300 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
[ April 12, 1883. 
judging they do not come as strangers, but as those whose acquaint¬ 
ance I have already made. 
Owing to my space being somewhat limited I am also obliged to 
grow my Roses in beds somewhat closer than I believe they ought 
to be, certainly closer than I see them in most of the gardens 
belonging to my friends; but yet by a judicious supply, not 
only of manure but also of fresh loam, I think that this may be 
obviated. 
The effects of frost on Roses I never saw more severely illustrated 
than by the condition of my beds last autumn. They had suffered 
much by the winter of 1880, and in pruning after that had cut very 
hard, sufficiently so, as I thought, to get below all damage done to 
the wood. There was an apparent vigour in them afterwards that 
deceived me into the belief that they had weathered the storm. 
Then came the sharp winter of 1881, and again I cut, as I thought, 
hard; but the appearance of the plants last summer showed me 
that their days were numbered. I do not know what would have 
been the case had I cut them right down to the ground and allowed 
them to shoot up from underneath, but evidently they were cankered 
by the action of the frost, and so I had to remove a good many; 
but the older established plants did not seem to suffer nearly so 
much, while Teas, which I had cut down quite close, started most 
vigorously and did well. Certainly this beautiful class deserves all 
the favour it is receiving, for it gives a Rose-grower greater length 
of enjoyment than any class. I have none in the house. There 
are some on the wall which produce early blooms, and then with 
three beds we get a continuous succession of flowers on until the 
frost cuts them off. In our southern counties, then, there ought 
to be a great future for the Tea Rose. The seedling Briar has 
materially contributed to this; for where many kinds used to be 
utterly devoured by the Manetti, a sort of Saturn eating up his own 
children, the seedling Briar acts as a kind foster-mother, giving 
sufficient nourishment but not injury by excess of food. I may 
mention here that I have great hopes that my grand tree of Reve 
d’Or will once again occupy its old position. After the two severe 
winters of 1880 and 1881 I had to saw it right down to the ground, 
and had almost determined to grub it. However, I thought it best 
to let it remain, and it has rewarded my forbearance by starting 
afresh from the bottom. It has now run up some 10 feet, and I 
hope it may be able by-and-by to fill-in that side of the house. 
I have left the nails in the wall where it used to be, so that if any 
incredulous person doubts my story I can point to these in proof of 
it. I have sometimes heard complaints as to the non-flowering of 
this variety, but I have never found it so. My own plant, and 
many that have been budded from it, are as floriferous as possible. 
As in other cases there may be a less desirable variety of it, I can 
only certify as to my own. 
It hardly comes within the province of 1882 to write upon the 
subject which I ventilated in the pages of the Journal some time 
ago—viz., the autumn or spring planting of Roses, because the 
results of experiments cannot be 3een until by-and-by. I am, how¬ 
ever, anxious to revert to it because I have received two very strong 
testimonies in favour of spring planting— i.e., be it remembered, not 
of Roses which have been in one’s own garden, but those which 
every wise rosarian will obtain when he requires them from the 
nurseryman. One is from a gardener well known in the pages of 
the Journal—Mr. Pettigrew, of the Castle Gardens at Cardiff (the 
Marquis of Bute), who says, “I have for years adopted the plan 
of laying-in plants in the autumn and planting them in the spring, 
and with much success.” The other is from a well-known, and will 
be, if I mistake not, a better known amateur, Mr. W. J. Grant of 
Hope End, Ledbury, near Hereford. I give his own words—“ I 
was almost tempted to give my experience in the Journal, but as 
the matter was taken up by older rosarians than myself I did not 
like to venture. All I know about Roses and Rose-growing I have 
learned from personal experience. As regards planting, the con¬ 
clusion I have come to in the matter is that, if properly looked 
after, plants planted in March, say up to the 2-5th, are quite as well 
and in many respects better than those planted in October. The 
best blooms I have ever had were cut on the 1st of July, 1881, from 
cut-backs planted on the previous 10th of March, 1881. Had they 
been planted when received from the nursery in October, 1880, I 
should have lost half of them, as I did the winter before. This 
is my experience of a severe winter and a dry spring. Again, I 
planted two-thirds of my purchase of October, 1881, as soon as I got 
the plants 4th November, and the remainder in March, 1882. The 
latter did by far the best in every way. So convinced am I about 
it that in future I shall always plant in spring. I have about 150 
plants now that I got in November, which I shall plant in March, 
and if you care to hear the result you shall.” 
