“Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere,With its Roses, the brightest that earth ever gave?”
“Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere,With its Roses, the brightest that earth ever gave?”
Throughout the whole season during which the roses remained in bloom in this beautiful valley, the Feast of Roses was kept with great rejoicing, and an entire abandonment to pleasure. At this time, a great number of tents were pitched, and multitudes of men, women, boys, and girls, were dancing and singing to the music of their various instruments.
All that has been handed down to us, and all we know at the present time of the climate and productions of Persia, and the customs of its inhabitants, prove that it was emphatically the land of roses; and all that we can gather from its history or tradition evinces, that to theinhabitants of the East, including the Hindoos and the Moors of Spain, is this beautiful flower indebted for the most careful and abundant cultivation, and for a due appreciation of its merits.
At the present time the Rose is cultivated throughout the civilized world. Loudon speaks of hedges of mixed Provence Roses, in the garden of Rosenstein, in Germany, and also of their profusion in the public garden of Frankfort. They are found in the gardens of Valencia, in Spain, and Sir John Carr, speaking of the seat of a Spanish gentleman near Tarragona, says, “The doors of the dining room open into a small garden, the walls of which are covered with myrtles, jasmines, and roses.” In the Botanic garden of Madrid, rose trees are used for dividing hedges, and the flower is a favorite throughout Spain.
Among the Spanish ladies, the Rose is highly valued, and, with the Orange flower, is a favorite ornament for the hair. We have frequently been struck, while traveling in the Spanish West Indies, and in some parts of South America, with the careful nurture and attention bestowed on a single rose bush, and the delight exhibited at its bloom, while all around in natural luxuriance were the most beautiful and gorgeous plants and flowers which the tropics can produce. The brilliant cactus, the beautiful oleander, the singular orchids, and the delicate and fragrant flowers of the coffee and orange, seemed cast into the shade by the ancient and well-known Rose.
I well recollect, that on returning one day from a ride into the country, where I had been luxuriating in the gorgeous splendor of a tropical forest, the fair daughter of my hostess wished to introduce me to a flower, which, in her opinion, far surpassed all that I had seen; she accompanied me to the top of the flat-roofed house, used at the South as a place of evening resort, and there, in one corner, I found a thrifty plant of the Tea Rose, which to her infinite delight, was just showing above its glossy and delicateyoung leaves, a little ruby-tipped bud. This little plant had been the object of long and careful nursing, and her attention was now about to be rewarded by a fine and perfect bloom.
In France, however, is the Rose a preëminent object of horticulture, both in commercial establishments and in private gardens. The skill of the French has originated many new and beautiful varieties, which are to be found in several of the nurseries in the United States. The French are constantly searching for improvements in horticultural science and practice, with an enthusiasm rarely found in the more cold Englishman, whose skill seems to consist less in the creation of new varieties, than in growing perfectly those already known. None, indeed, can surpass the English in the art of growing fine plants, but we are chiefly indebted to the French for the finest new varieties of the Rose.
In Great Britain, although comparatively little attention has been paid to the obtaining of new varieties, the culture is more careful and the nomenclature more correct. The competition excited by their numerous horticultural exhibitions causes great attention to be given to correct nomenclature and to symmetrical habit of growth. We can imagine nothing more beautiful than some of the plants that we saw at the exhibitions of the London Horticultural Society at Chiswick; every plant was pruned, trained and grown, after an ideal, but perfect model, with its close and luxuriant foliage, its thrifty, symmetrical habit, and the thick, leathery petals of its well-cupped flower. This high standard should be introduced into every Society, and if such were the case in this country and the rule were carefully obeyed, the character of our exhibitions would in a short time be very materially changed.
T. Rivers is one of the most extensive rose cultivators in England, and is also known as the author of a very excellent descriptive work on the Rose. He has also beensuccessful in hybridizing, and has originated come very fine varieties. His attention was at one time directed almost exclusively to the Rose, but it now includes many other nursery articles, and on our visit to him, we found him much interested with experiments in fruit culture. Lane, Wood, and Paul, are esteemed very good cultivators, and generally correct in their nomenclature. From these several establishments in England and France have been imported most of the varieties now existing in this country. Their trade with the United States is, however, comparatively limited, from the great risk of loss by a sea voyage. We have frequently lost in this way two-thirds or three-quarters of an importation, to our great annoyance and expense, and it is only by repeated and persevering importations that we have been able to obtain all the desirable varieties.
In the United States the culture of the Rose has been very much neglected, until within a few years. Tulips and dahlias have successively been the rage, and although there has long existed a great variety of roses, comparatively few of them have been cultivated, even in the best gardens of the United States. Now the tide is turning. Dahlias are going out of repute, and the Rose is resuming its ancient empire in the queendom of Flora. The advent of the Bourbon and the Remontant, or Perpetual classes, has no doubt materially aided this change, but it is in a great part owing to the easy culture of the plant, and the intrinsic merits and beauty of the flower. The taste of the horticultural public being thus decidedly for the Rose, a demand will exist for all the information respecting soil, planting, cultivating, etc., and this information we shall endeavor to supply in a simple and concise manner, avoiding, as far as possible, all technicalities, and adapting it to the use of the cultivator of a single plant in the crowded border of a city garden, or to the more extended culture of a commercial establishment.
Each cultivator has his peculiar mode of doing things, and there may be those who deem the mode laid down here inferior to their own. From these we should be glad to hear, and to make any corrections they may suggest, where such corrections appear to be founded upon true principles. In order to make our work as perfect as possible, we have not hesitated to add to our own experience all the information derived from a personal inspection of French and English nurseries, and to cull from foreign works and periodicals all that may interest our readers. Such information, as far as it coincides with our own experience, we shall gladly incorporate, with the hope that we may be successful in presenting every fact of interest which may exist respecting the cultivation of our favorite flower.
