Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-17

ITO grow roses In your garden you
must first have roses In your heart
That Is all very pretty, reverend sir,
but 1t isn't wholly true.
One of the crabbedest old fellows we
ever knew grew the most beautiful roses
we ever saw.
He was, Of course, tremendously in
terested In his flowers. and In this very
practical sense the beautiful sentiment
Is Just.
When one thinks of "roses in the
heart" however, one is most likely to
think of beauty, sweetness and light,
and that sort of thing.
We have never b3en able to see that
| people who like roses particularly well
are any better people, any nicer people,
any kinder or sweeter people than the
vast bulk of human beings who may or
, may not love the queen Of flowers.
4 \
Indeed, one must be a little bit
grabbed, 1t seems to me, to be able to
grow roses to perfection--they are such
temperamental beauties and so depend
ent upon the vagaries Of the weather.
Last Summer there was not spot OF
mildew In the land. Crimson rambler
and other roses addicted to this vice
| remained as fresh as q newly washed
dinner plate.
Owing to the rains Of this Spring and
| Summer, these same vines this year
have been coated with the fungus.
Roses In general do not look as flourish
ing as last year. at least in our garden.
Let us put 1t that way, because maybe
other gardeners spray more or have been
| more fortunate.
tended that there was no such thing as
1 fortune In W0rdanfnU that NhNnNO had
nothing to do with 1t. but that money,
intelligence and work comprised the
/ magic trio which made for success.
It is an admirable thesis, but we are
beginning to suspect that there ID just
a little hokum In 1t. after all.
4 ~
The rose remains the queen of flowers
beloved Of most people, and through the
generations, but a gardener honest with
himself. especially II he be Of the pure
amateur variety. may question whether
it is worth the trouble 1t costs.
For the rose Is q troublesome flower
| to grow, and even its enthusiasts will
admit as much II you catch them in an
think they will be- quoted.
Rosebushes require three to four
times as much attention as any other
! flower almost and for this time and
trouble repay the gardener with one or
at most two, good blosscmings q year.
This is, Of course, one or two more
bloomings than the iris, or the peony, or
the dahl!a, or the gladiolus, furnishes Its
devotees.
And then there is the bloom itself.
Well, criticism fades in the face OF a
rose, It must be admitted.
| Something elemental, beautiful. there
Is about the rose which endears It to
all peoples Of all lands. 1t Is not the
fragrance, especially of the modern
! sorts, for this Is cloying and often as
ISOLATED with sadness.
The charm of the rose lies not in its
color. because the tulips and others
have them faded" in this respect
Rather 1t is the form OF the rose, its
interesting petal formation, which
makes it what 1t Is today and what II
| always has been.
! 1t is a blossom whose unfolded bud
| holds the mystery of life, whose opened
: form reveals beauty in its essence. One
is silent except to praise in the face Of
q rose flower.
! The trouble with the roses for many
lies exactly there When not in flower
they tend to become q nuisance They
require more work than the average
home gardener is likely to give them,
and repay him poorly as a result.
Probably the point at which most
amateurs fall down in rose culture u In
feeding. Many bushes of which owners
complain have a starved. haf-sick look.
which can be due to nothing except lack
Of food.