“THE BEST IN ROSES" 31 


Cultural Hints 
Roses are usually hungry and thirsty. One of our 
most common mistakes is not giving them sufficient 
water. Keep the ground moist. Water thoroughly 
each time. Frequency of watering depends on your 
soil, usually from one- to three-week intervals. Water 
in the morning only. 
In the early spring, mulch rose beds with either cow 
manure, peat moss or lawn clippings. Cow manure is 
excellent if clean, but foul weeds and insect pests may 
be brought into the garden through it. Feed each plant 
a half tea-cup of a well balanced commercial fertilizer 
every two months during the growing season. 
If you do not use a mulch, cultivate the ground 
lightly after each watering; just enough to break the 
crust. Deep cultivating cuts the feeding rootlets. 
Keep the roses well watered in summer. Allowing 
them to dry and go dormant causes the bushes to de- 
foliate and sunburn. 
Ground canes are the best wood on a rose bush. They 
are the soft new canes coming from around the bud 
union, with foliage and thorns identical to the older 
growth. Suckers come from below the bud union 
and have entirely different foliage, thorns and color. 
Suckers should be cut out as soon as identified. 
Pruning is very important and should be done during 
the dormant period. Leave new wood, cutting out as 
much of the old wood as is possible to still retain 
the form of the plant. Cut new wood back about half 
way and to an outside eye. However, you must prune 
according to the individual plant, as no set rule applies 
to all. It is advisable to prune soft wooded varieties 
with a sharp pruning knife. Paint all cuts of any size 
with ‘‘Tree Heal.’’ 
GROWING ROSES 
We are endeavoring to give our patrons the choicest 
varieties in roses and to produce the best possible 
plants. By so doing we feel that growing roses will 
be a joy to our patrons as well as a great satisfaction 
to us. Each year we drop some varieties to stock some 
of the new roses which we feel will be an improvement 
over the old ones. We have tried to give you the 
faults as well as the good points as we have observed 
them in the field. 
