THE GROWING OF THE ORNAMENTAL PLANTS
INSTRUCTIONS ON PARTICULAR KINDS - Continued
[Illustration: XIX. Pyracantha in fruit. One of the best
ornamental-fruited plants for the middle and milder latitudes.]
They require a deep, fibrous earth, and it is supposed that they do not
thrive in limestone soils or where wood ashes are freely used. While
rhododendrons will sometimes succeed without any special preparation of
the ground, it is advisable to take particular pains in this regard. It
is well to dig a hole 2 or 3 feet deep, and fill it with earth
compounded of leafmold, well-rotted sod, and peat. The moisture supply
should be never failing, for they suffer from drought. They should be
mulched summer and winter. Plant in spring.
The hardy garden forms are derivatives of Rhododendron Catawbiense, of
the southern Appalachian Mountains. The Pontica and other forms are not
hardy in the North.
The "great laurel" of the northern United States is
Rhododendron maximum. This has been extensively colonized in large
grounds by being removed from the wild in carload lots. When the native
conditions are imitated, it makes unusually good mass planting. Like all
rhododendrons it is impatient of drought, hard soil, and full exposure
to midday sun. This species is valued for its foliage and habit more
than for its bloom. The wild form of R. Catawbiense is also
transferred to grounds in large quantities.
Rose.--No home property is complete without roses. There are so
many kinds and classes that varieties may be found for almost any
purpose, from climbing or pillar subjects to highly fragrant
teas, great hybrid perpetuals, free-blooming bedders, and good foliage
subjects for the shrubbery. There is no flower in the growing of which
one so quickly develops the temper and taste of the connoisseur.
Roses are essentially flower-garden subjects rather than lawn subjects,
since flowers are their chief beauty. Yet the foliage of many of the
highly developed roses is good and attractive when the plants are well
grown. To secure the best results with roses, they should be placed in a
bed by themselves, where they can be tilled and pruned and well taken
care of, as other flower-garden plants are. The ordinary garden roses
should rarely be grown in mixed borders of shrubbery. It is usually most
satisfactory also to make beds of one variety rather than to mix them
with several varieties.
If it is desired to have roses in mixed shrubbery borders, then the
single and informal types should be chosen. The best of all these is
Rosa rugosa. This has not only attractive flowers through the greater
part of the season, but it also has very interesting foliage and a
striking habit. The great profusion of bristles and spines gives it an
individual and strong character. Even without the flowers, it is
valuable to add character and cast to a foliage mass. The foliage is not
attacked by insects or fungi, but remains green and glossy throughout
the year. The fruit is also very large and showy, and persists on bushes
well through the winter. Some of the wild roses are also very excellent
for mixing into foliage masses, but, as a rule, their foliage
characteristics are rather weak, and they are liable to be attacked
by thrips.
There are so many classes of roses that the intending planter is likely
to be confused unless he knows what they are. Different classes require
different treatment. Some of them, as the teas and hybrid perpetuals
(the latter also known as remontants), bloom from new canes; while the
rugosa, the Austrian, Harrison's yellow, sweet briers, and some others
are bushes and do not renew themselves each year from the crown or bases
of the canes.
The outdoor roses may be divided into two great groups so far as their
blooming habit is involved:
(1) The continuous or intermittent bloomers,
as the hybrid perpetuals (blooming chiefly in June), bourbons, tea,
rugosa, the teas and hybrid teas being the most continuous in bloom;
(2)those that bloom once only, in summer, as Austrian, Ayrshire, sweet
briers, prairie, Cherokee, Banksian, provence, most moss roses, damask,
multiflora, polyantha, and memorial (Wichuraiana). "Perpetual" or
recurrent-blooming races have been developed in the Ayrshire, moss,
polyantha, and others.
While roses delight in a sunny exposure, nevertheless our dry atmosphere
and hot summers are sometimes trying on the flowers, as are severe
wintry winds on the plants. While, therefore, it is never advisable to
plant roses near large trees, or where they will be overshadowed by
buildings or surrounding shrubbery, some shade during the heat of the
day will be a benefit. The best position is an eastern or northern
slope, and where fences or other objects will break the force of strong
winds, in those sections where such prevail.
Roses should be carefully taken up every four or five years, tops and
roots cut in, and then reset, either in a new place or in the old, after
enriching the soil with a fresh supply of manure, and deeply spading it
over. In Holland, roses are allowed to stand about eight years. They are
then taken out and their places filled with young plants.
Soil and planting for roses.
The best soil for roses is a deep and rich clay loam. If it is more or
less of a fibrous character from the presence of grass roots, as is the
case with newly plowed sod ground, so much the better. While such is
desirable, any ordinary soil will answer, provided it is well manured.
Cow manure is strong and lasting, and has no heating effect. It will
cause no damage, even if not rotted. Horse manure, however, should be
well rotted before mixing it with the soil. The manure may be mixed in
the soil at the rate of one part in four. If well rotted, however, more
will not do any damage, as the soil can scarcely be made too rich,
especially for the everblooming (hybrid tea) roses. Care should be taken
to mix the manure thoroughly with the earth, and not to plant the roses
against the manure.
In planting, care must be taken to avoid exposing the roots to the
drying of sun and air. If dormant field-grown plants have been
purchased, all broken and bruised roots will need to be cut off smoothly
and squarely. The tops also will need cutting back. The cut should
always be made just above a bud, preferably on the outer side of the
cane. Strong-growing sorts may be cut back one-fourth or one-half,
according as they have good or bad roots. Weaker-growing kinds, as most
of the everblooming roses, should be cut back-most severely. In both
cases it is well to remove the weak growth first. Plants set out from
pots will usually not need cutting back.
Hardy roses, especially the strong field-grown plants, should be set in
the early fall if practicable. It is desirable to get them out just as
soon as they have shed their foliage. If not then, they may be planted
in the early spring. At that season it is advisable to plant them as
early as the ground is dry enough, and before the buds have started to
grow. Dormant pot-plants may also be set out early, but they should be
perfectly inactive. Setting them out early in this condition is
preferable to waiting till they are in foliage and full bloom, as is so
often required by buyers. Growing pot-plants may be planted any time in
spring after danger of frost is past, or even during the summer, if they
are watered and shaded for a few days.
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