SB 411 .S3 Copy 1 i'"p '.' ^^. '^ Jill! M. J^ lifpljARfei ENRY .YLOR Class c^ £) y^/ / Book _ji_dJ_w_ . CopyiightN" COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. MAKING A ROSE GARDEN THE HOUSE & GARDEN MAKING BOOKS IT is the intention of the pubhshers to raake this series of little volumes, of which MaJcing a Rose Garden is one, a complete library of authoritative and well illustrated handbooks dealing with the activities of the home-maker and amateur gardener. Text, pictures and dia- grams will, in each respective book, aim to make perfectly clear the possibility of having, and the means of having, some of the more important features of a modern country or sub- urban home: Among the titles already issued or planned for early publication are the following : Making a Lawn; Making a Tennis Court; Making a Garden Bloom This Tear; Making a Fireplace; Making Roads and Paths; Making a Poultry Rouse; Making a Hotbed and Cold- frame; Making Built-in Bookcases, Shelves and Seats; Making a Rock Garden; Making a Water Garden; Making a Perennial Border; Making a Shrubbery Group; Making a Naturalized Bulb Garden; with others to be announced later, (t> u ■4J ti Ui m (U J3 •o -*-> u (li o CL, <U c Xi "^ C 3 <u +J S a; d) X! hfl-^^ 5^ h. i^^ rt aj w-^ -M ■'- (fl - <u .5 ^ o QJ ^ ^ <u , C 44 -§ tn -M 5.5 0) 3 -45 en S.I "o 6 O) Ul (U a; p J5 J5 >-. +j <M ^ - 0) U) 4) .^ (fl > '§'2 (U "^ bO) en UJJ^ c o o MAKING A ROSE GARDEN By HENRY H. SAYLOR NEW YORK McBRIDE, NAST & COMPANY 1912 COPTRIGHT, 1912, BY McBRIDE, NAST & CO. ^^ Published February, 1912 £C!.A305915 CONTENTS Introduction PAGB 1 Classification • o Location and Soil Preparation and Planting Fertilizing . Pruning Pests Propagation • • • • e • • . 11 . 20 . 25 . 30 33 . 40 Winter Protection . • • 44 Lists of Dependable Roses . . 46 Glossary of Terms . . . .51 THE ILLUSTRATIONS A Rose Garden with the Ideal Arrangement of Grass Paths Frontispiece FACING PAGE Ulrich Brunner, a Red Hybrid Per- petual Rose 4 Marechal Neil, a Tender Climbing Tea Rose 8 KiLLARNEY, OnE OF THE BeST HyBRID Teas . . . . . .12 A Garden for Roses Only . . 14 A Dormant Tea Rose as It Comes from the Grower . . .22 A Stock of Manetti Grafted with AN Improved Variety . . .42 A "Standard" Rose . . . .44 INTRODUCTION I WELL remember the caution given me by a noted horticulturist when, in the sudden awakening to the joys of garden- ing, I was about to attempt the cultivation of nearly everything named in the largest seed and plant catalogue I could find : " Leave the rose alone ; it is not worth fighting for." And leave it alone I did, until one day I was browsing about an old book shop and came upon a well-thumbed copy of good old Dean Hole's " A Book About Roses." Let me tell you that there is something radically wrong with the person who can read that book and then go on plodding along his dreary, roseless way. But why, if there is such a book as that to be had, do I presume to put forth what can at best be but a feeble ray in its predecessor's blaze of inspiration? Merely because Dean Hole's book, and a later vol- ume by the Rev. Andrew Foster-Melliar that is almost as inspiring, with perhaps 2 Introduction even more helpful guidance, are both writ- ten for the English rosarian and for a cool, moist climate that necessitates a somewhat different method of procedure throughout as compared with that which would bring success in growing roses here in America. Then too, there is to my mind something encouraging in a very small book, a book that will merely attempt to lay the foundations for the superstruc- ture that, after all, only experience can bring. Perhaps there are those who, like myself, are content with the bare essen- tials of classification, content to be told the basic rudiments of cultivation, and who are in haste to be done with all of these homely means to an end, that they may begin growing roses. Making a Rose Garden CLASSIFICATION WHEN one considers the fact that the majority of botanists recognize over a hundred species of the genus Rosa^ and that a French botanist lists and de- scribes 4,266 species from Europe and western Asia alone, it will readily be un- derstood that this chapter can give but a rough, working knowledge of groups and species. . Fortunately the amateur rosarian in the United States is concerned with very few of the species, largely for the reason that the efforts of our rosegrowers have natu- rally been confined to a few important groups where general merit is most strongly marked. Indeed, for the purposes of a modest rose garden, one would not go far wrong if he limited his choice of varieties to the Hybrid Teas, Hybrid Per- petuals and a few of the Teas, with sev- 3 4 Making a Rose Garden eral of the wichuraiana and rugosa hybrids for trellis and hedge. The name Hybrid Perpetual is borne by an enormous group of roses which have been derived from various species, crossed and recrossed until the parentage is in most cases hopelessly involved. The " Perpetual " half of the name signifies that the rose continues to bloom more or less frequently throughout the sum- mer. As a matter of fact, it is usually less. Teas or Tea-scented China roses form a distinct group that is readily recognized by the characteristic scent of the flowers and by the smoothness of its leaves. Teas are, in a way, the aristocrats of the rose garden. They bloom with no great blare of trumpets in June, like the Perpetuals, but they keep steadily at their work of producing exquisite blooms, one or two at a time, throughout the summer. Their one serious handicap is a lack of hardi- ness, which they possess only in a slight and very variable degree ; and they must be very carefully protected in the north to bring them safely through the winter, liven though I were forced tp buy new Uirich Brunner, a red Hybrid Perpetual that has achieved an excellent reputation. The H. P. type is characterized by hardiness and great freedom of bloom in June. Thereafter throughout the summer the burden of display must be borne by the Teas and Hybrid Teas Classification 5 plants each spring, however, I would not have a rose garden without Teas. Hybrid Teas, as the name signifies, are successful crosses between the Tea and roses in the Hybrid Perpetual group. This class combines the persistence of the Tea with the sturdier growth of the Perpetu- als, and from it we shall probably get the great bulk of our garden roses for some years to come. The Moss Rose, of which you