The most suitable soil is a strong, rich loam, or vegetable mould mixed with about one-quarter its bulk of well-decomposed stable manure. If the soil of the garden where the roses are to be planted differs materially from this, it should be made to approach it as nearly as possible by the addition of the requisite soil and manure. In a good vegetable garden, the soil, with the addition of a little manure, will grow the Rose well. When the soil, however, is of an inferior character, holes should be dug three or four times the size of the roots of a well-grown rose bush and filled with compost of the above character.
Rivers recommends, as the best compost for roses, rotten dung and pit-sand for cold, clayey soils; and for warm, dry soils, rotten dung and cool loams. He also states that he has found night soil, mixed with the drainings of the dunghill, or even with common ditch or pond water, so as to make a thick liquid, the best possible manure for roses, poured on the surface of the soil twice in winter—one to two gallons to each tree. The soil need not be stirred until spring, and then merely loosened two or three inches deep, with the prongs of a fork; for poor soil, and on lawns, previously removing the turf, this will be found most efficacious. He directs this compost to be applied in the first two winter months, but as our ground is frequently frozen so hard then that it cannot absorb the liquid, it would probably be best to apply it in this country a month earlier. Where a bed or border of roses is to be planted, it is well to dig out the soil to the depth of two or two and a half feet; fill the bottom to the depthof six inches with small stones, and then replace the earth, well fertilized, as directed above. Nothing is more injurious to the Rose than a wet, retentive subsoil; and where expense and trouble are no object, this perfect draining is much the best calculated to ensure a thrifty growth and perfect bloom. A rich and dry soil is, in fact, all-important; for otherwise the most double flower will frequently become single or semi-double. We have seen a plant of La Reine produce a perfect flower in the green-house, and when removed to an inferior soil, produce flowers almost single. It may therefore be safely laid down as a rule, that it is impossible to make the soil too rich for the Rose, and that in proportion to the fertilizing matter contained therein, provided it is properly decomposed, will be the approximation of the plant and the flower to perfection. The fertility of the soil may be very much assisted by frequent applications of liquid manure, made either of cow dung or guano; the former is always safe; the latter, valuable if properly used, may, in the hands of a careless person, ruin the plant.
In these remarks on fertility of soil, we have no desire to discourage those who may not have a fertile soil, or the means of obtaining the elements of fertility. The Rose will grow and bloom in any soil; the wood will be healthy, but short and small; the flower will be produced, but, as we have said before, will be smaller and often semi-double; yet even under these disadvantages, it is still the most desirable flower for the poor man; none other can so cheaply and so well ornament his small yard, or hanging in graceful festoons about his windows, shed forth its bloom and sweetness to enliven his hours of relief from labor, and give his children happiness, from the association of pleasant thought with natural beauty. But the poor man has within his reach more than he supposes of the elements of fertility. The ashes of his hearth, the decomposed turf of the road-side, and the domestic manure,too generally thrown away, all contain some of the best fertilizing matter, and with proper care could be made amply sufficient for the production of his flowers and vegetables. The decomposed turf alone would grow roses admirably, although a little manure would be a useful addition.
SITUATION.
The best situation for the Rose is an eastern or northern exposure, rather than a southern; the intensity of the heat of our midsummer often affects injuriously the expansion of the flowers, their color, and fragrance. A useful degree of shade can be obtained by planting amidst groups of dwarf roses, pillars, trellises, obelisks, etc., on which climbing roses can be trained, and whose shadow, changing with the sun, would protect the opening bloom and answer the same end as a cool situation. While, however, the Rose requires a cool, airy locality, it should by no means be placed entirely in the shade; a portion of the sun’s rays is always necessary to ensure a good bloom. It is from this cause that the bloom of roses is much more certain and perfect in France and this country than in England. In the latter country, the sun is scarcely ever sufficiently powerful to develop all the resources of a plant. The summer of 1846 was unprecedentedly hot throughout England, and all the horticultural journals united in pronouncing the bloom of roses that season unsurpassed by the bloom of any previous year. For climbing roses the situation should not be too exposed, or where they would be liable to encounter heavy winds, which might break off the young shoots and in other ways injure the plant. Most of our American cities possess in the culture of roses a great advantage over the large towns of England, in the use of anthracite instead of bituminous coal; for, according to Loudon, the Rose will not thrivein towns where the prevailing fuel is of this character, and the bloom will not compare with those produced some ten miles distant. “The first effect of the smoke is to prevent the flower buds from opening freely, next to diminish their number; the leaves then gradually become smaller, and the length of the shoots less, after which the plant weakens by degrees, and in a few years, if a standard, it dies altogether, or, if a dwarf, barely exists, and seldom if ever flowers.”
Such a result, from such a cause, is rarely known here, and the resident of the city may have his little yard filled with roses whose bloom will be in no way inferior to that of the plants in an extensive lawn or garden.
PLANTING.
All those roses that bloom only once in the year, and also the Perpetuals, or Remontant Roses, can be planted in autumn, after the first severe frost. The ends of the roots, which have been broken in taking up, will then form a callus, and the soil will be so thoroughly settled about the roots by the winter rains, that the plant will commence forming new roots early in the spring, and will rapidly make strong and luxuriant shoots. As far north as New York and its vicinity, the Bourbons and the Bengal, with their sub-classes, being more delicate, should not be planted until spring.
If the subsoil is wet and retentive of moisture, the planting of any roses should be deferred until spring, but from our preceding remarks it will be borne in mind that such soil should be well drained before planting, in which case the autumn will still answer.
