i4 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
JANUARY “I, 1963. 
How to Prune Roses. 
IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE CLASS 
“THEY BELONG. TO. 
J. Meehan, in “Country Gentleman.” 
The proper way to prune a rose depends 
altogether on what class it belongs to. 
What old-fashioned people call daily 
roses, which are those that flower all 
through the season, and ~ embrace tea, 
China, Bourbon, and ‘noisette and their hy- 
brids, require close pruning. ‘The flowers 
are produced from shoots made the same 
seagon, and the closer they are pruned the 
stronger dre the new shoots and the finer 
the flowers. But it is not advisable to cut 
them down too close to the ground, as this 
results in but a few strong shoots and large 
flowers: Not quite’so close cutting gives 
more shoots and flowers, and even if the 
flowers are not quite so fine as they are un- 
der the other system the display is greater. 
With the knowledge that this class of rose 
is better for being cut back pretty well in 
spring, thére is not the necessity for 
covering the tops completely in winter, and 
very often a few spadefuls of soil heaped 
about them in early winter will be found 
sufficient. 
There are few other sorts requiring cut- 
ting back so much as the ever-bloomers do, 
so that after determining whether a certain 
rose belongs to that section or not, the 
proper way to prune can soon be decided 
on. 
The next most important class consists 
of what are called hybrid perpetuals, or 
June roses. The name of June roses 
comes to them because they bloom freely 
in that month, and then are done for. the 
“season, save a few stray flowers at inter- 
vals throughout the summer. The old 
name, “hybrid perpetual,” is a misnomer. 
Their mode of flowering is like that of 
nearly all flowering shrubs. The blossoms 
come mainly from shoots of the previous 
season’s growth. Hence these last year’s 
shoots must be carefully looked after, as 
if cut away the crop of flowers goes with 
the cut-off tops. 
The way to prune them is to cut back 
the shoots partly, leaving about two-thirds 
of their length. This lessens the number 
of flowers a little, but adds to the strength 
and size of those that do come. If cut 
down as low as recommended for ever- 
bloomers there will be no flowers. 
Climbing roses require much the same 
pruning as June ones. There must be some 
length of shoots made the previous year to 
licve flowers. Unless with good care these 
roses will make new shoots too much at the 
top and not enough at the bottom, when 
trained to arbors and posts, very much as 
grape vines are apt to do. In this case 
they need cutting back closely to get new 
shoots nearer the ground, but when this 
* is done there will be but few flowers that 
season. The skill of the gardener has to 
be exercised to keep a supply of young 
shoots when the flowers are wanted. Some- 
times by cutting weak shoots back closely 
in spring and leaving the strong ones for 
flowering the object can be accomplished. 
=SSSSeSSee 
Roses for the Rock Garden, 
essen 
Rose CHARLOTTE GUILLEMOT. 
Whatever may be the defects of this Rose 
outdoors—and I admit it is rather a poor 
grower, although generally described as 
vigorous—the delicacy and refinement of its 
creamy white blossoms under glass make 
amends for its somewhat indifferent growth. 
It seems to me that many of the glorious 
Hybrid ‘Teas that cannot boast of a vigourous 
constitution will become our best indoor 
Roses, for they have an upright habit all in 
their favour, and they also in most cases 
have fulness, a quality many of the Tea- 
scented group are deficient of. Mme. 
Cadeau Ramey, Antonie Rivoire, Souvenir 
de Mme. Eugene Verdier, and Souvenir du 
President Carnot are really magnificent when 
grown cool under glass. It is strange, but I 
think only too true, that some of the recent 
Hybrid Teas soon succumb to the rigours 
of a severe winter. If hybridising with 
Teas tends to produce a race deficient in 
hardiness (and here is a subject of discussion 
at the Chiswick conference), why do not our 
raisers introduce some Bourbon blood into 
the Hydrid Perpetual race, or even cross the 
atter with distinct varieties of their own 
tribe, especially those that bloom freely in 
autumn? Possibly no rosarian has ever met 
with a ripe seed pod upon Francois Michelon- 
outdoors, and yet we are told that from this 
variety Mr. Bennett secured his masterpiece 
Mrs. John Laing. ‘Therefore, it would seem 
desirable in order to obtain good novelties to 
induce those Hybrid Perpetuals, whose good 
points one would like to see embodied in 
novelties of other colours and form, to seed 
under glass. 