will surely want a representative in your garden, be- longs in the Provence group, as will be seen in the tabular classification at the end of this chapter. Who does not know its beautiful buds in their setting of mossy stems .f^ This rose, like many a one that has not gotten such a grip on our affec- tions, has refused steadfastly to mix its blood with another species, and has re- tained its good points and its bad ones for over three hundred years. It is quite hardy but is rather susceptible to mildew. There are other roses, too, outside the larger and best-known groups — roses that, because of some superlative merit in one direction or because of past associations, lay a strong hand on our heart-strings and 6 Making a Rose Garden plead for an obscure corner of the new rose garden: the bristling Scotch Rose, the fragrant Damasks, the sweetbrier or eglan- tine with its inimitable fragrant foliage, the Penzance Brier Hybrids, the White Banksian of southern gardens with its odor of violets, the Persian Yellow of our grand- mothers' gardens, and the hundred-petaled Cabbage Rose, parent of the Moss. Climbing roses are to be found in many of the groups — Wichuraiana, Ayrshire, Polyantha, Musk, Noisette and as sports in the Hybrid Perpetual, Tea and Hybrid Tea groups. It is in another class, however, that we may look for the ideal American roses of the future. Not many years ago, came to us three natives of Japan, Rosa wichu- raiana^ Rosa multiflora and Rosa rugosa. From the first two has been developed by our American hybridizers the race of Ram- blers, while from the tliird has come such sturdy children as Conrad F. Meyer, per- haps the ideal hedge rose for our northern climate. In the estimation of Professor Charles S. Sargent, the dean of American horticulture, it is along the line of rugosa hybrids that we shall succeed in filling our Classification 7 gardens with large, beautiful, hardy and continuously flowering roses. The climate of the South and California seems ideally suited to the Teas, producing a wealth of exquisite bloom that fills those of us that live in more trying surroundings with envy. In the South also they have the Cherokee Rose (Rosa laevigata or sinica)^ flourishing along roadsides and in great masses on the prairies, its long, arch- ing stems bearing a wealth of pure white, single flowers, four or five inches across, in a setting of brilliant, evergreen foliage. It is one of our American hybridizers' hopes and aims to cross, this with a hardy rose to gain sufficient stamina for the North. And out in Oregon, the Hybrid Per- petuals and Hybrid Teas grow to a size and beauty that is unsurpassed the world over. Practically every kind of rose can be grown in the Puget Sound district, and the amateurs of that locality seem to have as little trouble with rose pests as we do here with our hardy decorative shrubs. To sum up the whole matter of classi- fication and to show the relative positions of many groups that, for lack of space, 8 Making a Rose Garden have not even been mentioned above, the following tabular key is given — a .slightly modified form of the classification given in the Cyclopedia of American Horticulture : /. Summer-flowering Roses, blooming once only A. Large-flowered (double). 1. Grow^th branching or pen- dulous ; leaf wrinkled. Provence Moss Pompon Sulphurea 2. Growth firm and robust ; leaf downy. Damask and French Hybrid French Hybrid Provence Hybrid Bourbon Hybrid China 3. Growth free; leaf whitish above ; spineless. Alba B. Small-flowered (single and double). 1. Growth climbing; flowers pro- duced singly. Ayrshire 2. Growth short- jointed, gener- Marechal Neil, a tender climbing Tea rose, dark golden-yellow in color, requires winter protection in the North. The Tea is the aristocrat of the rose garden, unapproached for delicate fragrance, refined form of the individual blooms, and continued flowering throughout the summer Classification 9 ally, except in Alpine. Briei's Austrian Scotch Sweet Penzance Prairie Alpine 3, Growth climbing ; flowers in clusters. Multifiora Polyantha 4'. Growth free; foliage per- sistent (more or less shiny). Evergreen Sempervirens Wichuraiana Cherokee Banksian 5. Growth free ; foliage wrinkled. Pompon II. Summer- and Autumn-fiowering Roses, blooming more or less continuously A. Large-flowered. 1. Foliage very rough. Hybrid Perpetual Hybrid Tea Moss lo Making, a Rose Garden 2. Foliage rough. Bourbon Bourbon Perpetual S. Foliage smooth. China Tea Lawrenceana (Fairy) B. Smaller-flowered. 1. Foliage deciduous a. Habit climbing. Musk Noisette Ayrshii'e Polijantha Wichuraiana Hybrids b. Habit dwarf, bushy. Perpetual Briers Rugosa Lucida Microphylla Berberidifolia Scotch 2. Foliage more or less per- sistent. Evergreen Macartney Wichuraiana LOCATION AND SOIL IF there is any secret in connection with the growing of beautiful roses in abundance, it hes in the strict observance of a few fundamental principles through which the rose plants, or bushes if you will, are given a location and soil which they will find congenial and nourishing. If for one moment you may have thought that success depends upon some particular insecticide for the annihilation of the aphis, or some hard-and-fast rule for pruning, or the use of- a fertilizer having magical at- tributes, dismiss that thought from your mind, once and for all time. Insecticides, judicious pruning and suitable manuring have each an important part in the cam- paign, but transcending all of these is the first choice of location and the prepara- tion of the garden in which the roses are to grow. Warfare against the rose's ene- mies can be but a one-sided, hopeless strug- gle if we are working against nature all the way through. Far easier and more II 12 Making a Rose Garden certain in effect will be our first efTorts to establish the rose plants themselves so firmly in healthful, congenial surroundings that they, rather than we, will bear the brunt of the battle against the insect pests. In China I am told that a custom once prevailed whereby the emperor paid his physician a good salary as long as the ruler kept his good health. If he fell ill the physician's pay stopped ; if he died, off came the practitioner's head. Be generous in the amount of thought and care you give in providing health, food and strength for your rose plants, and as a result you will have to give very little thought and care to curing disease and killing off the rose-bugs and slugs. In the first