MENTOR, OHIO 3 Rose Specialist 
Wyant Cultural Suggestions 
♦-♦ 
It is really very simple to raise Roses in your garden or yard. There are few “do’s” or 
“don’ts”; the main thing is to love your Roses. If you really love Roses, you will certainly have 
success with them. If you love Roses, you will buy Wyant’s strong, vigorous Roses and follow 
the simple directions which accompany the bushes. 
In planting, set the bushes close enough so that 
the leaves will keep the ground shaded and cool. 
This is usually 12 to 15 inches apart for the Hybrid 
Teas, but the taller varieties should be placed so as 
to give the best effect. The arrangement of color is 
of little importance in most gardens as most Rose 
colors do not clash. 
In preparing a new bed, you must select a location 
where the tree roots cannot get into the Rose bed. 
It is well to spade the soil down 15 to 18 inches and 
mix in a lot of manure. If drainage is needed, the 
bed should be tiled and the surplus water carried 
away. 
It is important to keep the roots from drying out 
from exposure to sun, wind, or freezing during the 
planting. Dig a hole large enough to accommodate 
the roots easily. Have the roots pointing slightly 
downward when planting and try to have the soil in 
a good, loose, friable condition. Do not use chemical 
fertilizer in the hole with the Rose roots. Bonemeal is 
the only chemical that can be used at planting time. 
Pruning 
As soon as a Rose is set in the Spring, the strong 
branches must be shortened down to 6 to 8 inches 
and the weaker branches still farther. Then it is im¬ 
portant to bank the soil high around the branches, 
about as high as they are pruned, so as to keep the 
branches moist until the roots get established. After 
the shoots start out, this bank of soil can be taken 
down a little at a time, so that the bud, or crown, will 
be about level with the surface of the soil. Thereafter 
the soil should be cultivated every week and espe¬ 
cially after every rain. 
Always cut the long stems when picking blooms if 
you desire large quality blossoms. Leave only about 
two leaves on the bush at the bottom of the stem. 
However, good judgment must be used in the cut¬ 
ting, to avoid cutting too much of the bush. 
The pruning of Hybrid Teas in the Spring should 
consist of removing all dead wood and cutting the 
strong branches down only to the highest big plump 
bud. Weak growths must be shortened severely or re¬ 
moved entirely. And whenever a dead branch or twig 
Is found it should be removed immediately and 
burned. 
Watering and Feeding 
If cultivation is maintained, very little or no water¬ 
ing needs to be done even during droughts. But if 
watering needs to be done, soak thoroughly, don’t 
merely wet the surface. 
Besides applying manure in the Winter, it is well 
to give about two applications of complete chemical 
fertilizer during the growing season. When the bank 
of soil is removed in the Spring from other than newly 
set plants, I recommend an application of a complete 
fertilizer and then again in June or July, the second 
application. In the Fall, bonemeal is the only chemi¬ 
cal fertilizer that should be applied. Wood ashes 
are also beneficial during the growing season. 
Diseases and Insect Control 
There are very few diseases and insects which ordi¬ 
narily attack Rose plants, and with a little care these 
may be easily controlled. Dusting is recommended 
over spraying as it is quicker, easier and usually more 
effective. 
Very small green lice, or aphids, which cluster 
about the tips of the shoots may be controlled by 
spraying or dusting with insecticides containing nico¬ 
tine. All kinds of worms or insects which eat the 
leaves may be killed by using a poison, such as 
arsenate of lead, either as a spray or dust. This is 
one of the ingredients of Massey Dust. 
It has been our experience that Rose chafers, the 
large, awkward-looking, grayish bugs with long legs 
and a long snout, are easiest controlled by knocking 
them into a pan of water covered with coal oil. 
The insect which makes a hole into the pith where 
stems have been cut is a carpenter bee. It may be 
controlled by placing a drop of Pine tree balsam or 
Pine tree tar on the cut stem. 
Mildew, which causes the young leaves to turn 
white and curl up, can be controlled by dusting with 
Massey Dust; and Black-spot, the disease which 
makes the leaves drop off, should be prevented by 
dusting, also with Massey Dust beginning about May 
15, and continuing it every week or ten days. 
It is important to prevent the disease Black-spot 
and after you get the dusting habit, it is a very simple 
matter. 
