Chapter 22 (extract 4) of "Roses for English Gardens" by Jekyll and Mawley (1902), in which Mr Mawley notes that beds rather than pots have several advantages in greenhouse culture.
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Roses in Beds.—This is really the most natural way of growing Roses under glass, and if the choice be restricted to the most free-flowering of the Teas and Hybrid Teas, they may, if properly managed, be kept in bloom from the beginning of November till the end of May, or during the entire period that no Roses are obtainable from the open ground, although, as before stated, there may be but very few blooms to be had during January and February. In order to make this method of growing Roses a complete success, a house should be specially built. A span-roof house running north and south will be best, as the sunshine will then be more equally distributed over it. The walls on the east and west sides should be about three feet high, and the eaves be raised only about a foot above them so as to admit as much light to the plants as possible.
The roof should be constructed so that the lights between the main rafters can be entirely removed during the summer months. This is very important, for without some such arrangement the growth of the plants during that season will be arrested by the hot and dry atmosphere within the house, and red spider will with difficulty be kept in check. The beds down each side should be three feet six inches wide so as to allow of two rows of plants; the stronger growing varieties being placed at the back. If the house be sufficiently wide to allow of a central bed of the same width as the two side beds, this might with advantage be planted with half standards. Ventilators should be inserted in the centre of each light near the ridge so that air may be admitted on either side of the house, as circumstances may direct, and to the extent required.
The spaces allotted for the beds should be cleared out to the depth of two feet eight inches. In the bottom should be placed a layer of stones six inches deep, and above this a layer of gravel or other small stones to the depth of another two inches in order to ensure perfect drainage. The spaces should then be filled up with the compost, consisting of six parts turfy loam rather finely chopped, two parts welldecayed manure, one part leaf mould, and the remaining part half-inch bones and coarse sand in tqral quantities. The inner walls supporting the beds need not be more than half a brick thick. The Roses should be planted two feet six inches apart, and in the same way as recommended for outside planting (p. 96). It is advisable to begin with young plants from the open ground, either procured from the Rose nurseries early in November, or taken up in that month from the Rose garden. Any kinds of Roses can be grown in such a Rose house, but Teas are especially recommended on account of their naturally perpetual flowering habit, and also because, more than any other class of Rose, they appreciate the shelter from all adverse weather conditions. Very little warmth should be given, and when young leaves appear at the ends of the shoots these shoots should be cut back half their length.
The first winter must necessarily be a barren one, but there may be a moderate number of small blooms in the spring. The same routine of treatment advised for pot Roses under glass should throughout their growth be adopted (see p. 135). In the summer the lights should be entirely removed from the roof, so that the plants, during the hottest part of the year, may be virtually growing in the open air. At the end of that season, if the plants have received due attention as to watering, &c., they should have made good growth. In September the lights should be replaced on the roof, but ample ventilation should be given, and water entirely withheld, in order to give the plants as far as possible a period of rest.
In October they will require pruning—that is to say, some of the weak and crowded shoots should be removed, and the remainder shortened back about one-third of their length. After a week the plants should be well watered with clear water and syringed every morning, the floor of the house at the same time being freely wetted. Should the nights a little later prove cold, some fire heat should be given, but only enough to keep the plants slowly growing. On all bright days the top ventilators may be opened on the side opposite to that quarter from which the wind happens to be blowing. On the appearance of the flower-buds, very weak liquid manure should be given liberally once a fortnight.
As the weather becomes colder more heat will have to be given, but the temperature should not be allowed to rise above sixty degrees in the daytime or to fall lower than forty-five degrees at night. In this way a fair number of flowers may be obtained until about Christmas, and a flower here and there until March. If the plants be again lightly pruned in January, with the help of increasing sunshine there will be a goodly number until nearly June. The lights must once more be taken from the roof and the same routine as before followed in preparation for the third year's crop of flowers, in the late autumn, winter and spring.
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More: Greenhouse Roses - roses in pots; pests of roses under glass; summer treatment and repotting; forcing roses for winter flowering; climbing roses under glass.
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