Evening star., 1951-06-26
Readers
Clearing House
Conducted BY BETSY cAsWELL
ROSES

Il Heights: In answer to your in
'lquiry about floribunda and multi
,ihora roses, there is q distinction
,ibetween fioribunda and multi
llforas. Most doribundas on the
''imarket are patented, and quite
,lexpensive. In my garden in Cali
lfornia. we have the celebrated
'fPinocchio, and 1t is beautiful. a
very unusual coral and gold shade.
However. these roses are expen-
'Isive. even more SO than patented
hybrid teas, and the price of f1ori-
lbundas to take the place of fences
ION a lot 60x130 would be exorb-
'Iitant. Floribundas are rather low
growing. and with reasonable care,
vigorous and long blooming, but
II would not recommend their use
'Ifor a hedge or fence, since all
foliage is lost during dormancy.
land In this more rigorous climate
that would be for quite a long
.lperiod. Most patented varieties
'lrange from $3.50 to $3.50 each,
too. Blooms appear in clusters
from one main cane, possibly sew
len or eight blooms, and cutting
from the main stem In two or
three places affords the grower q
lovely bouquet of roses in all
blooming stages. So for cut dow-
lers. they are fine, and Suffers
Gold is particularly lovely one
in golden yellow. These two, I
believe. are recent year winners
| in the American Rose Society.
They are bush roses. of course.
| The multifora roses are actu-
lally types of hardy climbers or
ramblers. They flower In clusters
and grow vigorously. but you must
be careful Of selection, since many
are subject to mildew and insect
ATTACK. and these are difficult to
control, most certainly so If plant
led over a large area. ! believe
the vigorous growth, with prun-
ling, has given them the reputa-
|tion for hedges, since it would
tend to thicken the growth. which
would otherwise extend upward.
According to the United States
Department Of Agriculture. roses
may sometimes be desired as al
hedge, but they are not 30 we'll
adapted to this purpose as arel
many other climbing plants. Much
as I love roses, I must agree!
However, one multif1ora is rec
commended as resistant to diseased
and insects-and it has almost
evergreen foliage. too. This is the |
Wichuraiana, or more commonly
called Memorial" rose. However,
the blossoms are single and white,
not the true rose form as in hori-
bundas, or as we generally know
it. I offer this to avoid disap-
pointment.
The brier roses viii make q good
hedge If severely and frequently
|pruned, (quite a jobD, but most j
roses are neither sufficiently COM
pact nor sufficiently branched to-
make q really good hedge. The
Rugosa rose varieties, (they are
legion). make a handsome summer
barrier, but are SO poorly branchedl /
that even in summer they do not
give protection against small |
animals, and in winter they do
not have a hedge-like appearance.
Many so called rose hedges" are
rows Of cut-flower roses. usually |,
pruned for masses of flowers, with Il
little of the appearance Of a hedge, |,
except when at the height Of |
bloom. I'm sure the pictures youl,
saw showed the roses at the height
of bloom, No?
Since this will also be q neigh
borly decision, I would recommend
that nearby nurserymen or grow
ers be consulted before final selec-
ton there is a considerable
amount of work connected with |.
any rose-growing to assure healthy
growth. Where there are young /
children to consider, remember
that many, if not all, roses, are
thorny to some degree, some ex-l
ceptionally SO, which may be OBJ
jectionable If the hedged section
is to surround play area. Children
running after a tossed bali are not
apt to think of thorns until tool
late. and thorn pricks are painful, |
and in the eye area can be |
dangerous.
AS for the spreading character
iStics, I believe most roses trained
into hedges have q width Of two
or three feet, but this depends
somewhat on variety and both /
width and height can be con-
trolled to e great extent by
pruning methods.
There are many fast, vigorous
growing shrubbery-type hedges
which offer spring and summer
bloom, in variety of colors, some
sweetly fragrant which may be
much less expensive and surely
more adaptable for hedge use.
Many Of these will need little care
beyond occasional pruning, and ;
I'm sure a good nurseryman will !.
make recommendations on this
score.
APPLESAUCE CAKE. I,
From Mrs. C. w. D., Washington J ,
Both my husband and I think |
the following recipe for apple II
sauce cake is one of the best. ByIt
special request nearly every third
cake I bake is from this recipe: Il
" cup butter Cor shortening), LII
cup sugar, / egg beaten. / cuply
each raisinS. nuts and dates
dates optionaD, 11a cups apple l.
sauce (unsweetened), / teaspoon &
soda, Y teaspoon cloves and d
allspice. / teaspoon cinnamon, lh
vanilla, little salt, 2
scant cups flour. Cream butter
and sugar and beat until light:
add egg. Mix fruits and nuts /