402 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 23, 1889. 
The Rose Garden, 
TEA ROSES ON THEIR OWN ROOTS. 
Who does not like a Rose ? Who ever refused a Rose¬ 
bud for a coat bloom, or Roses for using in any kind of 
decoration, personal or otherwise, more especially the 
yellows and buff-coloured Teas ? Why are they called 
“miffy,” when they may be grown as well upon their 
own roots, and some sorts better in that way than upon 
any kind of stock ? Some of the weakest-growing kinds 
may be better worked upon the Manetti or seedling 
Briar ; they will make plants sooner, but for choice let 
me have all that are intended for cultivation in pots 
upon their own roots. 
No ground plants dug up and potted will ever make 
such plants as those that are rooted from cuttings, and 
potted on from time to time till they are good strong 
plants. Neither do those that are worked upon stocks, 
in pots, and kept continually growing on in the same 
manner, give so much satisfaction as plants on their 
own roots do. Worked plants, that is to say, grafted 
or budded plants, are apt to disappear in the winter 
time, whereas plants on their own roots have a chance 
of coming again from eyes that are below the ground 
line, should the top be killed down so far, and provided 
they are not in a stagnant state at the roots ; therefore, 
good drainage is essential for preserving most of the 
tender kinds of Teas from total annihilation during the 
winter season. The following remarks will be strictly 
applicable to the 
Culture of Tea Roses in Pots, 
although the self-same plants, when they become 
well established in pots, may be planted out if the 
climatic conditions are favourable for the cultivation of 
the Rose. To obtain Roses on their own roots is an 
object worthy of anyone interested in horticultural 
pursuits, therefore it is necessary that preparations 
should be made in time to accomplish the object in 
view, and the first thing necessary is to have a few 
strong plants of each of the kinds it is intended to 
increase the stock of. If these have been established 
in pots for a season so much the better, as they can be 
at once placed in a good light greenhouse, where they 
will soon start away into growth. 
With the new growth, bloom-buds will naturally 
come, and as the days advance in length, so will the 
plants increase in strength. All possible means should 
be used to cause the new growths to be as strong and 
healthy as possible, and by the time we have reached 
the month of May, a fair crop of flowers should have 
been cut from the plants. The young growths made 
will also, at this period, have become firm ; and now 
will be the time to think about preparing to put in a 
batch of cuttings. The best way in which to do this, 
is to prepare a good hot-bed, well turning the manure 
several times in the course of a week, to allow super¬ 
abundant vapour to escape, and to modify the heat; 
afterwards putting it together, at the same time well 
beating or treading down the manure, so that it may 
keep up a regular and steady heat long enough to root 
the cuttings about to be placed upon it. If the 
manure is at all dry when being placed together, it 
should be well watered, as this causes decomposition to 
take place more regularly than when put together in a 
dry condition. 
When the bed is finished it should be allowed to 
stand a few days to allow it to attain to the proper 
degree of heat, when it should have sufficient leaf-soil, 
or old potting soil, placed inside the frame at a regular 
thickness all over the bed—deep enough to plunge a 
5-in. pot in. The bed being ready, the work of putting 
in the cuttings must proceed rapidly. Drain well a 
number of pots, covering the crocks with the rough 
material that has been taken from the soil prepared for 
the cutting pots. This should be a mixture of loam 
and leaf-soil, with plenty of sand added, making the 
whole of a very sandy nature. In filling the pots 
make the compost rather firm, as Roses do not like to 
be put into loose soil, and as soon as a number of pots 
are made up, the cuttings should be obtained at once 
and got in. 
It is advisable to select a dull day, or early in the 
morning, to put the cuttings in, as they do not flag so 
soon as if it were a sunny hot day ; but wood that is 
moderately firm (avoid all soft or pithy wood) may 
again be cut up into lengths of two eyes each. Trim 
the bottom leaf off, and cut square and clean below the 
joint, but avoid cutting the bud out when trimming 
the leaf off from the base. This applies to the strongest 
wood. The weaker wood may also be taken when it is 
absolutely necessary to make a large number of plants, 
and this may be taken off with a heel, and afterwards 
be cut clean if it requires it. 
