October 25 , 1913 . 
THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 
801 
1 
si 
1 
Ot 
THE BEST ROSES FOR 
STANDARDS. 
Roses grown in standard form enjoy a 
high degree of popnlai ity among all classes 
of lovers of the rose, and deservedly so. 
Specimens with highly-developed heads are 
not only very beautiful in themselves, but 
they add much to the charm of those parts 
of the garden in which the roses are 
grown by relieving the flatn^s charac¬ 
teristic .of beds and borders devoted 
exclusively to dwarf plants. Ibifortu- 
luitely for the attractions of the garden 
and the peace of mind of the owner, stan¬ 
dard inses are seldom seen at their best. 
Instead of being furnished with large, well¬ 
ing and planting, and have practical expres. 
sion given to them, failuri's now so t'om- 
moil will soon \ye re<lu<'e<l to the vani.shing 
IKiint. 
There are hundre<l6 of varieties of roses 
in the catalogues, and of a considerable 
proportion of them .standards ai*<' offeiasl 
by the trade growers. .As a (‘onsequeiicc' of 
so great a number of the varietic's lK‘ing 
obtainable as stamlards, the inexperienc'ed 
assume that nearly, if not all the varieties 
are suitable for growing in such manm'r. 
It is not suggestiMl that the nurserymcui are 
responsible for the exi.'iting .state of things. 
habit is not less lessential than a strong 
stitution, for wlam a few stout lanls are pro- 
duce<l in association with a nuinlRT of small 
shoots, well-lmlanctHl hea<is and an abiin- 
<lant priKluction of flowers are imiiossi- 
bilitie... 
The English briars, as do other ros«»s suit¬ 
able for use as stocks for stainiard row's, 
n'quiix* a nHxlerately n< h an<l <l€H‘ply-culti- 
vat^Ml .'^il. They also thrive most satisfac. 
torily in .soil tJiat is Ix'st known as a heavy 
loam, a.s evhlenciy] by the remarkably vigo¬ 
rous growth ma<le in* a wihl state when th»' 
roots have the run of soil that contain.s a 
nuKh'rati* jawc'cntage of clay. Shouhl the 
soil Ix' light, owing to tlie large jx'nsuit^ige 
of .valid, ad<l a (piaiitity of clayey hmni, if 
available. .V layer about six inclw's thick¬ 
ness spn'ad over the surface will Ih' the 
nu)st suitable, and to thi.s shouhl lie aihhxl 
Ix'fore tlu' <ligging ia commence<l a .similar 
quantity of well-rotte<l manure and leaf- 
mould in alxuU tHjual projxirtioiis. Shouhl 
A FINE GROUP OF ROSE FLORENCE PEMBERTON, 
Grown in standard form at Kew. The blooms are a rich cream colour. (See page 802.) 
of h^ads, bearing a goodly number 
I blooms, a considerable 
H standards corning under 
1 i present a more or less starved ap- 
1 latt^*». bear but few flower's, these 
!i ind^ff relatively small in size and of 
quality. These unsatisfactory 
thev n P^^P^^x not a few cultivators, but 
tion ^ means difificult of explana- 
«ihlA -nr case in the fewest pos- 
^ 5 cultira^^*' failures that occur in the 
■ »imnlv standards is due 
^ ’ «entiilc / ^misconception of the chief es- 
i that is success. One of the mistakes 
f P^rirans being made, and that, 
ii tion of c r important, is the selec- 
P this ^m’e quite unsuited to 
1 is the want of ap- 
I hriar English 
i beinir’ indeed, are all the stocks suitable 
I , Sfoimd some distance from the 
\ i^^ntiaic ^ hungry plant. If these two 
I ^m’e borne iji mind when purchas- 
They are compelled by an inexorable law 
to provide for their clientele the classes of 
plants that are in general demand. They 
w'ould, unless the writer is much mi.vtaken, 
l>e only too glad to limit the number of 
varieties grown as standards and propor¬ 
tionately increase the stocks of those which 
can be successfully grown under the condi¬ 
tions that usually obtain in gardens. The 
best varieties, and these only should be se¬ 
lected for growing in this way, are those 
possessing great vigour, combined with a 
somewhat branching growth and freedom of 
flowering. If the growi:h is not strong, the 
plants appear to fail in drawing up through 
the stocks the moisture and nutrient mat¬ 
ter es.sential to their full development. 
They certainly make an attenuated growth, 
and present wdthin a short period of their 
being planted a ‘‘sticky” and otherwise 
miserable appearance, which is retained un¬ 
til they are rooted out and consigned to the 
rubbish heap or fire. A free-branching 
the clayey loam not be available use the 
leaf-mould and manure in a slightly in¬ 
creased quantity. In the preparation of 
strong loams first spread over the surface 
a layer four or five inches in thickness of 
partially-rotted manure from the stable or 
farmyard, and apply bone superphosphate 
or finely-ground bones at the rate of 6 or 
7oz. to the square yard. In all ca.ses bretik 
up the soil to a depth of two feet, and well 
incorporate the manure chiefly with the 
bottom spit. Should the subsoil be very 
sandy, or stony, or consist of clay, and be 
less than two feet from the surface’ remove 
enough to give the roots of the roses two 
feet of good soil and replace w ith such suit¬ 
able compest as may be available. The 
planting should be done as early in Novem¬ 
ber as practicable, the soil being trodden 
very firmly about the roots, and stake at 
once to prevent their being swayed about. 
The following varieties are of excep¬ 
tional merit for standard culture, and 