place let us take up the mat- ter of situation. Unfortunately most of us will have little leeway in this, for the average suburban place is not one that will offer hill and valley, windswept open space and warm shelter. The ideal location is to be found neither on a hilltop where the winter winds would play havoc with our winter protection, nor in a low hollow where frosts are always more frequent. A gentle slope to the south, well above nearby Killarney, the comparatively new Hybrid Tea rose, having a beautiful shell-pirk color, has achieved a wide popularity. The Hybrid Tea combines in a measure the hardiness of the Hybrid Perpetual with the continuous flower- ing habit of the Tea Location and Soil 13 low spots into which the cold air will drain, sheltered in some way from the north, would be all that we could ask. In the matter of this shelter, however, we meet a further difficulty, for our rose garden must be kept well away from any trees. It is a matter of common knowledge that the root system of a tree will, as a rule, extend as far out from the base as the tree rises about the ground. Obviously it would be merely a waste of time and effort to locate the rose garden where the hungry roots of trees would rob it of the food supply furnished the roses. In general, therefore, we shall have to use the wall of a house or a gar- den wall for our needed protection, though in case of necessity we could sink a ma- sonry wall or an iron plate as a barrier be- tween the upper rich soil of our rose beds and the roots of the sheltering trees. Sun, it is perhaps unnecessary to say, is essential, though it will be found that if the beds are in shade for the first part of the morning one will have greater oppor- tunity of enjoying the roses at their best — before the dew has been drunk from their petals by the thirsty midsummer rays. The matter of the size and design of the 14 Making a Rose Garden rose bed is of comparatively little im- portance ; what really is vital, however, is that the roses be permitted to have the beds to themselves — absolutely. But re- cently I read a magazine article purport- ing to be good advice for the rose-grow- ing amateur. Therein appeared words of regret that the rose must needs have such barcj, gaunt stalks, and suggesting as a remedy the growing of some vine about the base of the bush — I am not sure, indeed, that the honeysuckle was not specifically named for the place. I can well imagine that the result might be a very beautiful honeysuckle, but we should look there for the rose in vain. The Queen of Flowers will brook no lib- erties of this kind. She insists upon reigning alone in her glory, and anyone who dares presume to introduce even a low-growing, shallow-rooted ground cover with the intention of making the rose bed seem less bare, will never see his roses at their best. Personally I have never felt that a rose garden need be in the least un- attractive. There is one type of beauty that might be represented by a carpet of creeping phlox ; there is another that be- 3 0) 5 en XI o ^ O Jv CO 1^ ^ <u S en Wi • - o tn c > (n "^ •^ en ^> s g ^ J3 Location and Soil 15 longs to the rose garden, bearing its single blooms here and there, sparsely, among the green foliage and thorny stems. In the former instance one looks at the mass effect without a thought of the beauty of individual flowers ; in the latter case one's glance seeks out instinctively the single bloom to drink in its beauty and fragrance. Ah, but you say, how about the time when there is not a single rose in sight.'' There need be no such time between spring and fall if you plant your rose garden to best advantage. There is no need nor reason to put all the June-blooming roses to- gether, with the Teas and Hybrid Teas off by themselves in another place. If the re- montant types are interspersed through- out your garden you need never, between May and October, look for a rose in vain. The shape of the beds, too, may be such as to avoid an appearance of " too much dirt " in the rose garden. For my own part I would have a rectangular garden and simple parallelograms for the beds, although the rose garden about a central feature has its strong attractions. But if vou <irrange the beds in long narrow units -four feet wide for a double row of A suggestion for a rectangular rose garden with paths of turf. The beds are about forty inches wide, the paths four feet, excepting the center one, which is five feet in width. A hedge, which might be of rugosa, contributes a desirable air of seclusion Location and Soil 17 plants or twenty inches wide for a single row, and as long as your purse will allow, having the paths between the rows of turf rather than gravel or brick, and the beds slightly sunk below this turf, the rose garden need never be less than most at- tractive. Avoid beds wider than will ac- commodate two rows of plants, for it is essential that every rose bush in the gar- den be immediately accessible from a path. To those intensely practical persons who object to walking through dew-wet paths in the morning tour of the rose garden, let me point out the obvious im- possibility of having gravel paths immedi- ately adjacent to the rose beds, and the continued care required to keep in a pre- sentable condition a narrow strip of sod between path and bed. Now as to the preparation of the rose bed itself. First of all, dig the soil out to a depth of tv/o feet at least, keeping the top soil and sods and the subsoil in sep- arate piles as they are taken out. Loosen up the floor of the trench with a pick and on this, if the ground needs draining, which it will if it is a compact, sodden surface, put a layer of stones, cinders 1 8 Making a Rose Garden and other material that will not decom- pose. On top of this place the best of the sub-soil mixed with a generous dressing of well-rotted manure. Finally, add the sod, well broken up, and the top soil, also enriched with manure. Then fill in the bed with enough good top soil, unmanured, to bring it two or three inches above the adjoining surface. Make sure that the surface of the bed, after it has settled, will be about one inch below that of the adjoining sod in order to retain the moisture from rain. This preparation of the bed should be done at least several weeks in advance of planting time. In composing the soil for the rose bed, it is well to remember that the Hybrid Perpetuals require a heavy soil contain- ing some clay. For Teas and