The plant should be taken up carefully, with all the root possible, bearing in mind that the elements of life are in the root, and every fibre that is lost is so much taken from the future health and prosperity of the plant. The rootshould then be carefully examined, and every portion that has been bruised should be cut off; all the broken ends should also be cut away as far as they are split or injured. Any root of the character of a tap-root, or growing directly down into the earth, should be cut off; for it is best to encourage only lateral roots, which can more readily partake of the benefits of the rain and sun, and can more effectually absorb the nutriment in the soil.
In the spring the hole for each plant should be dug somewhat larger than the root, and the bottom forked, or dug up, and if necessary enriched with the surface soil, which, it is presumed, has been prepared according to preceding directions. Let one hold the plant, while another throws in the soil; or if one alone is planting, let him hold the stem just above the root with one hand, and throw in the soil with the other, moving the stem from side to side, and occasionally pulling it upward a little and shaking the root until the soil has worked well among the fibres; on which much of the subsequent prosperity of the plant depends. If the weather is dry, a little water may be placed in the hole, which should then be filled up and the soil well trodden down about the stem. When planted, it should be very little, if at all, lower in the ground than before; very little of the stem should be buried; and when trodden down, the root should be made firm and solid.
In planting climbing or pillar roses, care should be taken to set the trellis, or pillar, or whatever may be used for their support, before the plant is put in the ground; for if such should be set after the plant has commenced growing vigorously, it will in all probability damage the roots, and give the plant a check from which it will not recover during the whole season.
The Rose, even in the best soils, should be taken up every three or four years, and have its roots shortened and pruned; a portion of the soil in which it grew shouldalso be removed and replaced by soil of the character before described. Where the soil is poor, they should be taken up every other year, and replanted, after renewing the soil as above, or digging it with plenty of manure.
Van Mons states that in Belgium the plants are uniformly taken up at the end of eight years and placed in fresh soil, or they are thrown away and young plants substituted in their place. This substitution of young plants is perhaps the most certain mode of ensuring a continual supply of strong, healthy wood and well-formed flowers.
The Rose may be transplanted at any season, provided the shoots are pruned closely and deprived of all their leaves, and the soil in which they are planted kept well watered. The flowering also may be retarded in this way, and those roses that bloom only once in the season, if they are transplanted just before they are coming into flower, and properly pruned, will bloom in autumn. The autumn and spring, or the dormant season, however, is the proper period for all transplanting.
Whether planted in autumn or spring, if purchased of a nurseryman, they should beorderedin the autumn. In the spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground, the first few warm days, operating upon their excitable nature, will start them into growth. If then the nurseryman has a large number of orders on hand, some of them will inevitably be delayed until the plants have grown too much. If ordered in the autumn, the purchaser should not expect to receive them before the 10th or 15th of November. No nurseryman who values his reputation will allow roses to leave his grounds before the vegetation is checked by several heavy frosts, and the wood and roots allowed time thereafter to thoroughly ripen. Dealers who desire roses early, in order to deliver with other plants, sometimes rebel at this; but purchasers should understand that roses will not flourish unless the wood and roots are thoroughly ripe. This applies more particularly to the Remontant,Moss, and June roses. The Tea, China, and Noisette, will bear taking up at any time, but their roots will rarely be in a condition to endure the cold as far north as New York without some protection. When received from the nurseryman in the autumn, they should be carefully and separately heeled-in in a dry piece of land, and covered with sand. A covering of litter should be avoided, because it affords a harbor for mice, who would soon destroy the plants.
Plants from the open ground are always to be preferred by the purchaser. Those sold in pots in the spring have frequently been forced, and will require a long period of rest before growing again, while those from the open ground, having had their rest, will grow luxuriantly at once.
It should also be remembered by the purchaser that the delicate roots of the Rose will not bear exposure to the air. All reputable nurserymen understand this, and pack in moss. Dealers, however, who purchase of these nurserymen, and who have many lots to deliver after they are unpacked, are often not sufficiently careful to guard the roots against exposure. The plants then failing to grow well, the fault is attributed to some deficiency in the plant, rather than to its true cause. To ensure safety while being delivered, dealers should dip them, as soon as unpacked, in a puddle of mud of the consistency of thick paint. This precaution is useful in every case after unpacking and before planting, for there must always be some delay and exposure even when the purchaser obtains plants directly from the grower.
In pruning roses at the time of transplanting, the principal object to be attained is relief to the plant by taking away all the wood and branches which the diminished root may not be able to support. The mode of pruning depends very much upon the condition of the plant. If it is very bushy, all the weaker branches should be cut away, leaving not more than three or four of the strongest shoots, and shortening even those down to a few eyes. If it is desired that the plant should continue dwarf and bushy, the new wood should be cut down to the lower two eyes, and every half-grown or slender shoot cut out. These two eyes will each throw out a branch; then cut these branches down to the two eyes, and again cut back the shoots they produce until a symmetrical habit is formed, with close, thick foliage. There should not be sufficient wood allowed to remain to make the bush crowded; and if there should be danger of this, some of the branches, instead of being cut down to two eyes, should be removed altogether.
Climbing roses, when planted, should be cut down almost to the ground, and also carefully thinned out. Only a few of the strongest branches should be preserved, and the new wood of these cut down to two eyes each.