It often happens that there are a number of what 
are usually termed blind shoots, or those which fail to 
produce flowers at the points, and these invariably root 
well ; but for choice, the stronger wood is preferable. 
These cuttings should be inserted on the edge of the 
prepared pots as quickly as possible, keeping the 
strongest by themselves, and as soon as a number are 
done, they should be watered overhead with a fine rose 
water-pot, and allowed to stand for a short time till 
the foliage dries, when they should be at once plunged 
in the hot-bed. Should the state of the bed warrant 
it, leave a niche of space open at the top of the light 
to allow any unpleasant odours or vapour to escape. 
This precaution will only be necessary for a few days. 
The cuttings will require to be shaded from strong 
sunshine, and will want looking over once or twice a 
week. At the end of the fourth week the majority of 
them will be rooted, provided they have done well. 
They should be potted off as soon as convenient, using 
pots according to the size of the young plants. The 
best place to put them after potting is back into the 
dung-frame ; but while the cutting pots are out, it should 
be well shaken up and re-made, when it will generally 
give heat enough to start the little plants well on 
their way. As soon as the plants are well rooted they 
should be shifted into larger-sized pots, and a warm 
greenhouse or pit will carry them well along during the 
summer months, so that by the time winter approaches 
the bulk of the plants will be in a good established 
condition. The only other care they will require 
during the winter will be to watch that they do not 
suffer from damp, which is the greatest enemy they 
will have to contend with. Plants grown along in this 
way will be ready to start off any time when convenient 
at the present season of the year, and a good strong 
plant will be made before midsummer is reached again. 
The hot-bed is much to be preferred to any other 
way of rooting Teas, besides coming in so useful after¬ 
wards in the rotten condition for either potting or 
putting upon the land. — W. G. 
-->Z-c-- 
USEFUL STOVE PLANTS. 
Plumbago. 
A few species of these belong to stove plants proper, 
and are very effective as winter-flowering plants, yield¬ 
ing spikes of Phlox-like flowers, from pink to deep 
crimson in colour. P. rosea and P. coccinea superba 
are high-coloured forms, and ought to be grown where 
cut flowers are wanted in the winter season. They 
make rapid growth through the summer season, and 
may be propagated easily from cuttings ; and after 
potting on they require to be kept in a moist growing 
temperature, as the foliage suffers badly from the 
attacks of thrip if allowed once to get ahead. 
Rudgea macrophylla. 
This is an extremely useful plant when under good 
cultivation, the large heads of waxy white, sweet- 
scented flowers being very attractive whilst they last, 
the great evil being that they are short lived ; before 
the whole head of bloom can become developed the 
outer ones have begun to decay and will fall off. It is 
apparently useful amongst florists where white flowers 
are wanted for immediate use, as in this instance the 
flowers can be taken off as they open and be used up at 
once. The plant produces very large and leathery 
foliage, and is quite erect in habit; the flowers are 
produced at the terminal points. It is not a free-rooting 
plant, and often suffers from being over watered ; there¬ 
fore, in potting it, plenty of drainage should be used to 
carry away superabundant moisture. It delights in a 
strong heat, and requires the same when being rooted 
in the cutting state. 
Vincas. 
When well grown, the Vinca will take a prominent 
position amongst dwarf-growing stove-flowering plants. 
They require a good deal of management to get nice 
large plants equally grown and well flowered, and want 
a good amount of pinching and tying out to make such 
plants, or else several groivn together in large pot. 
The very pure white petals and distinct rose-coloured 
eye in V. alba make it very attractive and showy, and 
for choice I prefer it to any of the others, although 
V. rosea is a telling specimen plant when nice and 
fresh. They are apt to suffer from the effects of over- 
watering, and should be potted in a very fibry soil of 
equal parts peat and loam, with the addition of a little 
thoroughly-decayed cow manure and sand in pro¬ 
portion. This compost allows the water to pass 
away quickly from the roots. They strike very freely 
from cuttings, and where the plants may not be wanted 
to be grown into large specimens, a few little plants 
of them standing about are extremely pretty. — IV. G. 