Hybrid Teas a lighter, warmer soil is better. In his most admirable " Book of the Rose," tlie Rev. Andrew Foster-Melliar tells an amusing incident in connection with soil. The good rector was dining out and had been served with a generous portion of plum pudding. It was very dark, rich, strong and greasy. Absent-mindedly he sat back in his chair gazing at the dish Location and Soil 19 intently. His hostess, noticing his hes- itancy, asked if anything were wrong with the pudding. " Oh, no," repHed the rec- tor unthinkingly, " I was thinking what rare stuff it would be to grow roses in." Top soil from an old pasture, if it be a moderately heavy loam, taken with the grass roots and chopped very fine, will do excellently for the Hybrid Perpetuals. For the Teas and Hybrid Teas, mix with soil of this kind about one-quarter of its bulk of sand and leaf mold to lighten it. Re- member that all the manure that is used should be incorporated with the lower two- thirds of the bed; the upper third should not contain any recently added manure as it is apt to harm the roots of new plants. PREPARATION AND PLANTING IN the vicinity of New York and further north, I think it will be found that spring planting is best. South of Phila- delphia many roses are set out in the fall, for here they become well established be- fore cold weather sets in, and are there- fore ready to start active groAvth at the first touch of 'spring. If spring planting is chosen the plants must be put in the ground early — at the very first opportunity — so that they will have time to become firmly established be- fore hot weather. Pot-grown plants from a greenhouse cannot, of course, be set out until all danger from frost is past. Roses that are planted so late cannot be ex- pected to show really satisfying results in bloom the first year. Roses that are planted early in the spring, if field-grown stock as explained below, will with proper cultivation give at least a reasonable amount of bloom the first year, though not so much as in later years. 20 Preparation and Planting 21 One hears a great deal of argument on the question of whether roses are best grown on their own roots or when grown on a sturdier stock, such as Manetti for Hybrid Perpetuals and brier for Hybrid Teas, which are probably the best rose stocks for this country. It seems to be the general consensus of opinion that roses budded on these stocks will thrive much more luxuriantly and give much better blooms than those which depend upon their own root systems. It is necessary, however, to set the point at which the shoot is budded to the stock about two inches beneath the surface ; otherwise there is the constant danger that suckers will spring from the root and, if overlooked for a time, these will kill the more desirable shoots. Several kinds of roses are offered by the dealers for setting out in the spring. There are the pot-grown roses mentioned above — the only form in which many of the climbers may be readily obtained. Mail- order houses make a practice of sending out the Hybrid Perpetuals, Hybrid Teas and Teas also in this form of very young plants grown from cuttings under glass 22 Making a Rose Garden during the winter. Costing more, and surely far more dependable, are the field- grown roses that have originally been budded on Manetti or brier and, usually in two-year-old form, taken out of the ground the previous fall while dormant, to lie in cold houses until ready for plant- ing. Such roses as these will surely bloom the first season and are far better equipped for the shock of being set into the open ground again than the pot-grown plants that have never had a taste of real garden life. A word of warning might profitably be uttered against the cheap roses budded on multiflora stock, grown in Holland and sold in some of the department stores. They are short-lived and very poor in com- parison with plants on brier and Manetti. Multiflora has been entirely discarded as a stock by English and Irish growers. Roses on their own roots have the ad- vantage of being cheaper, due to the sav- ing of labor in striking cuttings rather than budding — one-year-old plants cost- ing a dollar for six to a dozen ; two-year and three-year-old bushes, which are, of course, far more desirable, cost more in A dormant Tea rose as it is received from the grower for planting in March. After planting it should be still further pruned Preparation and Planting 23 proportion. Dormant, field-grown budded roses cost, in the two-year-old size, from thirty-five cents to a dollar each. Before setting the plants examine each carefully and cut off the broken roots with a sharp knife, as well as all eyes that may appear on the root stock, in order to fore- stall suckers. The plants should be set immediately upon their receipt from the nurseryman, so that they will not become dried out. If they seem dry it may be well to puddle the roots in thin mud just before setting. Make the hole large enough to accommodate all of the plant's roots without crowding, remembering to put the budding point not less or more than two inches below the surface and with the roots spread out nearly horizon- tally, but inclining downward towards their ends and without crossing one another. This will not be an easy matter, for in shipment the roots will have probably been so compressed that they extend al- most directly downward from the collar. After the plants have been firmly set and the earth carefully packed in around the roots, rake the soil to loosen it up over the whole surface. The soil will probably 24 Making. a Rose Garden be moist enough at the time to need no watering. With the pot-grown plants, the moist ball of earth that comes about the roots is carefully retained intact and placed in the hole prepared for the plant. Set the plant firmly in place by pressure with the soles of your shoes, give a generous water- ing and finally break up the surface of the soil with a rake. It is absolutely essential to keep the sur- face of the ground loosened with a hoe and a sharp steel rake throughout the summer. After very hard rain loosen the soil as soon as it is dry enough to work, to conserve the moisture. FERTILIZING IN striking contrast to the exquisite beauty of the rose is the food that we must give it in abundance if we would have the most healthy plants. But for the true rose enthusiast the turning over of a muck heap to find manure in just the right form, or the dilution of the by- products