ROSE GROWING FOR EXHIBITION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3830, 9 August 1927, Page 11

ROSE GROWING FOR EXHIBITION.

By

J. Fleming, F.R.H.S.

In the matter of exhibiting roses there is a great deal to be learnt, and the best way to commence is to attend a few rose show’s and take note of things, seen. It seems to me that a rose generally looks its very worst in an exhibition box, where, fixed in a metal tube surfaced with moss, the bloom looks stiff and formal, as w’ell it may, away from its natural surroundings and with but little foliage to show up its true loveliness. The modern development in the Homeland of exhibiting a certain number of roses in lyieker baskets or in vases is a move in the v right direction, and cannot be too heartily commended or welcomed.

. Severe pruning is an important factor in the production of exhibition blooms. Only a very few inches of the strongest and best growths of last year may be retained at pruning time, all others being cut away. Shape and appearance of the bush are not taken into account ' hen the intention is to obtain prize-winning blooms. As they grow the shoots must be firmly tied to a separate stick, to prevent their being- blown about or broken by the W’ind and from being chafed or torn. Severe disbudding must also be performed. Some people remove all buds but one, generally the central and the largest one. Personally I prefer to leave two buds, at least for some time, in case of accident. Then the plants must be extra well fed. Before supplying liquid food, always water well with rain water (if possible), not the plant, but the soil, at its roots. The food supplied should be liquid manure from cow manure and soot.

If cow, sheep, or fowl manure and soot cannot be obtained, liquid manure may be made with one of the several excellent fertilisers that are on the market. I have tried out two chemical mixtures —one a complete fertiliser mixture, to be applied in a. dry state, and the other chemical solutions—and they have given excellent results in producing magnificent rose blooms. The solutions should be applied to rose bushes alternately, it must be borne in mind that lime is essentially required for rose beds, which are treated with these fertilisers. Lime counteracts the acidity of the soil, which in time is due to the application of chemical fertilisers. Lime may be applied to the rose borders from the late autumn and winter months to the spring. A complete fertiliser mixture which I can thoroughly recommend for rose borders consists of five parts of superphosphate of lime, five parts of bone dust, two parts sulphate of potash, two parts sulphate of ammonia, if soil is heavy, or two parts of nitrate of soda if soil ,s light, and one part sulphate of iron. Mix these ingredients thoroughly and do not I mix more than is required for the rose i borders, because this complete mixture cakes and deteriorates quickly if kept for I any length of time. This mixture should be applied in the spring, after the rose bushes are pruned and the borders dug over. It may be evenly distributed with very little trouble, more especially as no. digging in is required, the manure being left on the surface and Dutch hoed in on the first favourable opportunity. Individual solutions: .Superphosphate loz to two gallons of water, sulphate of potash joz to 2 gallons of water, sulphate of ammonia loz to 2 gallons of water, if soil is heavy; nitrate of soda loz to two gallons of water, if soil is light, and £oz of sulphate of iron. This should be applied only occasionally. Wonderful to tell, this manure, which is one of the best for successful rose growing, is the one almost always forgotten by the rose grower. Iron is essential for all plant life, and without it the bush is unhealthy and liable to disease. This substance secures at least partial immunity from fungoid pests, and many of the diseases so prevalent in our garden are due m the first place to the continuous removal of iron without replacement of it ii. a suitable form. Make a change occasionally also to simple soot water. As the growth becomes active, say in late October, this liquid manure may be given about once a week, but stop feeding the plants when the buds show colour. As the buds develop shades or protectors must be supplied. These may be cone-shaped, made of light calico stretched on wire frames and 'attached to square sticks in such a way that they can be made to slide up or down as may be needed. These protectors can be made in three sizes—Bin, Win, and 14in across the base. The best for the puqiose is the largest size. About three days before the show the centers of those blooms that are to be exhibited are tied. This is done by passing white skein wool round the central., or heart, petals, pulling it carefully until it is sufficientlv tight, and tieing with a double twist, not an actual knot" This tie should never be nut on more than three days before the show, and never tie a rose bloom that is et with dew or rain. Exhibition boxes of regulation sizes must be obtained, together with tubes, wires, and clips. Fresh green moss for the top of the box should be gathered or obtained a day or two before the show. The moss should be well washed, then dried and laid over the top of the box. If the moss be not washed, dirt or grit often gets on the hands of the exhibitor when preparing his flowers at the show, and in this way valuable blooms are sometimes spoilt. Generally, it is better to cut the blooms the evening before the show, after the sun is off them, and to keep them floating- in water in a cool cellar. Treated thus, the flower stems absorb a quantity of water which keeps them fresh for a Ion" time. Some prefer to cut the blooms early on the morning of the show. Personally 1 prefer to cut ail red rose blooms

on the morning of the show, because, ir they are cut the evening before, the colour of the blooms fades and they do not show their true colour. If the weather turns out wet and windv, however exhibitors often regret having delayed .the work until the day of the show. It is a wise plan to label all the blooms before they are cut. ■ cb oosing- blooms for exhibition it is better to take those that are hardly more than half open. They should be cut with very long stalks and placed in water at once, so that the ends of th e stalks may not get dry. On reaching the show room make sure that there is a, sufficient quantity of water in th e tubes. When arranging the blooms in the box, put the largest flowers at the back, and the smallest in the front; those at the ba°k being highest, those at the front lowest, and the others graduated accordingly. Space the flowers accurately and keen them level in the row. When cutting roses for vases for show purposes, be sure to cut well down the branch or shoot ana to a point just above a plump bid facing outwards. The flower looks m.-re beautiful, and is of greater use with a lony stem and some of its own foliage.