The preceding remarks are applicable to roses at the time of planting; they should also be pruned every year,—the hardy varieties in the autumn or winter, and the more tender in the spring. For all roses that are not liable to have part of their wood killed by the cold, the autumn is decidedly the best time for pruning; the root, having then but little top to support, is left at liberty to store up nutriment for a strong growth the following season. The principal objects in pruning are the removalof the old wood, because it is generally only the young wood that produces large and fine flowers; the shortening and thinning out of the young wood, that the root, having much less wood to support, may devote all its nutriment to the size and beauty of the flower; and the formation of a symmetrical shape. If an abundant bloom is desired, without regard to the size of the flower, only the weak shoots should be cut out, and the strong wood should be shortened very little; each bud will then produce a flower. By this mode, the flowers will be small, and the growth of new wood very short, but there will be an abundant and very showy bloom. If, however, the flowers are desired as large and as perfect as possible, all the weak wood should be cut out entirely, and all the strong wood formed the last season should be cut down to two eyes. The knife should always be applied directly above a bud, and sloping upward from it. The preceding observations apply principally to rose bushes, or dwarf roses; with pillar, climbing, and tree roses, the practice should be somewhat different. The former two need comparatively little pruning; they require careful thinning out, but should seldom be shortened. The very young side shoots can sometimes be shortened in, to prevent the foliage from becoming too thick and crowded.
Pillars for roses can be made of trellis work, of iron rods in different forms, or of wood, but they should enclose a space of at least a foot in diameter. The cheapest plan, and one that will last many years, is to make posts of about 1½ or 2 inches square, out of locust or pitch-pine plank, and connect them with common hoop-iron. They should be the length of a plank—between twelve and thirteen feet—and should be set three feet in the ground, that they may effectually resist the action of the wind. The Rose having been cut down to the ground, is planted inside of the pillar, and will make strong growths the first season. As the leading shoots appear, theyshould be trained spirally around the outside of the pillar, and sufficiently near each other to enable them to fill up the intermediate space with their foliage. These leading shoots will then form the permanent wood, and the young side shoots, pruned in from year to year, will produce the flowers, and at the flowering season cover the whole pillar with a mass of rich and showy bloom. Figure 5 gives the appearance of a pillar of this kind. If the tops of the leading shoots die down at all, they should be shortened down to the first strong eye, because, if a weak bud is left at the top, its growth will be slender for a long time. The growth of different varieties of roses is very varied; some make delicate shoots, and require little room, while others, like the Queen of the Prairies, are exceedingly robust, and may require a larger pillar than the size we have mentioned. Figure 6 shows the method of constructing a pyramid by the use of a central post and iron rods.
Fig. 5.—PILLAR ROSE.Fig. 6.—ROSE PYRAMID.
Fig. 5.—PILLAR ROSE.Fig. 6.—ROSE PYRAMID.
Fig. 7.—A ROSE ARBOR.
Fig. 7.—A ROSE ARBOR.
Climbing roses require very much the same treatment as pillar roses, and are frequently trained over arches, or in festoons from one pillar to another. In these the weak branches should also be thinned out, and the strong ones be allowed to remain, without being shortened, as in these an abundant bloom is wanted, rather than large flowers. An arbor, made by training roses from one pillar to another, is represented in figure 7. In training climbing roses over any flat surface, as a trellis, wall, or side of a house, the principal point is so to place the leading shoots that all the intermediate space may be filled up with foliage. They can either be trained in fan-shape, with side shoots growing out from a main stem, or one leading shoot can be encouraged and trained in parallel horizontal lines to the top, care being taken to preserve sufficient intermediate space for the foliage. Where no shoots are wanted, the buds can be rubbed off before they push out. No weak shoots should be allowed to grow from the bottom, but all the strong ones should be allowed to grow as much as they may. When the intermediate space is filled with young wood andfoliage, all the thin, small shoots should be cut out every year, and the strongest buds only allowed to remain, which, forming strong branches, will set closely to the wall and preserve a neat appearance.
The production of roses out of season, by forcing, was, as we have shown, well known to the ancient Romans, and from them has been handed down to the present time. But the retarding of roses by means of a regular process of pruning owes its origin to a comparatively modern date. This process is mentioned both by Lord Bacon and Sir Robert Boyle. The latter says: “It is delivered by theLord Verulam, and other naturalists, that if a rose bush be carefully cut as soon as it is done bearing in the summer, it will again bear roses in the autumn. Of this, many have made unsuccessful trials, and thereupon report the affirmation to be false; yet I am very apt to think that my lord was encouraged by experience to write as he did. For, having been particularly solicitous about the experiment, I find by the relation, both of my own and other experienced gardeners, that this way of procuring autumnal roses will, in most rose bushes, commonly fail, but succeed in some that are good bearers; and, accordingly, having this summer made trial of it, I find that of a row of bushes cut in June, by far the greater number promise no autumnal roses; but one that hath manifested itself to be of a vigorous and prolific nature is, at this present, indifferently well stored with those of the damask kind. There may, also, be a mistake in the species of roses; for experienced gardeners inform me that the Musk Rose will, if it be a lusty plant, bear flowers in autumn without cutting; and, therefore, that may unjustly be ascribed to art, which is the bare production of nature.” Thus, in quaint and ancient style, discourses the wise and pious philosopher on our favorite flower, and also mentions the fact, that aredrose becomeswhiteon being exposed to the fumes of sulphur. This, however,had been observed before Sir Robert’s time. Notwithstanding his doubts, it is now a well-established fact, that the blooming of roses may be retarded by cutting them back to two eyes after they have fairly commenced growing, and the flower buds are discoverable. A constant succession can be obtained where there is a number of plants, by cutting each one back a shorter or longer distance, or at various periods of its growth. In these cases, however, it very often will not bloom until autumn, because the second effort to produce flowers is much greater than the first, and is not attended with success until late in the season.
However desirable may be this retarding process, it cannot be relied on as a general practice, because the very unusual exertion made to produce the flowers a second time, weakens the plant, and materially affects its prosperity the subsequent year.
There is, indeed, but one kind of summer pruning that is advantageous, which is the thinning out of the flower-buds as soon as they appear, in order that the plant may be burdened with no more than it can fully perfect, and the cutting off all the seed vessels after the flower has expanded and the petals have fallen. Until this last is done, a second bloom cannot readily be obtained from the Bengal Rose and its sub-classes, the Tea and Noisette, which otherwise grow and bloom constantly throughout the season.