of the cow barn with water to make the best stimulant, have nothing about them that is in the least objection- able. If the .soil at our disposal is inclined to be rich in clay, we can probably do no better than incorporate well-decomposed stable manure with it, by raking it, well pulverized, into the surface in the early spring. In sandy or gravelly soils, how- ever, cow manure or that from the pig- sty will serve far better. It must be re- membered that when properly set out the rose plant is comparatively shallow- rooted, so that this raking of fine old manure into the soil must be just that, and 25 26 Making a Rose Garden not the deep digging of half -rotted ma- nure into the bed with a spading-f ork. The aim in the method advocated is to put the soHd manure where the spring rains will carry it in time to the feeding roots, and in the liquid form in which it is readily as- similated. The theory of this manurial feeding will make clear the fact that a proper applica- tion of liquid manure has practically all the advantages of the former method with- out its drawbacks. For solid manure, if applied to the beds in quantities sufficient to be of real value, has a tendency to keep the needed air out of the top soil, and to bring in its train an abundance of weeds that will be hard to exterminate. So that, with the exception of light sandy soils, where the humus is needed, we shall do well to feed the rose garden liquid nourish- ment. The time when this stimulant will be most eiFective is in the months of May and June, when most of the plants are putting all their efforts into the forming buds. Withhold the liquid in dry spells, for it is most appreciated immediately after a good, soaking rain. Fertilizing 27 Avoid getting the manure on the fohage, and make sure that it errs on the side of weakness rather than strength. Suspending a burlap sack containing a bushel of cow manure in a barrel of water for two days, will give a solution that needs dilution with its own bulk of water. A half -gallon to a plant each week will be a sufficient normal feeding. Immediately after dosing the beds go over them with a rake or prong-hoe and loosen up the surface to prevent evapora- tion. A vital principle in feeding rose plants is one that seems to be overlooked in- stinctively by seven out of ten amateur gardeners. It is this : A strong-growing, healthy plant needs and will absorb a large quantity of liquid manure ; a sickly plant, or one that is not yet well established, does not need and cannot absorb even the nor- mal quantity of this food. Yet how often are we tempted to feed to excess this weak- ling and withhold food from that nearby sturdy bush, because the latter " doesn't need it." Just bear in mind the fact that we do not give burgundy to a puny child that is struggling against the effects of 28 Making a Rose Garden malnutrition, but that a healthy, growing boy can consume an astonishing amount of food and drink. To review the year's activities in fer- tilizing : let us put a top dressing of rough manure over the beds in the fall, about three inches deep, with further protection where the climate demands it. In the spring we shall rake off the coarse portion of this covering, leaving the finely pulver- ized manure to be raked gently into the top soil if it needs this additional humus (the manure's food value will have been washed down by the winter's rain and snow). If our soil is clayey the whole top dressing will be hoed off. In May and June come the generous applications of the liquid manure, and for the Teas and Perpetuals that really do continue to flower, these applications may well be con- tinued through the summer at less fre- quent intervals, leaving off at the end of August, let us say, so as not to encourage unnecessarily the late summer's growth of wood. Although not many of us, in all prob- ability, will meet the unusual condition of having for our rose gardens only an over- Fertilizing 29 fertilized soil in a long-used garden, it may be well to mention the fact that such a soil will not produce good roses. Treat- ment with lime will help matters for a time, but if within the range of possibility we should remake the garden with virgin soil. The use of nitrate of soda and like stimulants may be undertaken sparingly in the spring, but these are better left to those gardeners who have learned, possibly through disastrous experiences, how prop- erly to use them. PRUNING THE rose is one of those plants that seem to need the firm hand of man to direct them in the way they should grow. If left to their own devices, most of the highly cultivated roses revert quickly to lower types ; they need the pitiless pruning- knife to spur them to their best endeavor. It will readily be seen that severe prun- ing, as a general principle, tends towards greater beauty of individual blooms, while light pruning is conducive to a better rounded-out form of bush at the expense of the flowers. Or, again, the severe pruning gives quality of bloom as opposed to quan- tity of bloom. Always cut back the plants severely when first setting them out — Teas and Hybrid Teas less than the Hybrid Per- petuals, and the climbers least of all. Unreasonable as it may seem, the plants of vigorous habit of «Trowth need less prun- ing than the less active ones. Pruning may be started with the dwarf 30 Pruning 3 1 Hybrid Perpetuals in March — leaving four or five canes three feet in length if large masses of bloom are wanted. The result will be a large number of small flowers. If, on the other hand, fewer and larger flowers are wanted, all weak growth should be removed and every healthy cane re- tained and cut back in preparation for the plant's development. The weakest should not have more than four inches of wood left on the root, while the strongest may have eight or nine inches. Always prune a cane about a quarter of an inch above an outside bud unless the cane is very far from the vertical, when an inside one should be left for the terminal shoot. See that the w'ood is not torn or bruised in the operation. The pruning of Hybrid Teas and Teas had better be postponed until the first signs of life appear. The bark becomes greener and the dormant buds begin to swell. Dead or dying wood will then readily be notice- able and it may be removed. Remember that these two classes do not need such severe pruning as do the Hybrid Perpetu- als ; twice the amount of wood may safely be left if it seems promising. 