July 15, 1905. 
. THE GARDENING WORLD . 
56 1 
PRUNING 
ROSES 
IN SPRING AND SUMMER. 
Hybrid Perpetuals and Hybrid Teas. 
In these two great classes of lloses there are 
weak and strong growers. Paradoxical as it 
may seem, the weak growers require to be 
pruned severely. The time for performing 
this operation is in March, earlier or later 
according to the state of the weather. Turn¬ 
ing now to the weak-growing varieties, I may 
state that the very weakest shoots and all the 
dead ones should be cut away to the lowest 
bud at the base, or even entirely removed if 
they are altogether useless for the production 
of bowers. The next operation is to thin out 
some of the stronger ones if there is no room 
for their proper development. The remaining 
shoots from which it is intended to get flowers 
should be cut back to three or four eyes in the 
case of weak growers. 
Those varieties belonging to the above sec¬ 
tions which are strong growers should receive 
less pruning than weak growers. The opera¬ 
tor should commence, as usual, by cutting 
away dead wood, snags, and all weak and use" 
less shoots that cannot be of service for the 
production of blossom. Badly-placed shoots 
should also be treated in the same way. 
Should the bush still remain too crowded after 
the above operations, some of the remaining 
shoots should be removed until only those re¬ 
main which have proper room to develop 
strong flowering shoots after they have been, 
pruned. These strong growers should have 
shoots left longer, say from four to six eyes of 
last year’s wood. 
After all these operations the bushes will 
present a sorry spectacle to. the eyes of 
the uninitiated, but those who intend grow¬ 
ing Roses for exhibition will have to follow 
this custom until a better can be discovered. 
The object of it all is to allow the growth 
only of very strong shoots that will givet 
rise to correspondingly large blossoms of good 
form, according to the variety and class to 
which they belong. 
It may happen that the shoots left may 
give rise to too many growths, but, if so, some 
of them may be removed with the fingers in 
the third or fourth week of May, as soon as 
it can be seen which are likely to be the best. 
If from any circumstances some of the shoots 
have lost their centres owing to the depre¬ 
dations of insects or accident, they should be 
removed in favour of those which are more 
perfect. 
If the above Roses are being grown purely 
for garden decoration the operator need not 
prune them so severely. Thinning out is ad¬ 
vantageous, and it will be equally obvious 
that all dead wood and even useless shoots 
may be removed without hesitation. The 
next operation may be directed to the sliorten- 
ing of the shoots which are to remain. 
Opinions vary as to the number of eyes that 
should be left, and, speaking generally, this 
may be said to vary from four to eight. This 
means that a considerable length of shoot 
will be left, so that after a number of years 
such bush Roses will be of considerable 
height. Height and breadth means that the 
bush will consist of a much larger number of 
shoots or branches than when grown for ex¬ 
hibition purposes. A much greater number 
of Roses will be obtained from such tall 
bushes, but they cannot be expected to possess 
the size or quality of exhibition blooms. 
From the amateur’s point of view, who does 
not intend to exhibit, such big bushes will 
be more, appreciated than, those bearing only 
a few shoots, with a correspondingly mode¬ 
rate quantity of blossom. The grower, even 
in this case more jiarticularly, should give 
attention to (lie regular formation of the bush, 
and regulate the length of the shoots left 
from that point of view. “ A shapely bush, 
pioperly thinned,” should bo his motto in 
this case. 
Teas and Noisettes. 
These consist of plants of a varied charac¬ 
ter, some being of weak and others of strong 
growth, and a third group forming climbers, 
just as in Hybrid Perpetuate and Hybrid 
Teas. It follows, therefore, that pruning 
is pursued much on the same lines as already 
described in the case of those other two sec¬ 
tions. Some varieties are weak growers, and 
consequently must be hard pruned. The 
strong growers, on the other hand, should 
have the shoots left at greater length, as 
above mentioned. If they are grown entirely 
for garden decoration they must be still less 
severely pruned, so that the instructions given 
above will also apply here. 
Tliose varieties occurring amongst Teas 
and Noisettes classed as climbers should bo 
pruned on the same lines as I mentioned for 
the summer pruning of climbers, with perhaps 
some modification in giving as little pruning 
as possible until it can be ascertained what 
wood passes through the winter safely. In 
districts where Teas and Noisettes are liable 
to lose their badly-ripened wood durinc the 
winter it would be advisable to thin the shoots 
only moderately after flowering, and wait till 
the winter has passed before the final pruning 
is given. 
In the matter of time of pruning these two 
classes of Roses differ considerably from Hy¬ 
brid Perpetuate. They should not be pruned 
till the month of April. They usually come 
into bloom much earlier than Hybrid Per¬ 
petuate, so that by pruning them a month 
later it times the four classes to come into 
bloom together when wanted for the flower 
shows. Teas and Noisettes are also a little 
more tender than the other classes under con¬ 
sideration. and that is an additional reason 
for deferring the pruning till April. 
D. W. 
ROSE MARECHAL NIEL. 
For many years Marechal Niel was regarded 
as a Noisette Rose, probably under the belief 
that Rosa moschata was one of the parents. 
The most up-to-date rosarians now consider 
it a Tea Rose, and class it as such. The 
beautiful deep yellow flowers go to make this 
one of the most popular and the best of all the 
better-known Gloire de Dijon, which succeeds 
admirably against a wall in the open in 
almost any part of the British Isles where 
shelter from winds is sufficient. The flowers 
of Marechal Niel grown under glass are also 
of much better colour than those grown in 
the open. Indeed, in northern districts the 
flowers are usually poorly coloured if grown 
T. Rose Marechal Niel. 
on a wall in the open under similar conditions 
given to Gloire de Dijon. 
The finest blooms shown in the South are 
mostly all from plants grown under glass. 
In some seasons, however, fairly good and 
even handsome blooms may be obtained from 
plants grown in the open. An early and 
small but shapely bloom was sent us by 
Messrs. B. R. Cant and Sons, The Old Rose 
Gardens, Colchester. 
yellow Tea Roses. Our illustration shows an 
early bloom which was moderate in size, but 
quite characteristic of this variety. The 
shell-shaped outer petals reflex or spread, 
thus showing the beautiful conical centre 
characteristic of this handsome and sweetly- 
scented Tea Rose. 
Beginners who undertake its cultivation 
should give it a place in a cool greenhouse, if 
possible, as it is rather more delicate than the 
