Qeorge H. ‘Teterson, Inc., Fair Qaivn, 7\[ew Jersey 
19 
The Culture of the Rose 
Roses are easy to grow provided you begin with the right kind of plants. Peterson 
Roses have made it possible for the beginner as well as the experienced amateur to 
achieve success. 
LOCATION OF SITE. The ideal site for a 
1 fybrid Tea Rose-garden is one that does not 
receive the early morning sun—a location 
sheltered if possible from high winds, but 
where the plants will get enough air and sun¬ 
light. Roses here in the East like partial 
shade, especially during July and August 
when our climate is usually hot and dry. 
When one resides in a city or town the choice 
of location for a Rose-bed is often quite 
limited, and yet many thousands of Rose- 
culturists so situated are very successful. 
SOIL. Any good garden soil which will 
produce vegetables or good crops of annuals 
and perennials will also grow Roses. The 
hardy understock upon which all of our Roses 
are budded does well in both heavy clay soils 
and in the lighter sandy loams. 
PREPARATION OF BEDS. Although, as 
we have just said, good Roses can be grown 
in an average garden soil, where the best 
obtainable Roses are desired the beds should 
be trenched to the depth ol 15 to 18 inches. 
Try to get some old cow-manure and mix one 
part of this with about three parts of soil. 
Allow to settle belore planting. 
It is only when you are lorced to [riant in a 
low, wet situation that drainage is important. 
In that case you should simply remove about 
a foot of soil and place cinders or stones in the 
bottom ol the bed. 
While we do not wish to belittle the idea 
that soil-preparation is important, we do 
know that many beginners who want to plant 
Roses imagine that there is some difficult and 
secret soil-mixture that Rose plants demand, 
and this is decidedly not the case. The feed¬ 
ing, cultivating, spraying or dusting, water¬ 
ing, and pruning of established plants is more 
important than a lot of over-preparation and 
over-fertilizing belore the plants are set. 
MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. With so 
many new and recommended fertilizers ol all 
descriptions being offered to plant-lovers, it 
is no wonder that some of us are rather con¬ 
fused on this subject. At the same time, there 
are no hard-and-fast rules for fertilizing Roses, 
so that many of the new combinations of 
fertilizing materials have their value in Rose¬ 
feeding provided you follow the directions ol 
the manufacturer. 
'Fhe best and safest way to feed Roses is to 
use cow-manure in some form. If it is not 
obtainable as well-rotted barn-manure, then 
it can be obtained in a dry concentrated form 
by the bag. Because Roses want their food 
right down at the roots and within a relatively 
small feeding area there is nothing better 
than liquid manure. This solution is very 
easily prepared by soaking either fresh or dry 
manure in water at the rate ol approximately 
one pound to every gallon ol water. Frequent 
applications about a week apart, using a half 
gallon to a plant during the active growing 
season in June, July, and August is recom¬ 
mended. 
A good grade of raw, coarse bonemeal may 
be mixed with the soil when Roses are planted. 
It can also be fed once or twice a season, about 
a pint to an established plant. Be sure your 
bonemeal is a reliable brand. 
Hardwood ashes not only act as a good 
fertilizer high in potash content, but will also 
sweeten the soil. This may be applied liberally 
two or three times during the growing season. 
Air-slaked lime is good to apply in modera¬ 
tion on an old bed where the soil may be acid. 
It is not a plant-food, but will make other 
fertilizing elements available for plant con¬ 
sumption. Never mix lime and bonemeal 
within a short period. 
Concentrated chemical fertilizers are now 
available in the form of small tablets that 
may be used on Roses according to directions. 
Never use a quick, active fertilizer high in 
nitrogen content. This usually produces a lot 
of soft shoots producing small flowers and 
these shoots are subject to fungous attack. 
DISTANCE APART TO PLANT. Hybrid 
Teas require about 14 to 18 inches apart; 
distance will often depend on the plant habit 
of the variety. You can usually tell the com¬ 
parative plant habits ol certain varieties by 
the size and number of canes on the plants as 
you receive them. Close planting is always 
recommended for Hybrid Teas. 
Hybrid Perpetuals should be planted 2 to 
3 feet apart, depending on the space at 
one’s disposal. 
Climbing Roses on a fence or trellis may be 
spaced 7 to 8 feet apart in a straight row. 
Polyanthas, either used as a hedge or for 
border planting or as bedding Roses, should 
be spaced 15 to 18 inches apart. 
PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS. Detailed 
information about how to plant Roses 
properly is sent with each order. 
PRUNING. Before shipping Roses, we cut 
the bush plants back to about 1 foot in height. 
Climbing Roses and Perpetuals are left a 
little longer. 
SPRING PRUNING. Both the newl.t 
planted I lybrid Teas and older plants will 
need pruning in March or April, soon after 
frost leaves the ground and before very active 
growth begins. Even if the wood is live to 
the ends, which is not likely where the winters 
are severe, the canes should be pruned back 
rather severely. A general rule is to cut the 
weakest canes the shortest, and where these 
are numerous, some ol the smallest ones may 
be cut out entirely. The stoutest canes should 
be cut back to about 6 inches and the weaker 
ones to 3 inches, but this depends somewhat 