32 Making a Rose Garden Dormant rose plants bought in the spring will arrive from the growers already partly pruned. In general, from one-half to two-thirds of the remaining length of cane should be cut off when the plants are set out, removing entirely all bruised or dead wood. Bear in mind always, if your con- science revolts at such severe cutting, that the strongest dormant buds are nearest the base of the plant and it is these we want to force into growth to bear the prize blooms. With the ramblers very little cutting is needed ; merely cut back the shoots that seem to be outdistancing their neighbors by too much, and cut out entirely the dead canes. The rugosa is intended to be a bush rather than a strong, lean plant for prize blooms. Merely cut out old, dry wood and trim back the longer shoots to the desired form. Use a first-class pair of pruning shears in order that the work may be done quickly and, above all, with clean cuts that show no tearing or abrasion of the bark. PESTS ONCE more let me repeat the fact that by far the most effective campaign against the insects and other pests that in- fest rose plants is to be found, not in sprayings and dustings, but rather in maintaining to the best of our ability a condition of health in the plant itself. Prevention here, as always, is better than cure. Nor can it be too strongly empha- sized that the daily use of a powerful but finely divided spray from the hose will make life on the rose plant miserable for practically all of the parasites. The following are the chief enemies that we may encounter in the rose garden. They are briefly described so as to be recognizable when found, and for the an- nihilation or keeping in check of each is given one of the many remedies. Prac- tically every rosarian develops, after a time, his own pet formulas for these poi- sons, so that rose books will be found to contain a wonderfully varied assortment of 33 34 Making a Rose Garden weapons — so numerous in fact that one would think the army of rose pests could never live to continue their depredations another season. Aphis or Green Fly A small, pale green louse, winged or wingless, with a soft, fat, oval body ap- parently too big for its legs. A single aphis in five generations may become the progenitor of 6,000,000,000. Tobacco smoke is an excellent weapon, or, if a spray is found more convenient to apply, a solution of 4 oz. of tobacco stems boiled for 10 min. in 1 gal. of soft water, will do. The same weight of quas- sia chips may be substituted for the to- bacco. If the tobacco is used, the cheapest that can be bought is the best for the pur- pose. Strain the solution and add 4 oz. of soft soap while it is still hot, stirring well to dissolve the soap. Another remedy — 1 qt. of soft soap boiled in 2 qts. of soft water, adding 1 pt. of paraffin before cooling — is well recom- mended. It should be applied diluted with soft water to ten times its bulk. The Pests 35 paraffin acts as an astringent which, to- gether with the soft soap, cleanses the plant of honey-dew, which is exuded by the aphis to protect its feet against cold and wet. Mildew A fungous disease that may appear when the rose plants are in a damp, shady or ill-ventilated location. Although some varieties are more susceptible than others to this disease, the rose garden located out in the open, where the air has unobstructed access, will not be troubled much by mil- dew. When the disease appears late in the autumn it need not be feared. Dusting flowers of sulphur upon the foliage, taking care to reach the under side of leaves as well as the upper, and upon the ground about the plants, is a well established remedy. It will be found convenient to shake the powder from a baking-powder can, the end of which is punched with holes, if a regular powder gun is not at hand. Use the sulphur in the early morning, when the dew will help to hold it on the leaves, or else spray the plants with water beforehand. 36 Making a Rose Garden Rose Thrip A small, yellowish white insect with transparent wings^ usually found on the under side of the rose leaves. ' This pest appears in swarms and in an astonishingly short time turns the foliage yellow. If the pest appears, spray the rose plants daily with a hose as suggested above. If this does not prove efficacious^ dust the under side of the leaves with white helle- bore in a powder gun. Whale oil soap solution, in the proportions of 5 oz. of soap to 1 gal. of water, is a very good remedy. It is easier to dissolve the soap if the water is hot. Rose Caterpillar or Leaf-roller Several kinds of caterpillars may ap- pear, varying from one-half to three-quar- ters of an inch in length, and either green, yellow or brown in color. They have a habit of enveloping themselves in the rose leaves, or boring their way into the flower buds. In the latter case they are very apt to be overlooked. Powdered hellebore will hinder their progress, but by far the most effective Pests 37 weapons are the finger and thumb — gloved, if you msist. Rose Chafer or Rose-hug This brown beetle, less than one-half inch in length, is one of the best-known rose pests. It is a slow-moving creature that appears suddenly in armies in the blooming season in June, and is the more annoying for the reason that it devotes its attention almost entirely to the flowers themselves. Paris green, dusted over the plants, will kill the pest, but this poison has a disagree- able way of showing no intelligent discrim- ination in the choice of its victims. Really the only satisfactory method of attack is to knock the stupid creatures ofl^ the flowers into a tin of kerosene and then burn it. Rose Slug The larvae of a saw-fly which comes up out of the ground in May and June. The female makes incisions in the leaves and deposits her eggs, which hatch out in about two weeks. The slugs will eat an aston- ishing am.ount of leaf if not checked. They 38 Making a Rose Garden are about a half-inch long, green, and will be found on the upper side of the leaf. Powdered white hellebore, dusted on the foliage, or the solution of whale oil soap mentioned for the Rose Thrip, will keep it in check. White Grub An underground enem}^ that feeds on the roots of rose plants. The withering or sickliness of the plant is sufficient reason to cause a thorough search to be made by lifting it. The grub, which is provided with six legs near the head, and which coils itself into a crescent shape when in repose, is particularly