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Hints on Hybridization: California

In Santa Barbara, California, they come into bloom before Christmas, and the growing season there begins after the period of summer drought; what we in the East would call early autumn is, in reality, spring in southern California. Farther north on the Pacific Coast roses are most successful.

Professor R. T. Stevens, of the University of California, in his very excellent article in the American Rose Annual for 1916, gives the following information which, with the permission of the editor, Mr. McFarland, is quoted verbatim: "As most people know, roses even in California demand a period of rest if the best results are to be obtained. California winter temperatures are not low enough to produce the necessary degree of dormancy, and the rose bush, if irrigated during the summer, will produce an ordinary grade of bloom more or less throughout the year, depending on the type of rose. On the other hand it will, in most cases, not only fail to furnish the finest blooms, but will soon deteriorate and die prematurely, due to the continual forcing of growth. It has become customary, therefore, to force dormancy upon the plants by withholding water in midsummer, a time when, because of dry weather, few good blooms are produced. Toward the close of the spring crop, or about the first of July, depending on the condition of the soil, water is withheld from the plants until the first of September. They are not allowed to suffer, but made to ripen their wood and recuperate from the strain of the season's bloom. "During August the plants are gone over and all stubs and weak growth removed, after which a heavy mulch of cow-manure and a liberal amount of water are applied. Irrigation is kept up until the first new bud is blown, when it may be discontinued to allow the wood to ripen for the winter pruning. In this manner an abundant supply of fall bloom is produced, almost equal to that of spring, while at the same time the plants are insured against an early deterioration. "Heavy pruning is performed in January, at which time the wood of the previous season's growth is well ripened. In early spring the beds are again mulched and the plants sprayed with Bordeaux as a preventive against mildew. After the rains have ceased, the garden is given a thorough cultivation and overhauling, after which little attention is required until the summer rest, except an occasional irrigation, followed by a superficial working of the soil. Under this treatment the first flowers of the spring crop appear in February or early March, and continue until about the first of July. "The superiority of budded roses is believed to be generally recognized. Some types, especially Teas, are too weak and delicate for ordinary outdoor culture unless worked on a more vigorous root, and the majority seem to be more or less improved when so treated. Budded plants are here not only more vigorous and longer-lived, but are more adaptable to wet and poor soil conditions, and will produce larger and earlier flowers in greater quantity than ownroot plants. "While climbing roses are widely grown in California they are not always exhibited to the best advantage. Too often they are seen covering a residence instead of a structure especially built for such purposes.

The possibilities of roses of the Noisette type, used on columns, arbors and pergolas as ornamental garden features, are great, while many varieties, as the Cherokees, Gloire des Rosomanes and Agrippina, prove particularly adapted to cover fences and to serve as hedges. Because of the mild climate, climbing roses are apt to greatly overgrow their position and often become unsightly in shape and appearance.

Intelligent pruning and thinning are necessary to correct these conditions. "Roses grow easily and bloom freely in this equable climate, but it is believed much finer and more satisfactory results would originate from a close study by the amateur of the correct culture and treatment of the various types of roses adapted to California, with particular reference to their summer rest."

This chapter would not be complete without further information on the most interesting part of rose growing, that is, hybridization to secure new varieties. The books noted in the chapter on propagation will take the reader very thoroughly through this most fascinating subject, and they should be secured by any one who proposes to attempt such work.

FIG. 41 ROSE WITH PETALS REMOVED, SHOWING THE STAMENS AND ANTHERS