2.—THE QUEEN OF FLOWERS, THE ROSE.

This beautiful flower deserves especial attention, and is truly called the Poet’s flower. A rose is the type of beauty in women. A lovely maiden is called a rose-bud. A beautiful matron compared to a rose in full bloom. Its delicate and refreshing perfume is always welcome to an invalid. It adorns a bride, and is a tribute of love in decorating the lifeless remains of our loved ones.

Volumes could be written upon the beauties of the rose. A child can cultivate this beautiful flower. If you do not possess any ground, there always will be room for at least one pot with a rose in your own room.

Roses can be classified under three general heads.

No. 1.

Those that bloom only once in a season, such as Hybrid China, Provence, Sweet and Austrian Briars, most of the mosses, and all climbing varieties that are hardy in New England and the Middle States. We do not advise our young friends to cultivate this class, unless they have large gardens. Madame Plantier is the only variety which we retain in our garden. This rose is a profuse bloomer, and one of the most perfect white roses grown. We will mention some of the desirable climbing varieties which can be used for “Pillar Roses.”

No. 2.
THE HYBRID PERPETUALS, OR REMONTANTS.

This desirable class is of comparatively recent origin, and obtained by hybridizing the Provence and Damask varieties with the Ever-blooming, or China. They in a measure combine the qualities of the two classes, but less of the China, as the name Perpetual is a misnomer, for the chief blooming ones in regular season of rose flowering, unless especial care is taken to cut off every flower as soon as they begin to wither, and keep the plant growing freely, then these plants will blossom twice or thrice in a season. Most of these Remontants are full bloomers, and the flowers very perfect. We will give a list of a few varieties we can recommend.

No. 3.

The monthly, or ever-blooming class, are distinguished by their delicate shining leaves and stems. This class comprises four sub-classes, namely, the Noisette, Tea, Bengal, and Bourbon.

The Noisette are of rampant growth, usually flowering in clusters. In the Southern States they need no covering during the winter months, but in the North, East, and West, if buried in winter, and properly trained, they are often used as Pillar Roses, particularly the beautiful La Marque, whose pure white buds are so valuable to all florists. If planted in the ground in a green-house, it will climb all over the walls. We will name some varieties which we have cultivated, and know can be successfully raised, even in New England.

NOISETTE. Aime Vibert, pure white, very full bloomer. America, straw color. Gloire de Dijon, blush white, buff centre. Lamarque, large, white, shading to yellowish centre. Minette, light crimson, very double. Marshal Niel, very beautiful deep yellow. Souvenir d’Anseleme, deep carmine. Solfaterre, deep straw color.

TEA. Adam, rich rose, salmon shaded. White Tea, the freest bloomer of all roses. Camellia Blanche, pure white. Devoniensis, blush, Magnolia fragrance. Isabella Sprunt, clear canary yellow. La Pactole, canary color, free bloomer. Safrona, orange yellow.

BENGAL. Agrippina, bright crimson. Bousanquet, blush white. Louis Philippe, light crimson. Madame Rohan, pure white. Napoleon, blush, extra large.

BOURBON. Marshal Niel, a deep buff; the king of roses. Bousanquet, rich blush, free bloomer. Duc de Chartres, large, very double, crimson. Hermosa, deep pink, most desirable. Psyche, light rose, very double. Souvenir de Malmaison, flesh color, very double, superb. Sombriel, blush white, one of the best.

There are comparatively but few varieties of roses suitable for producing an abundance of flowers in winter, and these would not be called the finest varieties for summer culture. They are selected for their buds. The Safrona for instance, is selected for its deep, saffron colored buds; the full flower is but semi-double. We will give the names of a few of the roses best adapted for winter culture.

Lamarque, white, tinged with straw color. Safrona, saffron yellow, free bloomer. Agrippina, rich deep crimson, free bloomer. La Pactole, light canary-color, abundant bloomer. Hermosa, rosy pink, most prolific variety. Gloire de Dijon, large, full, buff, shaded to salmon.

CULTIVATION.

The best soil for the rose is a rather stiff loam, although it is not particular about soil, but grows luxuriantly, flourishes well in a fresh loam with a plenty of pure air and sunlight. A stiff, clay loam will produce better flowers, and of a deeper color, than a soil of a light muddy character. If you desire many blossoms, be careful to cut off every rose when it fades away. We gather our roses so freely, we leave but few to wither. In the spring roses should be pruned thoroughly.

Many people have been discouraged in raising roses, on account of the slug and other insects; but nothing can flourish in this world, that is desirable, without care. So with the rose. Early in spring, just as the buds are starting, wash your roses in a solution of tobacco or whale-oil soap. If the insects appear on the leaf, syringe the bush freely, early in the morning or late at night, with a solution of whale-oil soap. Sprinkle wood ashes or charcoal dust around the roots.

