FLORAL HEDGES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 June 1939, Page 3

FLORAL HEDGES

HAVE COME TO STAY. Few classes of roses have attracted more attention in recent years than hybrid polyanthas. The reason for their meteoric rise to popularity is not far to seek. In habit of growth they are well nigh perfect; their colours are bright and pleasing and the blooms are produced with abundant freedom over a long period. From this it will be gathered that they are bedding roses par excellence. True, they are considerably taller in growth than the dwarf polyanthas, but they have the same attribute of a singularly even habit. This fact makes them particularly suitable for dividing hedges up to four ieet in height. What a contrast to the usual run of hedge plants which need constant attention with the shears to present anything like a tidy appearance. There is no doubt that the floral hedge has come to stay, with the result that our residential streets will be all the brighter. Very little attention is needed. The removal of the dead flower trusses down to the second good bud from the top is all the pruning required to keep a shapely appearance. A really well grown bed of one variety has the appearance of a level mass of colour, and this is an effect that can never be achieved with one of the hybrid teas. But, the writer hastens to add, it is not the intention to measure the respective attributes of the two classes. When grown as bedders the plants are invariably hard pruned, but light pruning will result in tall bushes, which however, do not go leggy at the base. There can be no doubt the rise to fame of the hybrid polyantha class.

is due, in very large measure, to the efforts of one man, Mr D. T. Poulsen, of Denmark, the raiser of all the Poulsen roses which, today, are as well known as are Shot Silk and Betty Uprichard among the hybrid teas. The newest of all is Poulsen’s Yellow, distributed last year, and in due course it will no doubt find its way to this Dominion. This is a new break hi the hybrid polyantha class and should prove an acquisition for bedding. It is unnecessary to say more than that it is a typical Poulsen, free branching and' sturdily upright.

The older and better known Kirsten Poulsen should find a place in every garden. As a hedge it is ideal. The cherry red single blooms are well set off by the cluster of golden anthers. Else Poulsen is a beautiful rose-pink with semi-double blooms, and each of these varieties is supreme in its own colour. There are few rose growers who are not familiar with these useful roses. A bed of roses is always a pleasing feature and one variety of polyantha rose, planted in a bed, will give a good show throughout the summer, and that with a minimum of trouble. These roses may also be used in conjunction with other plants if desired. Bulbs will give a show of bloom at a time of dearth and need not be disturbed. By the time their foliage is dying down, the roses will be growing apace, and hide the fading bulb foliage.