We would impress upon our readers the absolute, the essential, importance of cultivation—of constantly stirring the soil in which the Rose is planted; and we scarcely know of more comprehensive directions in a few words than the reply of an experienced horticulturist to one who asked the best mode of growing fine fruits and flowers. The old gentleman replied that the mode could be described in three words, “cultivate, cultivate, cultivate.” After the same manner, we would impress the importanceof these three words upon all those who love well-grown and beautiful roses. They are, indeed,multum in parvo—the very essence of successful culture. The soil cannot be plowed, dug, or stirred too much; it should be dug and hoed, not merely to keep down the weeds, but to ensure the health and prosperity of the plant. Cultivation is to all plants and trees manure, sun, and rain. It opens the soil to the nutrition it may receive from the atmosphere, to the beneficial influence of light, and to the morning and evening dew. It makes the heavy soil light, and the light soil heavy; if the earth is saturated with rain, it dries it; if burned up with drought, it moistens it. Watering is often beneficial, and is particularly so to roses just before and during the period of bloom; but in an extremely dry season, if we were obliged to choose between the watering-pot and the spade, we should most unhesitatingly give the preference to the latter.
We do not wish, however, to undervalue the benefits of water. If the plants are well mulched with straw, salt hay, or any other litter, frequent watering is very beneficial. When not mulched, the watering should always be followed by the hoe, in order to destroy the baking of the surface. While the plants are in a growing state, liquid manure will give a larger and a finer bloom. This liquid manure may be made with soapsuds, or the refuse from the house. When these are not easily obtained, half a bushel of cow or horse dung can be placed in a barrel, which can then be filled with water, well stirred up, and allowed to settle a day or two before being used.
For those who are willing to incur the expense, a very nice way of applying pure water is to sink ordinary tile, two inches in diameter, with collars, about a foot below the surface, around and through the rose bed. An elbow from this, coming to the surface, can convey the water into the pipes, through the joints of which it will escape,and thus irrigate the whole ground, without baking the surface.
BEDDING ROSES.
While Remontant, Moss, and Garden Roses are adapted to the wants of much the larger number of growers, because they require no protection in winter, and are strong and robust in their growth and habit, yet the ever-blooming varieties are becoming daily more popular. While but few of the Remontants have more than two seasons of distinct and abundant bloom, the Teas, Chinas, and Noisettes, bloom constantly and continuously. In grace, and color, and beauty, these last have more varied charms than the more hardy and abundant Remontants, and the difficulty of caring for them in the winter, even by those who have no glass, is compensated by the additional pleasure they give in the summer. Those who have glass can enjoy them winter and summer alike. Their superiority in constant blooming, especially, adapts them for planting in masses or beds scattered about the lawn. These beds can be each of one color, or they can be assorted, or can be planted in the ribbon style, rows of white, or red, or yellow alternating. No bedding flowers, Verbenas, Salvias, or any other plant, will give so constant pleasure as Roses. They can be purchased, also, nearly as cheaply as ordinary bedding plants, and are found in several places as low as $15 per 100, or $100 per 1,000. On being taken out of the pots they will grow rapidly, and bloom after they are thoroughly established, and afterward, year after year, they will commence blooming early, and continue until frost. A bed made in any part of the lawn, and in any soil, will grow them well, provided it has a dry bottom, and has some well-decomposed manure dug in it. A light, sandy soil will grow them in the greatest perfection. They can be planted eighteen inches to two feet apart,and the new shoots, as soon as they have attained sufficient length, should be pegged down, so as to cover the whole ground. The branches thus laid down will give abundant flowers throughout their whole length, and from each bud a strong-rooted shoot will be thrown up, and being pruned down close in the autumn, will be ready to produce a strong and bearing shoot another year. If they become too close and crowded, the new shoots can be partially cut away. North of Baltimore, these Roses will need protection in the winter. This can be done by covering the bed with sand, several inches deep, or by taking up the plants, cutting them down, heeling them in in a dry cellar, or potting them for a green-house.
“Seek Roses in December, ice in June.”—Byron.
“Seek Roses in December, ice in June.”—Byron.
Every variety of Rose, in the hands of a skillful man, will grow and bloom well in pots, although the Bengal and its sub-classes, and the more dwarf Hardy Roses, are the most easily managed. The great point in potting is to imitate planting in the open ground as nearly as possible. The soil used should possess all the nutritious elements required in the open ground, and, if possible, in somewhat greater abundance. More manure should be used, because the frequent watering required by plants in pots must inevitably wash away a portion of the fertilizing matter. There is nothing better than one portion of stable manure, and three of turf, or leaf-mould, all well decomposed, and mixed with a little pure peat earth. A portion of night-soil, well incorporated with charcoal, is also very excellent. Charcoal is the most powerful absorbent known; it retains the nutritious elements in the night-soil, prevents their being washed away by watering, and gives them out as the plant needs them. English gardeners should bear in mind that roses require in this climate a stronger soil than in England. Half-gallon pots are the best size at first, from which, by repeated pottings, corresponding with the growth of the plant, they can be shifted to one or two-gallon pots. The size of the pots should, however, be regulated by the extent of the roots; it should be just sufficiently large to allow the roots to go in without crowding. A few broken pieces of pots or small lumps should be put in the bottom for drainage. When the plant is to be taken from the open ground,select one, the roots of which are not too large, and with a sharp spade cut around it a ball of earth about the size of the pot, depriving it at the same time of a portion of its top, as directed in remarks on pruning. It should stand in this state about a fortnight, until the roots have become callused, and the plant is somewhat accustomed to the loss of its roots and branches. It can then be safely taken up at any season, and transferred to the pot, which should then be filled in with earth, firm and solid. If potted in the autumn, after the leaves have fallen and the wood become mature, the above previous preparation is not required, but the plant can be taken up without a ball of earth, and after being pruned of its bruised or broken roots, placed in the pot. It should then be protected from the frost and light until it has entirely recovered from its change of habitation, when it can be placed in any cool spot free from frost, until it is wanted for forcing.