fond of strawberry plants, so it will be well to keep these some distance away from the rose garden. There is no insecticide that will be ef- fective, because of the underground point of attack. Lifting the plant and remov- ing the grub is the only thing that can be done. Bark Louse or White Scale This appears when the rose bush is grown in a damp, shady place. It is snow Pests 39 white and individual scales are about one- tenth of an inch in diameter, irregularly round. Cut off and bum badly infested shoots. Spray with 1 lb. of soap in 1 gal. of water in early winter and again in early spring. Weaker summer applications may be used also — 1 lb. in 4 or 6 gal. once in three weeks throughout the season will reach all the larvse. Our Allies It is well to remember that there are friends of the rose in the lower animal world as well as enemies — the toad, lady- bug, ground-bird and swallow, particu- larly. Th-e toad is sometimes brought by the English gardeners from a distance to help wage war on the pests ; the lady-bug may be passed thankfully by when seen; and it may be w^ell to try attracting the birds to the rose garden by scattering a few crumbs there daily — not too many, but just enough to arouse a real appetite for insect pests. PROPAGATION THE propagation of his own stock is a task for which the expert is better fitted than the beginner for whom this book is written. Nevertheless, I doubt whether the amateur will pass through his first year of rose growing without wish- ing to make an attempt to multiply the stock of those roses which have with him been most successful, or to bud a choice variety from a friend's garden on the fos- ter-parent stock for his own place. Whereas in England the process of bud- ding is carried on very widely and with fair success among amateur and pro- fessional rosarians alike, with us this means of propagation seems fraught with greater difficulty. Excepting in the case of vari- eties that do not readily root from cut- tings, this latter method of propagation is generally adopted where roses on their own roots are desired. The best time for taking cuttings from a plant is towards the end of the summer, 40 Propagation 41 when the ripe wood of the current year's growth will be available. Ten inches is a convenient length for the pieces and some rosarians feel that if a " heel," or por- tion of older wood, remains on the lower end there will be greater likelihood of root- ing. Remove all but the two top leaves and set the cutting in a li^ht soil, or even in pure sand, so that only the two upper buds are exposed. Leave the cuttings in the ground until the following autumn, when those that have taken root may be transplanted and set at a less depth in their permanent quarters. Budding is a far more interesting process to carry through, and by it we may have sturdier roses on a stock like Manetti or brier. A very sharp knife is required, with some raffia for tying the bud securely into the stock. In the limited scope of this book I can but indicate very roughly the general procedure, and, in- deed, budding is far more readily learned by watching a skilled rosarian do it than by reading many pages of description. Briefly, then, a bud, which may be found under any petiole, is carefully sliced, with its surrounding bark and backing of wood. 42 Making a Rose Garden from the half-ripe stalk of the variety to be propagated, leaving the petiole in place to serve as a handle. This is probably best done in July. After removing very gently the wood backing from the bark and bud, the latter are slipped into a T- shaped incision in the foster stock, this incision to be made through the bark to the actual wood of the stalk. The bud and its supporting bark are inserted be- tween the wood and bark of the stock, the latter then being wrapped with a few turns of raffia to hold the bud in place. After a period of a month the bud will either have taken hold or failed, and the tie may be removed. The rose plants that we buy already budded on Manetti or brier are produced in this way, excepting that the bud is in- serted very low on the stock, so that the junction will be underground. This is the more desirable place for budding, insur- ing, if we nip the suckers as they may appear, a plant that above ground shows only the shoots of the desired va- riety. Grafting is practiced only in the case of roses grown under glass, when the scions A shoot of an improved variety of rose grafted and held in place with raffia to the stock of a sturdy growth like Manetti. At tlie right is a ''sucker" or growth from the root, and it must be cut off as soon as it appears Propagation 43 are cleft into stocks of Manetti or brier grown in pots for the purpose. Layering is used as a means of increas- ing the stock only in the case of roses that do not readily strike from cuttings. It consists of bending down a long shoot so that a section of it may be pegged un- derground to take root. ■ Propagation by seed is limited to the ef- forts to obtain new varieties after cross- fertilization, and is a discouragingly slow and uncertain process. WINTER PROTECTION IT will be a red-letter day for amateur rosarians when the existing favorites among rose plants shall have been so im- proved by cross-breeding that we can leave off all the winter overcoats of straw, brush and earth, with the happy knowledge that spring will find as many live plants in the rose garden as we rejoiced in during the previous season. Although the Hybrid Perpetuals are, for the most part, sufficiently hardy to withstand an ordinary winter unprotected, it is still the part of wisdom to conserve their energy and health by hoeing up the earth about their bases and putting over all a top dressing of rough manure when protecting the Hybrid Teas and Teas. In the northern states it will be well to tie up the tops of the latter with straw or to sur- round the bed with a border of boards or wire netting, after winter has set in, and cover the plants with a thick blanket of leaves held down by brush. This protec- 44 In England the "standard" rose, having a long stem of the foster stock, is quite common. With us it is less frequently seen on account of the bother of proper winter protection Winter Protection 45 tion should be removed gradually in March. Where the winters are particularly se- vere, a still more certain precaution is to dig up the plants and lay them in well- drained trenches, covering them with earth and a