82-Lmcnter Firming, Saturday, July 2, 1988
Roses Thwart Cows From Trampling Gardens
BY JOYCE BUPP
York Co. Correspondent
PEACH BOTTOM (Lancaster)
Unlike some hobbyists, Doris
Hough had a specific reason for
acquiring the first of what would
grow into an impressive
collection.
“I thought cows wouldn’t
destroy plants with heavy thorns,”
chuckles this good-humored dairy
farm woman from the southwest
comer of Lancaster County.
For years, Doris had been frus
trated with that classic plague of
dairy farms; escaped cows ma-
Crested Moss Roses have
stems covered with soft,
moss-like thorns. The
“moss” extends to
unopened buds, lending
them a look called “Napo
leon’s hat.”
rauding gardens. She and her hus
band, George, breed registered
Jerseys at their Milk-N-Honey
farm in the picturesque hills near
Peach Bottom.
Natives of New Jersey, the
Houghs became Lancaster Coun
tians 16 years ago. They were
“happily pushed out” of their for
mer home due to development
pressures. In fact, the Houghs had
to deal with “progress” several
times. Their first home is now in
the center of Interstate 78. Some
time after moving, the Hough’s
learned their new location was a
planned reservoir site and would
lie under thirty feet of water. Later,
a proposed jctporl for the New
Vork Port Authority was blue
printed for their farmland.
Though the Peach Bottom atom
ic plant lies just a few miles away,
begun soon after their move to
Pennsylvania, the Hough’s have
'herwise seen a halt to the disrap
■ons of development which sha
dowed their early years of dairy
farming.
The disruptions which did con
tinue to irritate Doris Hough were
the sort in which playful cows
romped through her carefully
This Rosamundl Gallica variety has been documented to
the year 1581, one of the Gallica species from which modern
roses were developed. Swirling, striped color patterns, in
shades of deep fushlato white, earned it a label as a “mad"
rose. Since It blooms only once annually, in June, Doris
Hough views it often to enjoy the dally color changes.
tended floral landscaping. In des
peration one year, she acquired a
few roses, of the “old” European
type.
“It was just an accumulation of
aggravation at cows over the
years,” she sighs, of those first
thorn-laden bushes planted at the
foundation of the lovely, classic
bank bam.
A history buff and talented
artist, Doris became increasingly
intrigued with these roses of old
European culture. And, the more
she grew them and studied them,
the more she wanted to add to her
developing collection.
Today, Doris cultivates about
60 bushes of the old rose varieties.
Many arc ordered through a Cali
fornia firm, Roses From Yesterday
and Today, and sent onc-day-air to
avoid plant dryout.
“Cultivate” is not a word Dons
uses to describe her rose hobby.
Old roses, she insists, just don’t
require much cultivation.
“I dig a hole,” she says as she
shrugs matter-of-factly while
describing the preparation of the
soil needed for these durable, his
toric shrubs of antiquity. Occa
sionally, she might toss in a bit of
bone meal. “But I’ve never fertil
ized them yet; maybe I should.”
An increasing number of visi
tors, including garden clubs, who
view Doris’ old roses in June,
might find her casual approach to
rose culture surprising. In early
summer, the roses arc covered
with wonderfully fragrant blos
soms in red, fuschia and pink
shades. Some varieties have
blooms in patterns of blotched and
striped colorings. Many are round
and full with thick layers of petals;
others bloom as singles, a delicate
circle of petals.
But, visitors to Doris’ roses
don’t just view a collection of
blooming plants. A history lesson -
with a touch of genetics - adds to
the appreciation of the lovely
plants.
Popular hybrid roses of today’s
backyards trace to an ancient Euro
pean type, Rosa Gallica. Roses,
centuries ago, were prized as med
icinals, and their highly-fragrant
blooms carefully harvested for
perfume use. Dried petals, in con
coctions similar to the popular pot
pourri, helped freshen the air in
rooms of dark, musty castle.
The seed pods, or rose hips,
which turn reddish-orange as they
ripen, arc very high in Vitamin C,
and were valued for health uses.
But, with the exception of the
Autumn Damask type, old roses
generally bloomed only once a
year. However, through early trade
,h Ch:
Surrounded by roses, Doris enjoys from the porch the seasonal color and scents of
her rose and herb garden.
camel caravans, China or tea roses
were introduced to Europe. Middle
Age era rose growers crossed the
two, breeding into the plants more
continuous bloom. Modem hybrid
tea roses have been developed
from these lineages.
Doris Hough, however, has
grown a few of the modern hybrid
leas, and found them wanting for
her needs. Cows, it seems, aren’t
daunted by the comparatively
thornless nature of newer hybrids,
as they arc by the thousands of
lethal-looking, needlclike, thorns
packed along the sprawling stems
of the classic old roses of medieval
Europe.
