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The Perpetual Rose: English
The best soil for roses is a deep, rich, and rather moist loam. Almost any fairly good soil will grow roses of some sort, but for vigorous growing varieties that should produce large and very double flowers, the soil must be loamy and liberally manured. The standard roses, being on the English brier, need a rather stiff soil, which should be deeply dug for them and very liberally manured. Therefore those who live in clay countries may indulge in standards, and they may be advised always to give the preference to vigorous growing sorts, and to plant trees with good heads in the first instance. It is a pity to disfigure a garden by planting long sticks with a few little ugly twigs at the top, for those starvelings rarely become fine plants, and if they are ugly in the first instance they are likely to become more ugly with lapse of time. Where the soil is thin and stony and dry, the best form of rose is the "manetti"--that is to say, those that are grafted on the Italian brier bearing that name, for this brier can endure the trials of a poor, light soil, better than the English brier. But a good garden soil that has been well prepared will produce good roses in plenty, whether they be on English briers or Italian briers or own-roots.
The rose is a thirsty plant, but it will not thrive on a soil that is sour with stagnant moisture; therefore good drainage is an aid to success. But a moist soil is to be preferred to a dry one, and during long-continued drought roses of all kinds should be abundantly supplied with water. The principal enemy of garden roses is the aphis, or "green fly." If this is allowed to riot on the tender young leafage, the vigour of the plants is destroyed, and we may not only expect the flowers to be few and small, but we may really lose the plants entirely, for roses are somewhat decisive in their behaviour, and die if they find life not agreeable to them. The best preventive and the best eradicator of the green fly is water, which should be applied to the roots to promote vigorous growth, and overhead in frequent copious showers to wash the fly out of existence. Tobacco-powder is a very cleanly and effectual fly-killer, as it needs only to be dusted on the young leaves and shoots, and may soon afterwards be washed off by means of the syringe.
Roses should be planted in the autumn and winter. If the work cannot be done until spring, the roots, when planted, should be mulched over with a good body of half-rotten stable-manure, and during the months of May and June 0following they should be aided with water overhead and at the roots. If dwarf roses can be purchased in pots, they may be planted in April and May.
