172 
GARDENING IN THE SOUTHWEST 
Top Cover 
Two-Year- 
Old 
Bushes 
Avoid Over- 
Stimulation 
Essential 
Food 
Demands 
Correct 
Diet Pro¬ 
portion 
Nitrogen 
Humus 
no holes appear. Then fill in the remaining two inches with loose soil. 
On top scatter some well-rotted manure, which will supply humus and 
retain moisture for the soil, and also act as the only Winter protection 
needed for Roses in this section. 
CARE OF NEW BUSHES 
New bushes so planted will need no more fertilizer or nourishment their 
first season. But apropos of a strange custom observed by some amateurs, 
of not allowing new bushes to bloom. It is one of those quaint traditions 
that has been handed down from the gardens of our grandmothers, who 
struggled patiently to develop a small cutting through the years into a 
good-sized bush. It has no real bearing on the supposedly well-grown, 
vigorous, two-year-old bushes sent to you by an up-to-date nurseryman. 
These plants have been grown for the express purpose of giving you 
abundant bloom their first season in your garden. And you are at perfect 
liberty to enjoy it without the least injury to the bush provided you do 
not cut the flowers with long stems before Fall. The plants do need their 
leaves to take care of their root system. But allowing the stem to come to 
full maturity, which occurs with the opening of the flower, does not 
harm the plant. In fact, it is highly probable that premature pinching 
may be really injurious, since the tender stem is bound to "bleed”, thus 
losing vitality, besides receiving a shock. It is not safe to reason from one 
kind of plant to another, but a source of anxiety, it has been said, to the 
orange growers is the harm done their trees by having their fruit pulled 
green before Nature had completed her process. 
FERTILIZATION 
There is a difference between feeding a plant and stimulating it. Too 
much stimulation, through the application of chemicals, may result in a 
"nervous wreck” of a plant. But it is a safe guess that more Roses die of 
starvation than of indigestion induced by too much feeding. 
A well-balanced diet has been called an essential to Rose health. A 
healthy person has an appetite and so has a healthy Rose. Nature does not 
allow a Rose to walk about and look for its food. She has chained it to 
one spot by its roots, but to compensate, she has put within its reach 
all that it needs for sustenance—light, air, water and the friendly earth 
from which to draw its three most essential foods—nitrogen, phosphorus 
and potash. 
Where a plant grows naturally, or "wild” as we say, the soil is neces¬ 
sarily suitable and sufficient. But, when we take up that plant and put 
it in our garden, we may be giving it a soil in which these elements are 
not available, or are in a wrong proportion for it. So the least we can 
do in all hospitality, is to import what it needs for its daily diet. This 
is not as difficult as it may sound. Well-rotted manure, so full of friendly 
bacteria, will release the necessary nitrogen and provide the necessary 
humus. Leaf mold in large quantities will work wonders. A cupful of 
