Chapter 22 (extract 3) of "Roses for English Gardens" by Jekyll and Mawley (1902), in which Mr Mawley notes the difficulties of producing roses in winter and gives tips on how this may be achieved.
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Illustration: Rose Eclair (from Foster-Melliar "The Book of the Rose" 1894).
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Forcing Roses.—If the plants be required to flower towards the end of the winter instead of in the spring more skill and care will be necessary, for Roses naturally object to much fire heat, and the lack of sunshine at that season is another drawback.
For this purpose plants should be selected which have been grown as previously directed for at least one year under glass, with the pots well filled with roots; or, if preferred, Roses specially prepared for forcing may be purchased. If any repotting be required, it should be done in May. After they have been placed in the house in November very little heat should be at first given, but it may be very gradually increased as the new growths appear.
The ventilation should also be gradually lessened. As before recommended, the plants should be frequently syringed until the new growths are about an inch in length; but after this the floor should, instead, be sprinkled freely with water on all but dull, damp days, or mildew may result. Indeed the great enemy to guard against is mildew, which is a certain sign of some defect in the treatment, either in watering, the admission of air, or the exposure of the plants to sudden changes of temperature.
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More: Greenhouse Roses - roses in pots; pests of roses under glass; summer treatment and repotting; roses in greenhouse beds; climbing roses under glass.
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