About five of the roses that form
the foundation of Doris’ plantings
bloom only in June. The others
bloom most heavily then, but con
tinue adding color and fragrance to
the garden through the growing
season.
One of the most unique catego
ries of old roses growing at Milk-
N-Honcy arc the Moss Roses.
Actually a sport or mutation of a
long-ago plant breeder cross, the
stems of Moss Roses arc heavy
with a thick, green, blanket of short
thorns which never harden. The
soft, jagged-looking stem covering
resembles a form of moss, and has
a distinctive fragrance of its own.
Buds of Moss Roses also look as
though they arc wrapped in a moss
green covering.
Even with the extensive collec
tion ol old roses, which surround
the Hough’s farm home and barn,
Doris insists she spends relatively
little time lending them.
“I really like these old roses but I
won’t be a slave to them,” is her
philosophy, and one reason she
keeps returning to the pages of old
roses suppliers’ catalogs.
Unlike hybrids teas, old roses of
Europe are rarely bothered by such
pests as the Japanese beetle or the
black spot fungus. Spraying is
almost never done by Doris,
except on rare occasions when a
particular plant might not be thriv
ing and blooming to her satisfac
tion. No winter protection is ever
given these roses; and Doris
mulched them for the first time
ever this year, with shredded bark.
She has even found a handy way
to identify her several dozen roses.
Unhappy with plastic slick-in
markers - which cows can trample
- or writc-on tags which seemed to
fade, Doris hit on the idea of label
ing with bricks. Identifying infor
mation in black, indelible marker
inks shows up well and is long
lasting on the red clay bricks,
which don’t blow away, rarely
break and generally stay in place at
the base of each bush. Cows don't
bother them, either.
Like those who grew old roses
when they were the only known
roses, Doris enjoys these plants
beyond their summertime beauty,
fragrance and landscaping value.
She frequently gathers the fragrant
petals, spreading them to dry in the
living room of their home, for use
in making potpourri.
Rose hips, especially large and
TTrt*
Artistic touches by Doris
Hough start at the Milk-N-
Honey farm lane. She
painted the whimsical
Jersey sign and planted
nearby several old rose
bushes.
abundant on the Rugosa types,
become jelly. Doris gathers the
hips as they ripen, cooks them in
water, runs them through a food
mill, and uses the strained juice for
her Rose Hip jelly. Small quanti
ties of the juice, frozen as avail
able, arc sometimes blended with
honey, to make her husband’s
favorite sweetening for breakfast
cereals.
“If you can only purchase one
rose bush, buy a Rugsa,” Doris
advises. Each species, however, is
unique, with its own desirable
characteristics. Blooms of the
Alba roses are intensely fragrant.
Sweet Briar types - and briar is
most descriptive of this anti-cow,
homestead
t/nies
thickly-thomed rose - perfumes
the surrounding air with an apple
scent.
“By-products” of Doris’ rose
garden, such as the potpourri and
jelly, often benefit the Robert Ful
ton birthplace historic site, which
is located just a few miles from the
Milk-N-Honey farm. With her
love of history, Doris is an active
supporter of this historic home,
and assists with maintaining her
local club’s herb garden at the Ful
ton birthplace.
Her love of historic sites often
surfaces in another area. Begin
ning as a child who loved to draw,
Doris is now an accomplished
painter in several mediums,
including oils, watercolors and
pastels. At age ten, she had the
opportunity to take classes with an
impressionist, who’s technique of
quickly getting on canvas what
was seen, has strongly influenced
her artistic style.
Many of her paintings of local
scenic and historic site, decorate
the rooms of the Hough farm
house. Child portraits of their
daughter and three sons were long
ago gifts to George. And, a paint
ing of a former Jersey herd mat
riarch, to which much of their herd
today traces, hangs in the farm
house office next to a companion
portrait of her well-known sire.
But Doris’s artistic abilities go
beyond painting. She’s taught her
self to tin punch, carves horses and
birds, and occasionally works in
stained glass. In fact, the Hough
home is almost a gallery, or show
case, of her talents.
/«
In early summer, though, it is
Doris’ roses which take center
stage at Milk-N-Honcy Farm.
Their lovely colors and sweet per
fume compensate for the cow
chasings which first triggered the
order for that first thorny, “old”
rose bush.
Planting of her 60 jagged
stemmed old roses hasn’t com
pletely eliminated cow herd visits
to her gardens. But, with a twinkle
in her artistic eye, Doris Hough
admits that at least she has a fight
ing chance against their unwcl
comcd visits.