“How do you grow roses good enough to win the Nicholson Bowl?”
This question was frequently put to Edward Sima of Seattle, Washington, who won the most coveted prize of rosedom at the national meeting of the American Rose Society back in 1951.

One glance at the perfect form, good color, large size, strong stems, and healthy foliage of the winning entries was enough to convince spectators that their exhibitor really knows how to grow winning roses.
Edward Sima’s method of caring for his 800 rose plants is as interesting as it is different. Here is the procedure he follows given in his own words:
Mr. Sima’s Soil Tips
I don’t believe it is necessary to follow all the hard and fast rules of planting as set down by experts. Find out what works for you, then use your own judgment. The elaborate methods of soil preparation so often advocated are rarely necessary.
If the soil is average, loosen and work it up with a garden fork to a depth of 12” to 18″ inches. Mix in a cupful of bonemeal per plant. If the soil is sticky or heavy with clay, add a liberal amount of peat moss or compost and some sand.
Because the soil here in Seattle leaches badly and gravitates to the acid side, I mix in a generous cupful of gypsum or agricultural lime for every 10 square feet of soil when preparing the rose beds.
Consider The Roots
Plenty of organic matter in the soil is essential for producing good blooms, but I think it is a mistake to use a lot of fertilizer at planting time. Plants come to us from nurseries with their roots pruned back to about 6″ inches.
During the first season, myriads of tender roots must be formed. These are easily burned by contact with any unusual plant food, especially of a chemical nature.
I remove enough soil to accommodate the full spread of the roots of each plant and make a soil mound at the bottom of the hole; the plant is set on this. I place the plant so that, when planting is complete, the bud-union is an inch or two above the bed level. In due time the soil will settle, and the bud will rest at about ground level.
The roots are carefully covered with earth until the hole is nearly filled, then a bucket or two of water is poured in. Once this has drained off, the hole is filled with soil.
A mound of earth, 8″ inches high, is formed around the base of the plant. I do not advocate a foot-tramping of the ground after the hole is half-filled, as so many rosarians do.
Good Positioning Tips
If you want roses to give their best performance, don’t start them off by coddling them. My preference is to space plants 24″ inches apart in rows 30″ inches apart. However, my plants are about 18″ inches apart due to limited space.
I must admit that this compact planting, together with the shade produced by the trees, creates a high horizon that coaxes the plants upwards to produce somewhat longer flower stems than they would otherwise. But this is an advantage when exhibiting fads tend to favor long stems.
Afternoon shade is generally appreciated by most rose plants. Large trees in the proximity of rose beds should have the ground trenched between their trunks and the rose beds. All roots directed toward rose plantings should be completely severed.
Tips For Spring Pruning
With the approach of spring, the protective earth mound is gradually removed from each plant, and the crowns hosed off with water. Pruning is then done with the goal of retaining as much vigorous, healthy wood as possible.
The pruning operation is staggered so that one-third of the bushes are trimmed at intervals of one week to ensure I have exhibition blooms at the proper time. All cuts are covered with an emulsified asphalt.
I feel it’s a crime to cut down healthy canes, which the plants put forth with such great effort the previous summer. Healthy stems are a valuable source of the food supply that helps produce first blooms of a better grade.
In addition, small-natured canes about the size of a lead pencil, normally snipped outright at the crown by many rose growers, often produce the best blooms.
If you want exhibition-type roses, don’t allow canes the size of a lead pencil to carry more than one bloom. Larger canes may carry two, and those of a thumb size, three blooms.
Occasionally, I permit more sprouts to grow than is conducive for exhibition-type flowers, but, as the apical growth shows the flower buds, I leave the best and pick off the others on weaker canes.
Tips For Summer Pruning
A certain amount of summer pruning is carried out during the entire growing season. Where new basal shoots arrive and top growth flourishes, removing a certain amount of the older and weaker growth is permissible, thus favoring the remaining structure.
With the advent of winter and dormancy, the tall canes are topped a bit to protect them against wind-whipping and facilitate winter handling.
Mr. Sima’s Feeding Tips
I have no pet formula or practice when it comes to feeding rose plants. In fact, I have not followed the same approach for any two years in succession.
My annual cycle goes about like this: Late each fall, I dispose of about two tubs of soot and ashes from my stoker furnace by placing a shovelful here and there in the spaces between roses.
About the first of the year, I get out the gypsum and sprinkle it over all the rose beds until the ground has the appearance of a light snowfall. Next, around February 1, a tablespoonful of iron sulfate for each bush is evenly scattered over the surface.
I give each rose bush a cupful of steamed bonemeal a month later. Then, during the latter part of April, a cubic yard of the best manure possible is obtained. This is not too fresh nor so old that it is leached out – around 4 to 6 months old is fine.
With a standard tined garden fork, I dig out the soil to about 4″ inches deep, and the size of a poor man’s washbasin around, equidistant between two bushes. A good forkful of the manure is thrown in, spread out, then covered with soil. I call this the “hidden force.”
Pest Control
The first all-purpose spraying is done about one month after pruning when the flowering shoots are off to a good start. No exact schedule is followed in spraying. It is done about every ten days, I would say.
