IMPORTANT CULTURAL HINTS 
When the Rose plants have been selected, the next step in the growing of successful Roses is the 
study of the proper methods of culture. Any Rose lover knows that through the attention to certain 
principles of cultivation better results can be obtained. Simple directions accompany every Wyant 
Rose, but the suggestions given below are intended to offer additional help to Rose lovers. 
Selection of Location 
In selecting the location for your Rose bed, it is 
not important whether your Roses are to get morning 
or afternoon sunlight, but that they do get about a 
half a day of sun. Part shade is even preferable to 
a full day of sunlight. 
Tree Roots 
Select a location where tree roots cannot interfere 
with your Rose roots. It is surprising how quickly 
tree roots will find a Rose bed and fill it, consuming 
food and moisture intended for the Roses. If tree 
roots are present, dig a trench around your Rose bed, 
as deep as the tree roots extend, thereby cutting off 
all that might attempt to enter the Rose bed. This 
trench may be filled in again immediately, and should 
be dug around the Rose bed every year if the tree 
roots prove bothersome. 
Planf Early 
The best time in the Spring to plant Wyant Roses 
is just as soon as the soil is workable. The larger 
part of the gardening public wait until the warm, 
sunshiny days of Spring to start their planting. This 
is too late to plant to get good results. In this lati¬ 
tude late March is an ideal time in the Spring and 
planting as late as May seldom gives the results you 
anticipate. Fall planting is usually safer even than 
Spring planting, but if you can plant in early Spring 
it is no use losing a whole season of enjoyment by 
waiting until Fall, for early Spring planted Hybrid 
Teas start to bloom in June of the same year. 
Treatment of Rose Bushes on Receipt 
Plant Rose bushes as soon as possible after they 
are received. The roots are packed in damp moss in 
shipment, but this cannot keep them indefinitely. 
If the weather does not permit planting when the 
bushes are received, take the bundle out of the paper 
and bury it, covering both tops and roots with soil. 
Do not drown the Roses in water nor allow the pack¬ 
ages to lie around and dry out if you expect good 
results. 
Planting 
If you want successful Roses, plant the bushes 
close together so that the foliage will keep the ground 
shaded and cool; 12 to 15 inches is the rule for the 
Hybrid Teas, the taller varieties being placed for 
the best effect. Colors in Roses seldom clash, al¬ 
though you will enjoy finding your favorite com¬ 
binations. 
Instead of waiting until the bushes arrive, it is 
better, a couple of weeks in advance to spade the soil 
down 15 to 18 inches, adding plenty of manure, if it is 
available, and if drainage is needed, the bed should 
be tiled and surplus water carried away. Guard 
against the roots drying out from exposure to sun, 
wind or freezing during planting. Do not use chemi¬ 
cal fertilizer when planting Wyant Roses; bonemeal 
and rotten manure only may be used at planting 
time. 
Pruning 
When a Rose is set in the Spring, shorten the 
strong branches to 6 or 8 inches, and the weaker even 
more. Heap the soil as high as the branches are 
pruned, to protect against drying out, until the roots 
become established. Remove this bank of soil when 
the shoots start, so that the bud, or crown, is about 
level with the soil surface. 
If you want long stems and large flowers, pick 
your blooms with long stems. For quantities of 
bloom, cut short stems and nip old blossoms after 
the petals fall. In cutting first blossoms from the big, 
strong canes which have shot up from the base of 
the plant, leave enough of that strong stem to form 
the structure of a bush. Cut side branches back to 
one or two leaves when cutting flowers. 
The only Fall pruning recommended is shortening 
tall bushes, down to about 2 feet, so that they will 
not windwhip. The real pruning for established 
bushes is given in the Spring when the bank of soil is 
removed. At this time remove dead wood from the 
Hybrid Teas and cut the strong branches down to 
the highest big live bud. Shorten or remove weak 
growths. 
Hybrid Perpetuals can be shortened down about 
one-third and from climbers the dead wood should 
be removed. In July, after the first big burst of 
bloom is over, you may again prune climbers, but 
f >runing is not recommended unless the plant is too 
arge for the trellis. The weak branches of Polyan- 
thas should be cut down and the strong ones short¬ 
ened one-half. 
Soils 
In years past, the opinion was that Roses should 
have a clay soil, but Wyant Roses will grow in almost 
any soil, if it has food or humus incorporated into it. 
It is best to keep away from either extremely 
heavy or extremely light soil, for the loam soils will 
have more food in them. Any rotted vegetable mat¬ 
ter (humus) mixed into the soil improves the texture 
and makes it better for the Roses. The best soil you 
can get is best soil for Roses. 
The Ph of Soils 
The acidity and alkalinity of soils is designated by 
Ph. A neutral soil has a Ph of 7, while anything less 
than 7 is acid, getting more and more so as the num¬ 
ber becomes smaller, and anything above 7 is alka¬ 
line, getting more and more so as the number grows 
larger. 
It has been found that Roses are very tolerant. 
They will grow in a soil from 4.5 Ph up to 8 Ph, but 
the best growing conditions seem to be found in a 
soil that is neutral or slightly acid—that is, around 
6 to 7 Ph. Lime, in almost any form, can be used to 
make soils more alkaline and sulphur to make them 
more acid. 
Feeding 
Bonemeal is the only Fall fertilizer for Roses that 
is recommended. After the ground has become 
frozen, apply fresh, strawy manure if it is procurable. 
In the Spring, when the bank of soil is removed, 
apply Wyant Rose Food, or else a complete chemical 
fertilizer, to the established plants but not to newly 
set Roses. Wyant Rose Food is recommended, be¬ 
cause it is of organic composition rather than chemi¬ 
cal, and even after long usage does not make the soil 
toxic, nor burn, as a chemical fertilizer will. Much 
fertilizing will produce much bloom, so during June 
4 
Melvin E. Wyant, 