Roses may, without difficulty, by the above previous management, be forced to bloom in the latter part of winter, but where their bloom is desired at Christmas or New-Year, they should be gradually prepared for the space of a year previous. To produce roses the latter part of winter, our own management has been simple and effective, giving us as many flowers as a green-house and vinery full of pots could afford. After putting the plants in pots, as directed above, pruning them down to eight or ten buds, and hardening them in a shady place, they are removed to the vinery before the frost out of doors can have injured them, and cut down to two buds. The house is then kept as cool as possible, while the frost is carefully excluded by a light fire at night, and on fine days the sashes are opened, and plenty of air admitted. They are thus kept in a dormant state until the first of the year, when the heat is gradually increased to about 70° by day, sinking as low as 35° at night. Care istaken to give them sufficient watering, and in their whole management to subject them as nearly as possible to the conditions of open culture. When the green-fly appears, it is immediately destroyed by fumigation with tobacco, and the plants are subsequently syringed with clean water. With this management, they soon begin to show signs of life, the bud commences pushing forth its delicate, light green shoot, the leaves then appear, the plant, soon growing with luxuriance, is clothed with rich foliage, and about the middle of the third month, the house presents a mass of thrifty growth and perfect bloom.
By the means above described, roses may be forced into bloom the latter part of winter; and by observing some care to bring them into the house at different periods, in regular succession, a bloom can be enjoyed through all the spring months, until roses bloom in the open ground. This process cannot, however, be continued two years in succession without weakening the plant; and although, if placed in a shady spot, and allowed to rest during the summer, it may sufficiently recover to perform the same work another year, it is desirable, if possible, to have fresh plants, whose strength has not been exhausted by the unusual effort attending the production of flowers out of season.
The preceding directions apply more particularly to late forcing; and although the same means, with an earlier application of heat, will produce flowers early in winter, yet the true art of early forcing consists ingraduallybringing the Rose out of its season; and it is only by this mode that thrifty plants and perfect flowers can be produced before Christmas.
Two years, and sometimes three, should be employed in preparing a Rose for early forcing. Having been prepared by digging around it with a sharp spade some two weeks previously, the plant should be taken up immediately after the first frost, placed in a cold frame a few days, toharden, and then taken to the green-house or vinery. A moderate heat should then be given it, with plenty of light and air to prevent its being drawn. The flower-buds should be plucked off as soon as they appear, and no bloom should be allowed. It will thus make fine growths, and can be plunged in the open ground as soon as danger of frost has passed in the spring. Here it can remain during the summer, to ripen its wood, and will require no care except a little watering in dry weather, and an occasional taking up and examination, that the roots may not push through the hole of the pot, and become fixed in the ground, in which case the plants would make too strong a growth, and suffer on being removed from the new-made root. In October it can be placed in a pot one size larger, pruned by thinning out all the weak branches, and shortening the strong ones down to two eyes. It should then go through the same process as before, carefully picking off all the flower-buds, promoting its growth until completed, when let it be put in a cold frame until all danger of frost is over, and then plunge it in the ground to ripen its wood. As its vegetation was started a month earlier the last year, it can now be taken up in September, repotted and pruned as before, and then taken into the green-house. The temperature should then be gradually raised to about 55° until the plant has commenced growing, and then gradually increased to 65° or 70°, giving as much air as can be obtained without lowering the temperature.
All useless shoots should be kept down, and all the flower-buds taken off that threaten to be abortive. In fumigating for the green-fly, care should be taken not to do it too strongly, but repeated and gentle doses at night are better. We have known many fine plants ruined by fumigation in the hands of an inexperienced person. A good bloom can be obtained the second year by this mode; but if the amateur has the patience to wait until a third,he will be rewarded by a thrifty and compact habit, rich foliage, and beautiful bloom for two months before Christmas; and if there are a number of plants to be brought into the green-house a week after each other, he can have them in bloom until the late forced roses appear. At all periods subsequent to their commencement, care should be taken to give them sufficient moisture, and as much air as is consistent with the state of growth and the external temperature. Without water, they will neither grow nor bloom well. Under glass, every other day, and in some cases, twice a week is sufficient.
The great principle to be borne in mind in forcing roses is, that sudden excitement is fatal, and that a plant should never be taken from the open ground into a heated house without being gradually prepared for it. This principle is particularly applicable to deciduous roses. The Remontant and Bourbon, the Bengal and its sub-classes, which grow and bloom through the whole year, are not so liable to be injured by exciting treatment.
Cuttings of these that are struck in the spring and planted out in the open ground may have their tops slightly pruned, and their buds all pinched off during the summer, to encourage the formation of wood and of a close head.
About the last days of summer, or the first of autumn, they can be taken up and placed in quart pots, with a soil composed of one half loam, one quarter cow-dung, and one quarter peat. After being slightly pruned, and left in the shade for a week, they can be placed in frames, protected at night from frost, and exposed to the air in mild weather for some two months, when they can be removed, a few at a time, into the green-house, and subjected to a moderately increased temperature. They will soon bloom well, and will succeed each other throughout the winter and spring, until roses bloom in the open air. Like the deciduous roses, they require to be protectedagainst the green-fly by syringing, and if that does not answer, by fumigation with tobacco.