Still, there are certain periods when things look all right in the garden, and no spraying is done for as long as three weeks.
I prefer spraying to dusting and aim to get complete coverage with an emphasis on the underside of the foliage. However, for occasional hurry-up patchwork, I keep a dust gun handy.
Cleanliness and good housekeeping in the garden reduce the problem of controlling rose enemies to a minimum. It is essential to pick off not only the diseased leaves but also those near the bottom of the plant which have yellowed, discolored, or become spotted.
In addition, all fallen leaves should be removed from the ground, and all blossoms picked as soon as they have passed their zenith.
Insect life can be discouraged and dislodged with water. So I direct the full volume of the hose at the crown of the bushes to wash away the insects that have chosen to make a breeding place of the lower part of the plant or the surrounding ground.
As winter approaches and new growth starts to let up, all spraying and insect control ceases.
Shortly after that, the weak and twiggy growth on each plant is cleared out, and the beds are raked clean. Then the bud union and the ground directly around the base of the plant are given a light sprinkling with naphthalene flakes, and the crown is hilled up with soil about 4” inches above the union.
Dormant spraying with the conventional 1 to 10 solution of lime sulfur is done about a month before the spring clean-up and pruning begins.
Post-Bloom Care
Summer care for roses starts immediately after the cyclone of the June show has taken its toll. Plants are badly out of balance with their root system after having the long-stemmed blooms cut off for exhibiting.
The No. 1 requirement of rose plants during July and August is plenty of water. It is also advisable to let up on the fertilizing. Exhibitors’ gardens are loaded with ample food remains to carry the plants through the season.
A diligent program of proper spraying or dusting to keep foliage in healthy condition is an important part of summer care.
To further favor the plants during this rebuilding period, we rarely cut any blooms. Instead, where a bush is attempting to flower rather profusely, we nip out most of the buds as soon as they appear to preserve the plant’s vitality.
How Mr. Sima Gets His Show Blooms
The following procedure is followed in our garden to obtain show-type blooms; it supplements the care previously described.
Initial Inspections
Five weeks before the show date, a close survey is made of plants capable of producing exhibition-type blooms. Every new shoot, from about 4″ inches long to those barely showing the flower bud in the apical growth, is assigned top priority for inspection at least twice daily.
Slugs, worms, and all insects are handpicked, for a pinhole at this stage will grow with the leaf and develop into an unsightly penalizing defect by showtime.
When the buds first emerge from the apical growth, the side buds are carefully removed. A dime-store horsehair brush is the best tool for this; the wooden handle is pointed and forms a suitable implement for breaking out the side buds.
The bristle end is used to wipe off any aphids and, later on, in preparing the bloom for showing, it is indispensable in picking off any speck that might appear.
Risks To The Sepals
As the sepals start spreading, the petals of the winners-to-be must be safeguarded from thrips and insect discoloration. Therefore, all spraying is stopped at this time, and a light dusting is given with DDT about every third day to prevent bud damage.
When the sepals spread further, the exposed petals need protection from rain, hot sun exposure which fades the blooms, and from particles of soot from the industrial plants in our district.
Cheap And Effective Protection
Our best protectors are umbrellas with shortened handles. One umbrella placed between four bushes usually covers six to ten blooms. Light-colored umbrellas are best as the dark ones have a tendency to draw the heat. They are supported by various lengths of 1/2” to 3/4″ inch iron pipe pressed into the ground.
A simpler cover for blooms is made by nailing a shingle to the top of a garden stake placed alongside the rose stem. The shingle is set from 6” to 8″ inches above the bud and can be swung away when necessary to expose the bud to the sun.
How Blooms Are Judged
You need have little concern about the perfection of rose specimens if the plants have been properly sprayed, pruned, fed, and cared for. All that is required is to choose a specimen with a good, well-proportioned stem, clean, undamaged foliage, and a good-sized bloom which is characteristic of the variety.
As recognized by the American Rose Society, the following scoring points should be kept in mind when selecting roses for exhibition: Form, 25; Color, 25; Substance, 20; Stem and Foliage, 20; Size, 10.
Understanding The Categories
Form means the shape and symmetry of the bloom. A rose should be at the stage where the center petals still retain a perfect bud form, while the outside petals are open far enough to form a symmetrically circular outline. This is described as being from 1/2 to 3/4 open.
Substance refers to the thickness of petals. Size means the bloom should be amply large for that particular variety. Stem and foliage should be clean and healthy. Foliage should be uniformly spiraled about a stem that is strong enough to carry the bloom upright and is in good proportion to it.
Harvesting The Winning Blooms
We cut roses for the show during the afternoon and evening before the event. Great care is exercised in handling them to prevent damage to leaves and petals.
The flowers are set at once in containers of cold water and taken to a cool dark place in the basement. All foliage is submerged, but care is taken not to wet any part of the bloom.
Special attention is given to cleaning up the top award possibilities. If outside petals are damaged, they may be carefully removed, providing their removal does not affect the symmetrical outline.