Rosr Urricn BrUNNER. 
Anyone requiring one of the handsomest 
Roses for massing should not fail to plant 
this good, hardy, free and vigorous sort. 
Not over tall in growth, the short, thickly 
set branches reach to about 2 feet high in the 
first year, and give a really splendid display 
of the richly-coloured flowers. For profuse 
flowering, perhaps there are many that could 
easily surpass this, but these not infrequently 
are smaller, and do not therefore create the 
effect in the garden that is often needed and 
so seldom gained. A bed filled with Ulrich 
Brunner cannot be overlooked. Large and 
broad in petal, it is one of those kinds that 
open quite freely even in such harsh, dry, 
hot summers as that of 1898. A good 
companion plant, in so far as freedom and 
height are concerned, is Captain Christy, one 
of the best light-coloured sorts for the same 
purpose. Both are free and good, and, in- 
deed, may be used in conjunction with each 
other if necessary, the former.in the centre, 
the lighter sort being placed around for a 
margin.—E.]. . “The Garden.” 
Rosery and Pergola. 
~G8COr 
By Davip Cote. 
No garden in England is considered com- 
plete without a pergola, and rightly so, for 
what is more delightful than a walk shaded 
with festoons of Roses, Wistaria, Tacsonias, 
Clematis, and other beautiful 
trained to the uprights and cross beams. 
The wonder is that in Australia particu- 
larly they were not introduced years ago. 
In England they the generally constructed . _ 
with rustic poles. The ideal place for 
a pergola is in conjunction with a rosary, 
as shown in the sketch. The structure in 
the sketch is my own idea, built for the 
dual purpose of beautifying the garden and’ 
to make a breakwind by leaving one side — 
all latticed. The laths are crossed: 4 inches a 
apart, which gives room to jut the hand 
through when tying up the climbers. It 
also serves the essential purpose of allow- 
ing the wind to filter through, which for 
many reasons is better than having the 
laths nailed closer together. If the position 
of the garden does not require a brealk- 
wind another idea is to have the pergola 
constructed through the centre of the — 
rosary each way to form a cross. The 
sketch given, however, is simple, and 
designed to show what is required in mak- 
ing a rosary. 
In the first place, care should be taken 
to adapt the design of a rosary to suit the 
particular piece of ground and surround- 
ings. It must be simply a scroll or geo- 
metrical to suit the convenience of the gar- 
dener in moving the hose about, and in 
using the lawn mower. A. principal feature 
of the design should be to make the rosary, 
appear as large as possible, with ever- 
changing views to show off the beauties and — 
peculiarities of each class of rose, such as.— 
the Banksias on the pergola for breakwind, _ 
and for the front Cloth of Gold, Devon-— 
iensis, Gloire de Dijon, and climbing Sou- 
venir de la Malmaison. The pillar roses _ 
in the larger beds should be trained to. — 
rustic posts with wire netting for tying. — 
Then the beds for Moss roses should be 
well in view. 
Moss roses should always be pegged down. — 
The bush is of a dwarf habit growing on its — 
own roots. Peg the growths down to the 
ground with strong pegs, and each eye will 
break and throw up a flower. By bending 
them over they will throw up shoots from 
the base, which are to be pegged down next 
year, and the old shoots or growths cut 
away. This is the only method to make 
them a success. Equally careful must 
be the management of the other roses as 
to habit of growth, color, &c. The various 
classes should be kept separate if possible. 
The sketch shows four large round beds 
for pillar roses trained to be rustic posts 
10 ft. high, or on tripods—posts for prefer- 
ence. The edging of the plots is of 
Fairies. The two smaller round beds are 
for the pegged down common Moss rose. 
climbers _ . 
Here I may mention’ that — 