The Bengal, however, like the deciduous roses, will bloom better the second winter than the first, by shifting them into larger pots, pruning them, cutting off all the flower-buds, and giving them very little water the latter part of summer. They can then be put into the frames, and treated as before. The Bengal Rose is very easily forced in this way; and if the temperature is at first kept during the day at 45°, and gradually increased to 60°, there can be little difficulty in obtaining beautiful and healthy plants. This temperature can be obtained in any green-house or vinery. The latter is becoming more common, and when it is provided with heating apparatus, there can be nothing better for roses. We have forced them very successfully in one of our own vineries, one hundred and twenty feet long, twelve feet wide, ten feet high in the rear, three and a half in front, and heated by hot water. But as there may be many who desire a cheaper structure, we will give the description of one used by Rivers, (the best rose-grower known), with his mode of managing roses in a structure of that character. “A pit, ten or twelve feet long, and eight feet wide, just high enough to stand upright in, with a door at one end, and a sunken path in the centre, a raised bed on each side of the path, and an 18-inch Arnott’s stove at the farther end, opposite to the door, with a pipe leading into a small brick chimney outside, (a chimney is indispensable), will give a great abundance of forced roses from February to the end of May. To ensure this, a supply must be kept ready, so that, say twenty may be placed in the forcing pit about the middle of December, a like number in the middle of January, and the same about the middle of February; they must not be pruned till taken into the house, when each shoot should be cut back to two or three buds for the formation of strong shoots. The fire shouldbe lighted at seven in the morning, and suffered to burn out about the same hour in the evening, unless in frosty weather, when it must be kept burning till late at night, so as to exclude the frost; and for this purpose, double mats should be placed on the lights. The thermometer should not, byfire heat, be higher in the day than 70° during December, January, and February; at night it may sink to 35° without injury. The temporary rise in a sunny day is of no consequence, butno air must be admitted at such times, or the plants will exhaust themselves, and immediately shed their leaves. When the sun begins to have power, and in sunny weather, toward the end of February, the plants may be syringed every morning about 10 o’clock with tepid water, and smoked with tobacco at night on the least appearance of the Aphis, or green-fly. To ensure a fine and full crop of flowers, the plants should be established one year in pots, and plunged in tan or sawdust, in an open, exposed place, that their shoots may be well ripened; the pots must be often removed, or, what is better, place the pots on slates, to prevent their roots striking into the ground. With the Remontant or Perpetuals, even if only potted in November previous, a very good crop of flowers may often be obtained, and a second crop better than the first; for the great advantage of forcing Remontant roses is, that after blooming in the green-house or drawing-room, their young shoots may be cut down to within two or three buds of their base, and the plants placed again in the forcing-house, and a second crop of flowers obtained. The same mode may be followed also with the Bourbon, China, and tea-scented roses; with the latter, indeed, a third crop may be often obtained. Toward the end of March, when the second crop of flowers is coming on, the plants may be gradually inured to the air, by opening the sashes in mild weather. This will make them hardy and robust. Syringing should be practiced every morning and evening;but when the flower-buds are ready to open, this must be confined to the stems of the plants and the pots; otherwise the flowers will be injured by the moisture. Air must at first only be given about noon; care must be taken to remove the plants from the forcing-house to the green-house or drawing-room before their blossoms expand; they may then be kept in beauty many days. We have not found the check which the plants receive by this sudden change of temperature at all detrimental. During their second growth, the plants should be watered once a week with manure-water, and the surface of the pot occasionally stirred. Two pounds of guano to ten gallons of water forms the very best species of liquid manure; this should be stirred before it is used.
“The treatment recommended for roses in a pit with Arnott’s stove may be pursued with roses in a house with smoke-flues or hot-water pipes. Arnott’s stove is recommended as an economical and eligible mode of heating, practiced here to some extent with success for several years. On these stoves an iron pan, fitted to the top, should always be kept full of water. Roses may be forced slowly, but with perhaps greater certainty by the uninitiated, by giving air freely and constantly in mild weather during the day, keeping the fire constantly burning during the same period, as recommended when keeping them closely shut up.”
We have copied the whole of this article, although in a measure a repetition of previous remarks, since it may be interesting to some to know the opinion of so eminent a cultivator on this least understood branch of rose culture. A few of his directions are somewhat different from those we have given before, and may be far better than our own plan, in the climate of England. Here, an Arnott’s stove would scarcely heat a pit to 70° with the thermometer at zero; and if it should, we would think it rather dangerous to give so high a temperature at once.The strength of guano is also so varied, that we should feel very cautious in using it according to the above receipt. While, however, we would not venture to question the general utility of his directions, we may perhaps say, that we have found our own plan effective in its results, and productive of thrifty plants and beautiful flowers. We would advise cultivators to test them both, and adopt that which succeeds best in their hands. A pit of the above description can be constructed at a very low price, and should be found on the premises of every gentleman of even very moderate income, for the supply of his parlors during winter. If, in addition to this, there were constructed on the east side of the house, and facing south, a little room with a glass front and roof, opening into the parlor, and heated either by a valve from the house furnace, or by a water-back connected with the parlor grate, more enjoyment would be afforded the lover of flowers than could be obtained by any other outlay of two hundred dollars. This room could then be kept constantly filled with roses from the pit, and through the most dreary winter, amid rain, snow, and storm, would present a bright array of the living reminders of spring and summer. It is a matter of much surprise, that, among all the beautiful country residences in the vicinity of our large cities, surrounded by all the appliances of luxury and comfort that taste and wealth can afford, so few instances are found in which the drawing-room or parlor opens into a green-house or conservatory. These buildings are frequently placed at a distance from the house, and although they may be filled with the most beautiful and rare exotics, are, during the greater part of the winter, inaccessible to the ladies of the family.
