Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-04

Ward. Rev. r. Page Roberts and Souve-
mir de Georges Pernet. The first has
long been a tavorite with home garden
ers and richly deserves its popularity.
Its flowers have certain ivorylike ap-
pearance lacking in most roses. Tine
pink and light gold of its petals blend
perfectly. giving a delicacy not to be
found in sturdy old Radiance. 1t is, too,
most satisfactory bloomer. After all,
this is a great deal in any flower. Con-
noisseurs may go in for one or two ire
mendous blooms from plant, but most
of us prefer larger number of lesser
blooms. just so long as the flowers are
OF decent size.
Mrs. Aaron Ward, which easily led
the back yard IL in number Of
blooms produced, proved most salts
factory plant in every way Its habit OF
growth is particularly neat, a charac-
teristic greatly appreciated in rose
bush, since most of them are rather
straggly in appearance, judged strictly
as a shrub. The fact that its some
what frilly petals vary continuously in
color, from almost golden to light pink
and even white, ADDS to the interest
of the bush.
The Souvenir de Georges Pernet. If
one may judge from this limited test, is
far superior rose in every way to its
brother Souvenir de Cladius Pernet.
Well grown dollhouse blooms of the lat
ter rival yellow water lilies-but the
sad fact is that most of us do not have
lighthouses, and this particular rose does
not do so we'll in the ground of Mother
Earth. Georges, on the other hand.
gives immense blooms, good both in bud
and expanded state, and it produces
plenty of them. These carmff1s red
flowers were the largest Of all.
The Rev. F. Page Roberts was one of
the most satisfactory of these roses,
with it's two-toned blooms of Indian yell
low overlaid with carmine. For diff
ferent sort of rose, this one is dandy.
The dozen were planted last Deem
Der, the afternoon before the first
freezing weather of the season. The
canes we're hilled up to a height of
about inches. During the Winter
they seemed nothing but sticks, but
were still alive.
When Spring came the rose bed
looked a hopeless proposition. How
could bushes grow from such things?
There was not sign of life about them.
Within a few weeks. however, things
began to happen. A leaf bud appeared,
then more, then leaves. Even the
KaiSerin bush seemed to do we'll for
time, but finally curled up and died.
This was the only loss in the dozen,
and about that percentage of failure
is to be expected
The foliage of the remainder did
very well until the heavy rains of
August, when black spot appeared, de-
spite heavy and frequent spraying. No
doubt this was favored by the situation
OF the bed which had become sur
rounded on three sides by a luxuriant
foliage of altheas, hibiscus, lilacs, zin-
Mas, etc.
The two 7-year-old bushes in the
front yard, with sun all day long.
showed the advantages of a protected
situation for rosebushes, yet one offer
ing freedom of air circulation. These
bushes, as stated, are now between 8
and 10 feet TALL and their foliage is
without sign of black spot, although
sprayed but once in the Spring, and
that merely with nicotine solution for
aphids.
1t is interesting to note that these
two grand bushes received practically
no water during the growing season.
Back against wall, under an over
hang of about 2 feet in width, they are
protected from all but the heaviest rains
from the south. For weeks the ground
around these bushes was as hard as
clay can become in hot weather, vet
no bushes could have looked any
healthier or bloomed any better or
more continuously. We are beginning
to believe that the new propaganda
FOR watering rosebushes Is mostly bunk.