Scientifically, I am told, spring planting is all wrong. But the 
stern logic of facts is difficult to get over. I have heard a great 
deal about root-action of plants in winter, and that if plants were 
heeled-in that the moving of them in the spring would destroy the 
young rootlets. I have been planting about a hundred plants which 
were laid-in in November, some on the Manetti, some on the seed¬ 
ling Briar, and others on the Briar cutting, and in only six could 
I discern any root-action (vhatever. Nay, more, I had to trans¬ 
plant one or two in my own garden to fill up; and here I found 
also that there was no root-action, and yet on many of the plants 
thus laid-in there were shoots 1^ inch long, as if there were some 
action going on. This is so far my experience, and I shall be 
curious to see what the result is. 
I had a considerable number of new Roses in the garden, but I 
am sorry to say nothing noticeable enough to make me hope for 
any great addition to our lists. Madame Gabriel Luizet proved 
herself to be more than a summer Rose, and there is a most marked 
difference in A. K. Williams’ vigour when grown on seedling Briar. 
Mr. Walters of Exeter was good enough to send me some ot each, 
and nothing could be more vigorous than those grown on the 
Briar. Complaints are heard of its delicacy, and it will be a boon 
if this method of treatment overcomes that. There is much to be !; 
learned as to the suitability of different stocks for different varieties. ! 
There are two Roses, not absolutely new, but not very well known, 
which are admirable as climbing Roses—Longworth Rambler 
(Prince) and Selina, an American variety, and anyone wanting 
Roses to cover a house will find these very suitable and hardy. 
It was not altogether a satisfactory year with me. That which 
I always look upon as a very valuable point in the Rose, the being j 
able to gather good blooms in autumn, was sadly frustrated by the 
continuous wet. Especially was this the case with the Teas. Still, 
after all there is no flower which gives so long a season of pleasure 
to the grower as does the Rose.—D., Deal. 
ZONAL PELARGONIUMS FOR WINTER BLOOMING. 
Ip I understand rightly, one of the objects of horticultural 
literature is to popularise and extend the growth of plants among 
the millions. If there is any flower that can be described as 
essentially “ popular ” it is the Zonal Pelargonium, sometimes erro- , 
neously called Geranium. I think the cultural treatment (vide 
page 259), so lucidly pointed out by Mr. Brotherston, has the 
opposite tendency. I am sure you will permit me to say how 
those popular flowers may be easily grown from the standpoint of 
the greatest pleasure for the greatest number. I freely admit, if 
propagation is commenced now as suggested, “a stove with a j 
minimum temperature of 65° ” would be very useful, but this 
would exclude every grower who happens not to have a stove and 
the command of such a temperature. I propagate later on—May 
or June generally, in a common frame, with a few feet of stable 
manure to give a night temperature of 00°. The sun will give a 
sufficient day temperature. Those who have no frame or heating 
apparatus of any kind need not despair if they wish to increase 
their plants, as any ordinary long box with friable soil will 
answer their purpose. Take a cutting 5 or G inches long of stout 
fairly matured growth—if soft lay it in the sun on a shelf for a 
few hours, and put some sharp river, road, or silver sand in before 
you insert them. Press the soil around the base, and then fully 
expose to the sun, If the soil is ordinarily moist do not water, as 
decay at the base is more to be dreaded than drought. If the box 
is 9 inches high—the height of a board, half full of soil will do, 
and the sides will protect them against inclement winds. An 
artisan in Lancashire once showed me a case of this description, 
with just the addition of sheets of glass over all, and I have never 
seen healthier cuttings than in his miniature frame or greenhouse. 
That was in August. He transferred them into 6-inch pots imme¬ 
diately, and plunged them in his flower beds. I saw them a month 
afterwards, and I venture to say that had he a propagating house 
and a specially built structure for subsequent growth he could 
not have had more sturdy, promising, well-shaped plants than 
these were the last week in September. I wrote to inquire at 
Christmas of his success. His reply was short—“ I built a small 
greenhouse since I saw you ; a small oil stove kept out the frost. 
I am enclosing you a few blooms.” Finer blooms no connoisseur 
need desire. “ Whatever men dare they can do,” and as these 
flowers are within the reach of all, all should have them, even the 
very best. I cannot wholly agree that those named by your corre¬ 
spondent are such, and for a limited collection would suggest the 
following in addition, obtained by me from Mr. Cannell, Swanley, 
last July, potted and started into growth, and then plunged out¬ 
side for six weeks before being taken in. The majority are bloom¬ 
ing still. Of round flowers, crimson and rose, Clytie, Celie, Rose, 
and Spencer ; purple and magenta, La France and Hebe are 
still in bloom ; also salmons Madame Colson, Fanny Catlin, 
and Ceres. Of the oculated, Czarina and Miss Hamilton 
are best. Of pink and white I prefer Eurydice, Miss Strutt, and 