Let gentlemen of wealth, then, place their vineries anywhere, but use them as forcing-houses when the vines are in a dormant state. Let them also have a green-house or conservatory opening from the drawing-room, intowhich all the plants can be brought from the vinery whenever they show signs of bloom. This conservatory can be heated by hot water, flowing through iron pipes from a boiler placed over the furnace that warms the drawing-room—taking from this very little heat, and yet abundantly warming the conservatory. An improvement could still farther be made, by having the east end of the conservatory arch over a carriage drive, and thus allow visitors to enter the drawing-room through the conservatory. Exclusive of the delight afforded visitors by this very pleasant addition to a dwelling, it affords a delightful promenade for the ladies of the family, where, while all is wintry without, and walking is unpleasant, even when the ice-bound trees are glittering in the clear sunlight, they may luxuriate amid roses and jasmines, breathing air fragrant with the perfume of daphne and orange flowers, and surrounded with everything that can remind them of the beauty and bland climate of the sunny south.
We have occupied so much space with the peculiarities of culture for the forcing-house, that we had almost forgotten that more humble, but no less pleasure-giving mode of Window culture. As this culture is practiced chiefly by those who cannot spare the time nor incur the expense of previous preparation, the best mode is that given for late forcing of roses, taken up the autumn previous, placing the plants in pots seven inches in diameter, and using a soil composed of equal parts of sand, loam, and manure, or peat, loam, and manure. They can be watered with manure-water every fortnight, made from the drippings of the barn-yard, or, what is more pleasant, a safely weak solution of guano, about one pound to fifteen gallons.
The plants should be brought into the heat gradually; first into a cold room where there is no frost, and then into the sitting-room, where they can be placed in thewindow, and turned around every week, in order to give each side of the plant its share of light. They will soon begin to put forth their thrifty shoots, in some six weeks will present a fine show of beautiful flowers, and, if properly managed, will continue blooming through the winter. If attacked by the green-fly, the plant can be inverted in a strong decoction of tobacco, or it can be fumigated by being placed under an inverted barrel, or other receptacle, with some burning tobacco. For window culture, the Everblooming Roses are the best, and they should be ordered of the nurseryman in suitable pots. This mode commends itself to all; it is within the reach of the daily laborer; the seamstress can have it in her window, and in the midst of her toilsome duties, be reminded by its bright flowers of many a green spot in past days. It is especially suited to the means and leisure of the operatives in our factories, many of whom have left the country and all its green fields and pleasant flowers for the crowded city, where they can have no garden, but simply this little pot to remind them of past pleasures, and throw a gleam of sunshine over their hours of relief from labor. The plant can be placed in their chamber window, or in the windows of the factory, where the high temperature, if it has been brought from the chamber, will soon bring out its foliage in great luxuriance, and its flowers in beauty, and be a pleasant object of care in the moments snatched from the operations of the loom. To this class we would especially commend the Rose; as thriving under simple treatment, as possessing, more than any other flower, the elements of beauty, and tending, like other flowers, to keep alive in a crowded city that freshness and purity of feeling that distinguished their country life, and which, unless there exists an unusual perversion of the moral faculties, must always result from an intimate acquaintance with natural objects.
CUTTINGS.
This mode of propagation, although possible with all roses, is more difficult with those that bloom only once in the season. It is most applicable to the smooth-wooded kinds, as the Bengal and its sub-classes, and the Boursault, Microphylla, rubifolia, etc. Many of the Perpetuals and Bourbons are propagated with facility by the same mode. For propagation in the open ground, cuttings should be made in the autumn, or early part of winter. They should be made of wood of the growth of the season, and about six inches long. The lower end should be cut square, close to a bud, and they can then be planted thickly, two-thirds of their length in sand, in a light and dry cellar. Here a callus will be formed on the bottom of each cutting during the winter, and on being planted out in the spring, they will immediately throw out roots. They should be planted as early as possible in the spring, in a light sandy loam, with one-third of their length and at least one bud above the surface of the ground. They should be planted very early in the spring, because, if left until late, the power of the sun is too much for them. The earth should be trodden down very tight about them, in order, as much as possible, to exclude the air. If the weather is dry, they should be carefully watered in the evening. Where it is inconvenient to make the cuttings in the fall or early in the winter, they can be made in the spring; but in consequence of having to form the callus, they will require a much lighter soil than will afterward be desirable for their growth, and they will also be muchlater in coming on. This mode of open propagation answers very well for some of the smooth-wooded roses of the more robust growing varieties, like the Boursault and Rubifolia; but for the delicate Bengals, the best mode is pot propagation. For this purpose, small pots can be used, filled with equal parts of mould and sand, or peat and sand. About the middle of autumn, cuttings of the same season’s growth are taken off with two to four buds, cutting off one or two of the lower leaves, and cutting off the wood smooth and square close to the eye, as in figure 8. These cuttings can be inserted in the pot, leaving one eye above the surface. It should then be slightly watered to settle the soil firmly around the cuttings, and then placed in a cold frame, or on the floor of a vinery, in which no fire is kept during winter. Early in the spring the pot should be placed in a house with a moderate temperature, kept perfectly close, and sprinkled every morning with water a little tepid. Now, as well as during the autumn, they should be shaded from the too bright glare of the sun. In about a fortnight, and after they have formed a third set of leaves and good roots, a little air can be given them; and after being thus hardened for a week, they can be repotted into larger pots. In order to ascertain when they are sufficiently rooted, the ball of earth can be taken out of the pot, by striking its inverted edge lightly against some body, at the same time sustaining the ball of earthby the hand, the cutting being passed between two of the fingers a little separated. If well rooted, the fibres will be seen on the outside of the ball of earth. They can then be placed in a cold frame, or anywhere under glass, to be planted out the latter part of spring, or retained for pot culture. Where hot-bed frames are not convenient, or the amateur wishes only to experiment with one or two cuttings, he can use a tumbler, or any kind of close glass covering.