Evening star., 1936-06-08
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
Dear Sir. I read your climbing rose

Dear Sir: I read your climbing rose
article this eve with much interest, but
was greatly disappointed that no men
ton was made Of the so-called ever
bloomer-if there Is such thing.
"I think a whole lot of people would
like word from the high priest on this.
Truly, J. F. NJ"
The main reason we did not include
the ever-blooming climbing roses is that
we have had no personal experience
with them.
The theory of these latest develop
ments in the hybridizer's art is that the
well-eStablished specimen will "do its
stuff" If given sufficient time to age
properly.
1t seems that when these newer
climbers were announced the demand
for them became so great that immature
buds, rather than just the strongest,
were used in the grating process.
This resulted in many weak speci
mems, which, when planted in the aver
age gardeners yard, did not live up to
the glowing encomiums of the cata-
logues and the writer's.
Who was to blame for this situation is
a moot question-the dealers or the
time enough to do their best?
x y
The results in many gardens, there
fore, have not been entirely satisfactory.
Instead of sending forth fresh flowers
every month, as many were led to expect,
certain specimens have given blooms but
twice year, and neither Of these bloom
lngs was as good as the one grand
bloom of the parent climbers.
1t Is probably true, as some claim, that
If one gets good specimens, and gives
them time, they will in the end live up
to the enthusiastic blurbs of their orig
inators.
In the meantime, the small gardener,
who simply wants good roses without
too much fuss about them, will do well
to stick to the old standard climbing
roses. Let him be delighted with their
one great blooming spell
After all, the search for sever
boomers" may be wrong, who knows?
We rather think it is, in a sense. That
is, we ought to be satisfied with what
Nature has given us in this respect.
Maybe 1t means more to us, to have
great vine of the Dr. Van Fleet in
hAOOiI OllCC year, Illd1l W nave IL TCDcdL
its magnificent act twice, thrice, four
times, as delightful as that would be.
We may suspect that Nature is a
trlf1e obdurate, in this respect. She
intended her climbers to bloom once, and
that be an end of it, and if man steps
in and insists that they bloom month
after month, well, she will take revenge
on him some way, mostly by giving fewer
blossoms at each blooming, or weaker
growth, or susceptibility to rose diseases
from which the parents were free.
When we tamper with Nature, often
We pay price.
If they ever get these new climbers
down to quantity production in their
best form, the modern gardener will
have an entirely new list of materials to
play with.
There is little gainSaying that Paul's
scarlet, for instance, which would throw
its bright flowers several times during
the season would be winner.
An ever-blooming DR.. Van Fleet, if
it bore the same quantity OF good flowers
every month or so, or even three times,
would be something almost any gardener
would like to have.
Yet as we have gone around town
we do not recall having seen any such
Splendor out of season.
Maybe no one has had an sever