summer, and rich color of fruit and branch in winter 
