Commercial production of flowers and ornamental plants is growing in Bangladesh, with the rose especially prominent. Flower extracts are also used in making various perfumes.

The rose is called the queen of flowers. Few people are not drawn to its softness, colour and scent. It is prized as a cut flower for decoration and is also used in perfume making.

As far as is known, the fine rose came to the Indian subcontinent from Basra about 500 years ago. The Mughal emperor Babur first brought a rose called "Basra". This fragrant pink rose is still known as "Basra" in Bangladesh and is still grown in some old gardens. Its weak, lanky plants bear clusters of flowers at the tips of the branches.

There are countless rose varieties worldwide. Some grow as large plants, some as bushes and some as climbers. Depending on the variety, roses are white, red, yellow, orange, pink and other colours.

Varieties grown in Bangladesh include Miranda, Papa Meilland, Double Delight, Taj Mahal, Paradise, Blue Moon, Montezuma, Tata Centre and City of Belfast.

Roses can be divided into many classes. The main ones are:

• Hybrid: large, well-formed flowers with many petals, used as cut flowers; varieties include Crimson Gori, Papa Meilland and Tip Tip.
• Polyantha: relatively small flowers borne in large clusters; examples are George Elgar, Cameo and Ideal.
• Floribunda: small flowers in clusters, grown for cut flowers; examples are Honeymoon and Sunsilk.
• Miniature: small plants, small leaves and small flowers; examples are Rajina, Golden and Yellow Doll.

Varieties developed in Bangladesh include "Fatema Chhattar", "Shibli", "Rahela Hamid", "Piyari", "Bhasani", "Sher-e-Bangla", "1952" and "Joyonti". But for lack of suitable gardens and initiative, it is uncertain how long they will survive.

The rose blooms all year round. It is essentially a winter flower, but because of its demand and beauty it is now grown throughout the year. Roses are grown more or less year-round in every country, and in Bangladesh they are now cultivated commercially in various districts. As cultivation grows, the rose is making an important economic contribution.

In season the flowers are large; off season they are smaller. The soil of rose plants should be changed at the end of the rainy season.

Roses are propagated by seed, stem cuttings, layering and budding. Seed is used to develop hybrid varieties.

Budding is the main method of producing new plants of improved varieties. In Bangladesh it is done from November to mid-January. A bud of the variety to be multiplied is set on a suitable rootstock. The rootstock plays an important role in the plant's vigour, productivity, flower quality, bush longevity, disease resistance and adaptation to soil and weather.

Rootstock cuttings (pencil-sized) are prepared at the end of summer and planted in rows in the nursery 25 to 30 cm apart. After about six months they form stems of the right size for budding. T-budding is mainly used for roses.

By budding onto wild rose stems at different heights, attractive rose bushes known as "standard roses" can be made. In a garden, planting tall plants at the back and progressively shorter ones in front looks well balanced.

Under favourable conditions, pollination by ants, butterflies and bees leads to fruit and seed. Seedlings from these seeds vary, and that is how new varieties arise. Sometimes a mutation makes one branch of a single-coloured rose bear a different kind of flower, and mutation can also turn a bush rose into a climber. With some roses, a piece of a fairly mature branch planted in soil will root and put out new leaves within a few weeks; this is called a cutting.

For commercial seedling production, many plants can be made by budding onto wild roses. The lower part of the plant is wild rose and the upper part is the chosen variety grown from its bud. In this way well-known foreign roses such as Papa Meilland, Double Delight, Dutch Gold, Queen Elizabeth and Monte Zuma are now available in Bangladesh. Tissue culture or micropropagation of rose seedlings is also being tried but has not yet spread widely.

Among foreign roses, Taj Mahal and Papa Meilland can be grown from cuttings, and applying a suitable hormone to the cut end increases the chance of rooting.

Rose beds should always be kept free of weeds. For good flowers, prune between mid-September and October, cutting away dry or diseased branches. Flowering begins when new shoots appear.

After pruning, remove 20 cm of soil from around the base of the plant, set it to one side and leave the roots open to sun and air. After 8 to 10 days, mix in 5 kg of cow dung, 100 g of bone meal, 50 g of TSP and 25 g of MoP per plant and water the base well.

Packaging depends on market demand. Many growers supply bundles of flowers to nearby local markets without packaging; in some cases the bundles are wrapped in newspaper.

Source: Online Desk. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.