Home › Introduction › Preparing the Beds: The Hybrid Perpetuals
Preparing the Beds: The Hybrid Perpetuals
Not all roses like the same soils. The Hybrid Perpetuals, for example, love a heavy clay or loam. So do the heaviergrowing climbers; whereas the Teas, Hybrid Teas, Bourbons and the like, revel in a lighter soil and a warmer one, with less than 50 per cent clay or loam, and more sand or leaf-mold. Rugosas thrive even in quite sandy soil. "It is difficult to give the roses too rich soil." If your soil is light and sandy, and you cannot well replace it entirely, it may be greatly improved by mixing a little clay or rich loam with it when trenching. If your soil seems too heavy, it can be made lighter and more open by adding sand, or even coalashes. To be good for roses, the soil must be such as will not quickly transmit to the roots sudden surface changes of temperature. The roots should be kept cool. If it be possible after the soil in your bed has been prepared, give it time, say two or three months, to settle before planting your roses. If this be out of the question, press with your feet each layer of soil in your bed, as you proceed to fill it in. Fertilizers While manure from the cow-stable is best, you can draw upon the horse-stable, sheep-pens, or pig-sty with expectation of good results, and "night soil," mixed with dry soil, or sand, and well composted is excellent. Well-rotted leaves are fair, but too light except for heavy soils. Commercial fertilizers, such as ground bone or guano, may be used with advantage if handled with discretion. A rule to remember is never to let any "green" or "raw" manure come close to the roots of your roses, but see that it is buried well beneath the root reach, or applied as a top-dressing. After your roses have been planted, the best time to apply manures is just as the ground begins to freeze in the autumn. Let it serve as a protection over winter, and dig it in next spring, being careful, however, not to disturb the roots. Far better than surface-coating is the ample supply of fertilizer placed well under the roots in the bottom of your beds, before you plant your roses, because roots travel toward their food-supply. By thus enticing them downward, you develop a strong, deep root-growth down into the reservoir of stored-up food and moisture, so that, when dry weather comes, they will not hunger and thirst, as they would with only surface roots. Surface application of manure-water is quite a different matter, as that will percolate down to the deepest roots.
It is said that roses draw most upon the soil when blooming, and we find you can almost see the results from application (when the flower-buds begin swelling) of liquid manure, THE PROPER FOOD FOR ROSES & Nearly every child is fond of flowers concocted by catching the drain from the manure-pile, or. one-third of a bushel of manure in a bag and soaked in a barrel of water. Apply this as a weak tea, not too strong, but frequently, say twice a week. When it is more convenient, a sprinkling of bone-dust on the surface before a rain will answer the same purpose. Even with the best care, it may prove necessary in some locations, say after six or eight years, to renew the roses or move the bed, adopting the farmer's principle of rotation of crops.
When to Plant Tell us where you would grow roses, and we will tell you when to plant them. The most carefully laid down dates for New York State are "null and void" in New Orleans. Proper planting-time in the same state may vary according to differences in altitude and latitude. Where the winters are not too severe, as in our Gulf and Pacific Coast States, and the next tier of states north, autumn-planting is to be preferred.
North of the line of the Ohio River, only our hardier varieties, such, for example, as the Hardy Climbers and Hybrid Perpetuals, Rugosas, Moss and Pernetianas, will withstand the first winter out, if autumn-planted. As a matter of general practice, there are, doubtless, ten times as many roses planted in spring as in autumn. For the latitude of Philadelphia, dormant roses should be planted as soon in spring as the soil is dry enough to crumble in the hand, and plantings may continue till mid- April. Growing roses from pots should not be set out until danger from frost is past, usually the last week in April. If you live north of 40 degrees latitude, defer planting from this date by one week for every hundred miles. Do not attempt any planting operations with the ground frozen, or the thermometer below 45 degrees Fahr. Roses from pots, when shipped with soil on the roots, may be planted at any time through the growing season, even during the summer.
Treatment on Arrival Think of your roses as living creatures, even though they be asleep (dormant) when you first get them. Unwrap them with the greatest care; never expose the roots to the drying action of the spring winds for a moment. A plant with bare roots exposed to the dry air is like a fish out of water. Untie the bundles so as not to break, bark or bruise either root or branch. Should the plants, through delay in transit, come dried out, as occasionally happens, soak the balls of earth and roots in water; if the stems also have dried out, bury the whole plant in damp earth for three or four days till the TREATMENT ON ARRIVAL When this little girl grows up and has a garden of her own, she too will know how to grow fine roses. shriveled branches regain their natural plumpness. If you cannot plant the roses when they arrive, "heel them in" in the garden until you are ready to plant them. This is done by digging a trench deep enough thoroughly to cover all roots and even lower branches of each bundle of roses. will be better to untie the bundles so that the roots can be more thoroughly covered. Press down this soil-cover firmly. It Planting When ready to plant, remember again that roots must be kept from the wind. Spring winds are so drying that fatal damage may occur from a few minutes of exposure. The best plan, when planting, is to keep the roots covered with a damp piece of burlap, or of other packing-material.
Next make the holes in the bed, which should have been prepared as shown on page 15, and make them large enough to accommodate the roots in a natural and uncramped position, neither too deep nor too shallow (see illustration). Do not spread the roots out flat, but point them down, slanting outward. Use care to keep the roots from direct contact with the manure, lest the roses get indigestion. It is a good plan to dip the roots, before planting, in a thin mud made by mixing loam or clay with water. Settle well-pulverized soil in around the roots, so as to fill up every air-space, and so that every single root shall be entirely encased in soil. When the hole is half-filled, and roots covered, press the soil down firmly with the hands; then fill the hole with water, and let it drain away; fill in level with soil, and tamp it carefully but securely; then give a final covering of soil, which should be about level with the surrounding turf, but not high enough to let the water run away when it rains. Also protect from the bright sunshine for a few days.