A gardener invariably recommends monthly roses, rather than the so-called perpetuals. Those who purchase perpetuals, without a previous knowledge of their habits, are always disappointed in the few flowers they produce after the first blooming. Their great virtue is the hardy nature of the plant. The monthly roses bloom at the South nearly the whole year. But what shall we do with these delicate roses at the North during the winter? The best way is to lay them down, and cover with sods, or earth and manure. If the subsoil is gravelly or sandy, they will surely keep, as a good drainage is necessary, without it they cannot live. The way to lay down a rose-bush is to dig a trench four or five inches deep, up to the root of the rose, then bend your rose-bush carefully into the trench, and peg it down. Cover entirely root and branches by sods, placed grassy side upwards, forming a hillock. Or cover it with earth or sand, and straw or manure.

The next important consideration is the time at which it is done. Few amateurs have any idea of the amount of freezing which even the tender tea roses will sustain without injury. It often proves fatal to roses to be covered too soon. It is well to cover the ground around the roots of the roses with leaves or straw to prevent the earth from freezing. In New England, the early or middle part of November is generally the time to cover roses for the winter; in the Middle States, in December. The best rule is to let your roses remain uncovered, until the ground can no longer be ploughed, or dug with a spade. This covering can be removed as soon as vegetation fairly starts in spring. Every plant thus saved possesses a four-fold value over those planted out in the spring, as the roots have been so little disturbed. Another way is to dig a trench, line it with straw, and lay in your delicate roses, then cover entirely with earth until spring. Roses that have bloomed all summer should not be potted for winter use. They need rest, and will not flourish in warm rooms.

ROSES FOR WINTER BLOOMING.

Roses for winter blooming require a different treatment, as one essential condition of free winter flowering is, that the plant has abundance of active, or, as gardeners term them, “working roots.” Plants are started for this purpose either by cuttings struck in March, or else one year old plants are used. These plants should be re-potted frequently to prevent their becoming pot-bound. They must never be allowed to dry or wilt in the heat of summer, else the white, working roots will perish, and before the plant can regain its vigor new ones must be formed. You must not attempt to force your rose at first; when you take it in for winter, a cool temperature will be needful. It depends upon when you desire rosebuds how you treat it. It must be pruned previous to flowering. If you desire roses the first of January, prune or shorten the shoots the first of November (earlier for Christmas). They then can be placed in temperature ranging fifty degrees to sixty degrees at night, with only fifteen degrees higher during the day. Two year old plants are better for new beginners, as they form working roots sooner, having more fibres.

In the summer the plants should be exposed to the sun; but to keep them from drying, place the pots in beds of sawdust, or refuse hops, tan, bark, or sand, whichever is most convenient to obtain.

PREPARATION.

Our young friends may desire to raise their own roses, so we will give them a few directions. The best time to take cuttings is from October to January. The wood must be ripened; cuttings are usually made with three or four eyes. These cuttings are best put into a cold frame, or in a box prepared with equal parts of sand, leaf mould, and loam; all they require is sufficient protection not to freeze. Cuttings placed in such frames about the last of October, will be rooted sufficient to pot by March. Cuttings can be placed in rows quite near together, say an inch apart, and the rows three inches apart. This space allows you to press the soil firmly about each stem. One thorough watering, when put in, to settle the soil closely around them, will usually be all that is necessary until they begin to root in the spring. Some varieties will root much easier than others. As soon as they are well rooted, they should be potted in two inch pots, shaded and watered for a few days, and gradually hardened off by exposing them to the air; in this way they can be sufficiently rooted to plant in the open ground in April or May. Layering is more easily done from about the middle of June to the middle of September, always using shoots of the young growth—that is, a growth of three or four weeks old, or such as are not so much ripened as to drop the leaves; or in other words, the cut should always be made at that part of the shoot where there are as green and healthy leaves below as above the cut. This condition of the shoot is very important, in order to produce a well-rooted layer.

Another mode of layering, not in general use, is, to place the layer where the incision is made, in a three or four inch pot, sinking the pot in the ground to the level of the rim; all the roots being confined in the pot, when the layer is lifted, no check is given to them. Layers so made may be planted out in the fall, and if a little mulching is given round the roots, not one plant in a hundred will fail; while if the layering is done in the usual way, without pots, a heavy percentage is almost certain to be lost during the winter. To the florist, without proper means of propagation, this method of layering roses in pots will be found very advantageous, as every layer so made will make an excellent flowering plant by spring, if kept in a green-house or cold-pit, during the winter, and will prove nearly as valuable to the purchaser as large one year old plants.

ROSE-BEDS.

Before planting a rose, be sure to find out its nature, or you may have a tall bush where you would desire a low shrub-growing rose. In arranging rose-beds, plant the tall standards in the centre. Then a row of high bush growing roses, then a row of half dwarfs, then a row of dwarf-growing roses. If this selection of the roses in such a bed is properly made, it will be pleasant to the eye from June to October. Of course the roses should be chiefly monthlies, or free-blowing perpetuals.