If mildew appears, it may mean that your soil is badly drained or too wet for Rose-trees. It looks like little white spots on the leaves. You had better syringe or water your Roses, and while they are wet dust with soot or flowers of sulphur. In dry weather this dressing must be washed off when it has been on the leaves a day or two.
Red-rust is a common disease that turns Rose-leaves yellow before their time. Then they shrivel and drop off, and when this goes on to any great extent, it is both unsightly and weakening to the tree. None of the paraffin mixtures that used to be recommended for this and other pests are now considered good for roses. If you can have an Abol Spray you can get a mixture called ‘Abol, White’s Superior,’ which is recommended by Miss Rose Kingsley in her book ‘Roses and Rose-Growing.’ It is easy to use, and efficacious against Green Fly and other pests. If you have neither spray nor syringe, dust a little flowers of sulphur on the leaves.
In summer an occasional dose of manure water is a great help to Roses, but it must never be given in dry weather unless a good soak of fresh water is given first; otherwise the thirsty plants would suck up the strong manure water too greedily, and make themselves ill. We tell you of this way to encourage your Roses in hot weather, in case you belong to a garden where you can get some manure water given. Otherwise you had better use a little Clay’s Fertilizer or some other artificial manure.
Except in very cold districts, Roses should be pruned early in March. Tea Roses, however, should wait till the first week in April. The object of pruning is to induce the plant to make new wood, but the amount to be done varies greatly with the size and age of the Rose. Climbing Roses need not be pruned at all, but in the autumn any dead wood you see should be cut out. On strong-growing bush Roses you may leave six eyes on a stem; on weaker growths three or four eyes. If you look at a Rose-tree you will see what we mean by ‘eyes’ are the little knots or buds on the stalks. With a sharp knife you should slice off the upper part of the stalk at a bud that faces outwards, because then the new shoot will grow outwards, and make a better-shaped tree. All brown, dead wood should be cut away. There will be a great deal more for you to learn about pruning when you are older, either from books or from gardeners. We have only told you one or two of the simplest rules, so that in case you have no gardener or gardening friend to help you, you should not let your bush Roses grow quite wild.
If your Roses have been given you, they may be on various stocks, and not on their own roots, so we think we must tell you how to know when it is the stock, and not the Rose, that is sending up its tiresome wild shoots. Most Hybrid Perpetuals, Teas, and Hybrid Teas have five leaves, but most ‘stocks’ have seven or nine leaves. When you see these wild shoots coming up out of the ground, you must cut them away, as they are using food that should go to your Roses. But never cut the shoots that come out of the base of the Polyantha or the Rambler Roses. These look very like suckers, but are the flowering shoots of the following year.
You may just as well try to take a few cuttings from your own Roses, and, if they will let you, from other people’s, as if you could succeed you would soon raise a stock ‘on their own roots,’ and have no trouble with briars. August is the proper month for this operation, and what you will want is some silver sand, a sheltered corner, and a sharp knife. A cutting should be nine inches long, this year’s growth, hard and woody, but not succulent. It should either be cut straight across just below a joint, or torn away with a little tag or heel. Try both ways. All the leaves, as well as the tips, must be snipped off. Then make a little trench, fill with silver sand, and press your cuttings firmly in, letting them lie sideways rather than stand bolt upright. If you have a hand-light for them, so much the better, but they should strike without that provided you do not let the soil about them get dry or loose. The following year you will be able to transplant them, but while they are young it is advisable to pinch off their flowers.
CHAPTER VIII
CARNATIONS AND PINKS
You can grow carnations near London, as they do not mind some smoke and soot; but they are most particular about soil and situation. A damp, heavy, wet soil is poison to them, and they do not like a hot, dry one. They want good plant food, and will do best in a rich loam. The natural way for Carnations to grow is on a steep slope, with their heads hanging down. In the Alps, where the single ones are found in a wild state, their roots are tucked away amongst the rocks, while a mass of flowers hangs over the edge. The real use of the little green cup from which the flower springs is to carry off water and keep the centre of the flower dry and wholesome. Our garden ones do well planted in pots and boxes, and hanging from window-sills and balconies. We do not often grow them so in England yet, but you may see splendid displays in the South of France, in Spain, or in South Germany. Carnations will stand more wind than most plants; in fact, the most valuable receipt for Carnation-growing is—‘Give them all the air and sun possible.’ It is useless to put them in shade, and if you have a wet clay soil you must dig in a quantity of sand for them, or, better still, mortar rubbish. Remember, too, that though Clay’s Fertilizer and other patent manures are useful on dry soils, they do more harm than good on damp ones. Carnations do not like to come into direct contact with farm or stable manure, so if you use it you must have it buried at least eighteen inches. When Carnations are growing in your border they will need staking, and you can, if you choose, use the spiral stakes that need no tying. Another good way is to drive two stakes into the ground, about fifteen inches apart, one on either side of the plant, and a little in front of it; then tie a piece of thick string across them near the top and let the flower sprays rest on it. This will keep them off the ground, and is not as stiff-looking as a bunch tied to a single stick.