Gardening Notes from Ireland. 
Harris’s Bermuda Lily. 
I never lose an opportunity of commending Lilium 
Harrisii to my friends. I have seen it thriving well 
in the cool stove—I mean in a temperature not ex¬ 
ceeding 70° in autumn — of the duke, and when 
properly treated it is equally at home in the window 
of the artisan, growing luxuriantly in a winter 
temperature not often exceeding 50°. At the present 
time, when flowers are so scarce, I have, in my sitting- 
room, two fine specimens coming into bloom that have 
been thus treated with a number of others. They had 
been shaken out and re-potted with the general stock 
of bulbs last October—the smallest bulblet being re¬ 
tained, as they rapidly grow into flowering specimens— 
placed on a bed of leaves, and were removed last 
December to a cool conservatory attached to my house, 
in which the frost is barely kept out. They were 
subsequently placed in the sitting-room window with 
some hardy Palms, Hyacinths, Cyclamen, Dielytra, 
Aspidistras, Iris reticulata—which is now commencing 
to bloom also—and some other things, where they 
have more light and a warm dry atmosphere. I 
thought the dry atmosphere would hardly suit them 
in winter, but it has, if anything, added to their 
luxuriance. Now, then, here is a hint for ladies who 
are window gardeners, and who find it objectionable to 
go out to detached conservatories in winter, to succeed 
with really splendid plants, both in foliage and flower. 
I will willingly tell any reader interested where I got 
mine, as there are good and bad strains. It will grow 
in any soil, but a mixture of loam, leaf-soil and a small 
portion of sand seems most suitable. — IV. J. Murphy, 
Clonmel. 
-- 
THE FERNERY. 
On the Construction of Rockeries. 
Having selected a site, and determined upon the outline 
or leading features which it is resolved the rockery 
shall assume, the next thing to be undertaken is to set 
about building it. The locality or site itself must to a 
great extent pre-determine the general outline, if when 
completed it is to present a natural appearance, and 
not a mere artificial heap. Should the ground be 
rising, so as to form a mound or knoll, then the effect 
can be greatly enhanced by increasing the natural 
height, carrying portions out into bold and prominent 
headlands, or even abrupt escarpments, always bearing 
in mind the means of supplying moisture to the plants 
to be grown, and whether the Ferns will be sufficiently 
shaded. In sunny southern districts, with a dry 
atmosphere, rockeries should never be run up very high. 
V T here the ground is naturally sinking or sloping to 
hollow, then any building that is constructed should 
be against the rising slopes, while the lowest point 
could be very effectively occupied with a small pond, 
or even a tank with a cemented bottom. In some 
districts it is advisable even to make a cutting below 
the general level of the ground, and secure height by 
throwing up the soil. In all cases avoid, if possible, 
the carting of the latter from a distance. At the same 
time, the body of the rockery should not be made up of 
dry rubble, otherwise the Ferns will be liable to perish 
through over-drainage and drought ; nor must perish¬ 
able material be used, otherwise the whole structure 
will be liable to subsidence, shifting and disturbing the 
cemented portions of the work. The natural soil, if 
there is sufficient, will answer admirably, provided it 
is not an adhesive clay, so close as to prevent the super¬ 
fluous moisture from percolating away. The soil for 
filling the pockets can be made up after the building is 
accomplished. 
The largest stones should be used in making up the 
base, likewise in a few of the more prominent positions, 
where they can rest on a good body of soil or be sup¬ 
ported by other blocks of stone, without danger of 
coming down after frost, rain, or other disturbing 
causes. A jutting piece of rock here and there need be 
no eyesore on a rockery, whether planted with Ferns or 
flowering subjects, as it serves to give boldness and 
relief to what would otherwise be a mere mass of 
greenery after the Ferns become established, if their 
progress has been tolerably satisfactory. Besides bold 
and prominent rocky points, there must also be recesses 
and shady corners for different kinds of Ferns, and also 
moist flat positions for Ferns that grow in shady glens 
and woods, such as the Beech and Oak Ferns, and the 
Marsh Ferns, such as Nephrodium Thelypteris or 
Osmunda regalis. 
