SOIL, SITUATION, AND PLANTING.
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 depth
of 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 thrive in 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 root should 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 should also 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 be _ordered_ in 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.