Evening star., 1934-06-02

The old theory Of the "windbreak"
Is very dear to many gardeners.
They believe with all their hearts
that q protection formed Of evergreens
or even trees will do a great deal to
break the force of a Winter wind. and
thus give protection" to lesser plants.
The truth probably is that the true
protection is afforded by the plant
itself to itself, that is, 1t must be
healthy and hardy. to begin with, then
it can take care of its own protection.
It is so with human, beings, the
really healthy ones survive inimical
conditions, to which the unhealthy
fall q prey. And here, as with roses.
one cannot Judge solely by outward
signs. Two bushes may present iden-
tical appearances to the eye, but one
really be of weak root and stem stuff,
which are not sufficiently strong. in
reality, to protect it, wtndbreak or no
windbreak.
Rhododendrons planted on the north
side of the house, subjected to all the
winds which blew, to all the ice and
cold, appear better this Spring than
in years past. Yet they had no pro-
lection particularly, but met the full
| force of the blast, except in so far as
the heat from the house may have
escaped to help them. There can be
no question that even the best nsulat-
ed home permits some heat to escape
and that even the slightest fraction OF
this heat will appear large to the
things Of Nature planted adjacent to
house walls.
4 4
Every primer of garden knowledge
contains the fact that climbing roses
must not be pruned until after bloom
ing, whereas the bush roses ought to
be cut back late in February or early
| in March. The severe Winter did some
of this work for gardeners.
One Of the finest things about the
climbers, many will think, is that they
do not require the attention which
even the best of the hybrid perpetuals
as they are called, demand as to spray
ing, fertilizing, and SO on. A well
selected climber, once IN the soil, ana
properly put on fence or other sup
port. will thrive nightly with the
least attention of all types Of roses.
This plain fact is percolating into
! the inner consciousness OF garden
lovers. 1t Is responsible. no doubt. for
the book devoted to them, for all the
climbers sold every year. for all the
thousands upon thousands OF them
now being enjoyed In gardens around
the world.
DR.. Van Fleet, the man. revolutioned
climbing roses. The climber named
after him showed how sturdily fine
climbing rose may be, how free 1t
ought to be from insect pests ana
blights, including mildew.
While aphids. or plant lice, are very
fond of "Dr. Van Fleet" the climber
they do not seem to damage it in the
least, even If no spraying Is done by
the owner.
Such a climber is q priced possession
now of many thousands of persons:
Others of the type, including the
New Dawn" merely emphasize the
fact that one need no longer plant
climbing roses which are just as likely
as not to discolor with mildew. That
is a thing of the past. Whoever puts
I'D with it, on his climbers, is doing
himself something of a disservice.
DIR. Van Fleet" MARY Wallace"
and others of that great hybridizer's
creations, as well as many other
splendid modern climbing roses-each
and every one of them Is a master
piece. as truly as the greatest piece
of music created by a master COM
poser.
Those who love roses will pay
tribute at this time of year to these
lovely creations, whose strong canes
and beautiful foliage will go on to add
beauty to gardens for months after
the magnificent blossoms have faded