further layer of leaves, straw or •brush. The aim is not to protect the plants from freezing at all, but to pre- vent the alternate freezing and thawing that is so disastrous. Another treatment for tender roses is to winter them in boxes of soil in a cool cellar. In case this is done, see that the earth is not allowed to dry out entirely. At planting time in the spring the dor- mant plants will be taken out, dipped in a bucket of thin mud and replanted in the garden. While we may be willing for the present to take such precautions with the garden roses, most of us will not care to coddle the climbers to anything like this extent. Beyond hoeing up a mound of earth about the bases of these and top-dressing them, we shall let the climbers fight their own battles, and leave the result to the prin- ciple of the survival of the fittest. LISTS OF DEPENDABLE ROSES IT is a difficult matter, indeed, to select, from the experience of rose growers and from the long lists of the nursery- men's catalogues, a few that may be safely named as the best roses. In fact, it is a task that no one would care to undertake. It may be helpful, however, to add the fol- lowing list ; these are by no means the only good roses, but in choosing any or all of these the amateur cannot well go astray. For the benefit of his experi- ence and advice regarding these lists, I am indebted, among others, to Dr. Robert Huey, of Philadelphia — probably the most experienced amateur grower of roses in the United States. It has been thought best not to attempt individual descriptions nor to go very far into details of color. The lists, then, are grouped into rough sub-divisions under the main colors, and it will be understood that " pink," for instance, will include a rather wide range of varying tints. 46 Lists of Dependable Roses 47 Hybrid Perpetuals White — Merveille de Lyon, White Baroness, Frau Karl Druschki, Margaret Dickson, Mabel Morrison, Gloire Lyon- naise (in reality a Hybrid Tea, but as it blooms only in June it may be included in the Hybrid Perpetual class). ' Pink — Baroness Rothschild, Caroline D'Arden, Heinrich Schultheis, Her Majesty, Lady Arthur Hill, Mrs. George Dickson, Mrs. Harkness, Susan Marie Ro- docanachi, Mrs. John Laing, Paul Ney- ron, Marie Finges, Marquise de Castel- lane, Mrs. R. S. Sharman-Crawford, Sou- venir de la Malmaison. Red — • Captain Hayward, Fisher Holmes, General Jacqueminot, Oscar Cor- del, Ulrich Brunner, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Teck, Anne de Diesbach, Duke of Fife, Etienne Levet, Prince Arthur, Ard's Rover (climber). Prince Camille de Rohan is the best of the very dark roses, among which also are Sultan of Zanzibar, Louis Van Houtte, and Xavier Olibo. These, however, are weak growers and frequently do not bring their blossoms to perfection. 48 Making a Rose Garden Teas White — White ?*Iaman Cochet, Hon. Edith Gifford. Pink — WilHam R. Smith, Maman Cochet, Souvenir d'un Ami, Duchesse de Brabant, Mrs. B. R. Cant.^ Yellow — Harry Kirk, Etoile de Lyon, Francis ca Krueger, Isabelle Sprunt, Safrano, Marie Van Houtte. Hybrid Teas White or light-colored and mixed — ' Viscountess Folkestone, Pharisaer, Molly Sharman-Crawford, Ellen Wilmot, Grace Molyneaux, Antoine Revoire, Joseph Hill, Mrs. A. R. Waddell, Betty, Prince de Bul- garie. La Tosca, Kaiserin Augusta Vic- toria. Pink — Killarney, Lady Alice Stanley, Lady Ursula, Dean Hole, Lyon Rose, Dorothy Page Roberts, Madame Edmee Metz, Lady Ashtown, Mrs. Charles Cus- tis Harrison, Caroline Testout, La France. Yellow — Duchess of Wellington, Mrs. Aaron Ward, Madame Ravary, Madame Lists of Dependable Roses 49 Melanie Soupert, Madame Hector Leuil- lot, Melody. Red — George C. Waud, Lawrent Carle, Gruss an Teplitz, Chateau de Closvoges, Etoile de France. I Moss Roses White — Blanche Moreau. Pink — Crested Moss. RuGOSA AND Its Hybrids White — Blanc Double de Coubert ; Rosa rugosa, var. alba. Pink — Conrad F. Meyer. Red — Arnold; Rosa rugosa, var. rubra. WiCHURAIANA HYBRIDS White — WIchuraiana, White Dorothy. Pink — ^Lady Gay, Dorothy Perkins, W. C. Egan, Sargent. Red — Hiawatha. Noisettes Yellow— Cloth of Gold, Reve d'Or (climber). Fortune's Yellow. 50 Making a Rose Garden POLYANTHAS White — Trier, Catherine Ziemet. Pink — Tausendschon, ClothiWe Soupert. Red — Carmine Pillar. Prairie Roses White — Baltimore Belle. Pink — Rosa setigera. Austrian Briers Yellow — Harrison's Yellow, Persian Yellow, Austrian Copper. A GLOSSARY OF TERMS Anther — a rounded knob-like form at the top of the stamen, containing the pollen. Callus — a swelling which occurs at the base of a cutting previous to the forma- tion of roots. Calyx — the narrow green leaves or sepals forming the covering for the bud. Corymb — a group of flower stalks arising from a common stalk and forming a level top. Cutting— ra section of a stalk containing several eyes or dormant buds, taken for the propagation of a new plant. Disbud — ^to deprive a stalk of flower buds by pinching or rubbing these off^. It is done in order to throw more energy into the remaining bud or buds. Hep or hip — the seed pod. Hybrid — a new species resulting from the cross-fertilization of two species. Leaflet — a single member of the compound leaf borne by all rose plants. Maiden plant — a plant blooming for the 51 52 Making a Rose Garden first time after being budded or grafted to a stock. Ovary — the hollow lower end of a pistil, containing the embryo seeds. Panicle — a cluster of flowers borne irreg- ularly on a stem. Petiole — the stalk to which the several leaflets are attached. Pistil — the seed-bearing organ in the cen- ter of a flower, consisting of one or more styles, one or more stigmas and the ovary. Pollen — the powdery substance found in the anthers. Remontant — applied to roses that flower the second time in a summer. Sepals — ^the narrow green leaves of a pithy texture forming the calyx. Sport — a shoot or sucker from a plant, showing some peculiar feature or features distinguishing it from its parent. Stamens — the male organs surrounding the pistil. Stigma — the upper end of the pistil, ca- pable of receiving the pollen and con- nected with the ovary by a tube extend- ing down through the style. A Glossary of Terms 53 Style — the erect columnar support of the stigma. Sucker — a branch or shoot proceeding from the root or stem of a plant, below the surface of the ground. Frequently used as meaning a shoot from the root- stock of a budded or grafted plant. i 11 i9^2