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[Pg 87] 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,[Pg 88] 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[Pg 89] 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[Pg 90] 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[Pg 91] 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,[Pg 92] 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.