Every one longs for roses, the most highly prized of all the flowers; and roses today can be grown almost anywhere.

Rose growers have finally succeeded in budding the tender tea rose on to the hardy briar and also on to the more recent Manetti stock, and in crossing the teas with the hybrid perpetuals,—developed from the old June favorites. The result is ideal roses, that are hardy and bloom all season, with the desired lovely coloring and fragrance.

Many of the so-called June roses also have been coaxed to bloom all season, while all those that I draw to your attention are among the loveliest and most easily grown. With even three or four, well taken care of, you should be able,—as far north as New York,—to cut a bud any time you wish from May to November.

These hybrid teas and hybrid perpetuals are the most satisfactory for growing in this climate. Field-grown stock, in dormant condition, is brought here from Holland every spring early in March, and good plants can be bought as low as fifteen or twenty cents apiece. The weather is usually fit for them to be set out by the 25th of March, and they will produce more and better roses than the costlier potted plants procurable later. The American grown roses, however, are really the best, as they are adapted to our soil and climatic conditions, and produce both more and better flowers.

Of these potted plants, though, just a word. The Richmond, a deep, rich red, and the single white Killarney, I have found exceptionally good, free bloomers; and with little winter covering they should, on account of a season's rest, be better the second year. The 6-inch or "bench plants," as they are termed, sell for only 25 cents each. These can be set out from April on all summer.

As soon as a rose bush comes into your hand, whether from a dealer or a friend, get it into the ground as quickly as possible. If its permanent home is not ready, dig a little trench and cover it entirely with the moist earth for a few days. But never, oh, never! allow the roots to dry out.

While a few specimen roses may be set out anywhere (as long as they do not cut up the lawn and so violate the landscape rule, "Preserve open lawn centers"), a number of rose bushes are usually preferred set together in a bed, from 3 to 4 ft. wide.

MAKING A ROSE BED

Have your rose bed with a south or east exposure if possible, as many roses so planted will not "winter kill," and others need but little protection. Dig a trench about 2½ ft. deep, and put in the bottom a layer of cow manure, as this will be lasting. Over this put a layer of good top soil for the plants to rest on, so that they do not directly touch the fertilizer. Then hold your rose with your left hand while you straighten out the roots, and sprinkle enough fine soil to hold it in position while you set the next bush. Be sure that your budding point is 3 inches below the level of the ground,—and Baily says even 4! When all are in place, fill the trench half full of soil, and then nearly to the top with water. After this has sunk in, add the rest of your rich top soil, and pack down hard with your foot, so as to shut out the air from the roots, leaving the packed earth at least an inch below the surrounding surface to catch and hold the moisture.

Potted roses, however, should be sunk with as little disturbance to the roots as possible.

Then over the smoothly raked surface of the bed spread leaves, litter or grass clippings, to keep the sun from drying out the earth. Some gardeners for this purpose cover the bed with pansies, English daisies, and similar low flowers, though many like better to see nicely cultivated soil.

To have splendid roses, however, you must supply plenty of food and drink! When the buds start, dig in around the roots every two weeks, two tablespoonfuls of bonemeal, and wet thoroughly. Manure from the chicken house is especially good as the chickens are meat eaters, and it is, therefore, better adapted to the needs of the roses and easily absorbed by the rootlets. But use carefully—not more than a small trowelful at a time, and that well mixed with the soil. One of the very best foods is cheaply made as follows:

ROSE FERTILIZER

Being hearty feeders, roses need a rich, light soil, and they do best in an open, sunny spot, away from the roots of trees and shrubs that would steal their food.

And while they do not thrive in low, damp ground, neither do they stand being set "high and dry." Too damp beds should be drained with a first layer of small stones or gravel.

Cultivate your roses every week or ten days, and keep the ground covered with grass clippings unless it is protected from the sun by the shade of other plants. Cut off close to the parent stem any wild shoots or "suckers,"—generally recognizable by their briary stems,—as they will cause the budded part to die.

FALL PROTECTION

Late in the fall mound up the earth well around the roots of all your roses, and give them a good covering of coarse manure or leaves. The more tender kinds can be laid over and protected with litter or boughs.

SPRING PRUNING

Then early in the spring, before the first of April, cut back the hardy roses, keeping only the strong canes, which, however, should be shortened to about 10 inches. The middle of April prune the more tender varieties. But remove from both all shoots growing in toward the center, and cut all weak plants back to the third or fourth eye, to promote stronger growth and larger flowers. Climbing roses need only the weak branches and tips removed.

Date new climbing canes with wired wooden tags each spring, and cut out all over three years old. This renews the stock, restrains ambitious climbing, and produces better flowers.

SPRAYING

About this time a spraying first of Bordeaux mixture to prevent disease, and a little later a spraying of whale-oil soapsuds as warning to the great army of bugs, slugs, etc., will give your roses a good start toward a successful season of bloom.

Watch for that robber, the rose bug! Talk about salt on a bird's tail! The surest way to end His Majesty is to take a stick and knock him into a cup of kerosene. Slow process? Yes, but sure. The leaf-roller, too, is most effectively disposed of by physical force,—pressure of thumb and forefinger. Clear, cold water, twice a day through a hose, comes with force enough to wash off many of the rose's foes; but if they get a start, fall back on strong soapsuds, pulverized tobacco, or some other popular remedy.

The Garden Club of Philadelphia is said to recommend the following:

EFFECTIVE SPRAY FOR ROSE BUGS

Shake well in a jug, then put one-half pint of the fluid to one gallon of water. Stir well and both spray the bushes thoroughly and wet the ground around the roots. Repeat every ten days from May 1st to June 15th, by which time the pests seem to get discouraged and give up the fight!

And the reward for all this care and attention? "A devoted cottager," says Neltje Blanchan, "may easily have more beautiful roses than the indifferent millionaire."

The following lists comprise a few of the best of the different classes mentioned. I wish you success in your choice.

ROSES

AMERICAN GROWN ROSES

The American grown rose, however, I find is considered by many people to be by far the best. While its slender brown stems are not as attractive to the ignorant gardener as the thick, green of the imported, it is much more adapted to our soil and climatic conditions. It is cheaper, too, and splendid varieties, in 2½-in. and 3-in. pots, can be bought as low as $5.00 or $6.00 a hundred from expert growers, by the person willing to start a rose garden and then wait a year for really fine results.

In lots of fifteen, however, many of these fine varieties of one-year-old plants can be bought for $1.00, with the growers' guarantee that "they will bloom the first and each succeeding year, from early spring until severe frost." The plants are small, of course, but who could ask for more at that price!

The (probably) best informed man in the Eastern United States recommends the following list of Teas and Hybrid Teas,—and it has been adopted by a number of firms as suggestions for planting. Don't go looking for these plants at the 5- and 10-cent stores, for they never carry such specialties. They are cheap, though, and well known throughout this section, but they should be procured from people WHO MAKE A BUSINESS OF GROWING ROSES!

A SPECIALIST'S LIST OF TEAS AND HYBRID TEAS