I feed an all-purpose organic fertilzer on soltices and equinoxes (tho I often don't get around to the winter solstice). Otherwise I leave things alone unless I see symptoms of nutrient deficiency. If something just looks drab, I'll give it Superthrive or that liquid seaweed stuff or compost tea or whatever [organic] perk I have around. Sometimes I'll pick up bone meal and give everyone a treat. Plants should get their food from soil. Fertilizer is like vitamins; it should not be necessary, only supplementary.

Don't use Miracle Gro. It's like feeding sugar. Don't use a systemic fertilzer with insectide; it will kill the bees. Don't overfeed. Think of all the roses that have lived for years in abandoned church yards, forgotten houses, and along old country roads.

I feed them when I have a free day. Today happened to be that day, and all the roses got chelated iron and water soaked alfalfa cubes, troweled into the soil. I also throw in kitchen scraps whenever the countertop container gets full. I did notice today that the soil seemed very nice, dark, and composty, and the worms were very big and fat. This is very, very good, since my soil was originally so hard with clay we had to use a jackhammer to dig the planting holes. All the roses are beginning to bud, which was also a good sign. I only use the systemic 2 in 1 at the beginning of the spring season as a pre-emptive strike, and it has seemed to work so far. Other than that, I deal with issues as they come up, like BS, mildew, thrips, and whiteflies. So far, so good!

I am trying the peter beales organic fertilizer this year. I just put down the good morning roses today. Then there is a mid summer and end of summer feeding.

I also put down some well composted manure I got for free from someone off of craigslist. I already put down lime and some gypsum. I will do the alfalfa tea at the right time for my area. I can put up with the smell. If you can't just scratch some into the ground around your roses.

Feed your birds. They will fertilize for you at a regular rate. Also the will take care of the Insects.

I don't feed birds except in winter. During the other seasons, I let them earn their keep. Well-fed birds will not hunt for their food. Why should they?

I don't follow a super strict schedule--there are vaiables of weather, bloom, growth, variety and species, etc. In general, I use use alfala (roses love alfalfa!) and good, rich (well-aged, of course) compost mixed into soil with any new plantings, then repeated (scratch into top 2in. or so of soil) every spring and fall, and sometimes mid-summer. I also like Neptune's Harvest, a high quality fish fertilizer (see link), which I use every month or so.

I live near Chamblee's Nursery, get most of my plants from them, and they swear by Osmocote. I must say that their plants are gorgeous and healthy. I have used Osmocote on other plants, but not roses. Perhaps it's because I wouldn't have to be out there fussing with them as much!

http://www.neptunesharvest.com/

P.S. Agree with not using Miracle Grow and most other granular, bagged fertilizers.

I'm accidentally doing an experiment this year, half the roses have Rose Tone and the other half have Miracle Gro for Roses with alfalfa pellets, Rose Tone has a small amt of alfalfa in it. In a few weeks I'm going to give them a foliar feeding of liquid MG for Roses followed by in a few weeks after that when it's really warmed up with a nice dose of Fish Fert, they all really like that. In between I'm feeding them coffee and fish tank water:) I did before and after pics on some of the ones I was experimenting on.

I like the granular first of the season because as the soil warms and the roses are ready and free from late frosts it kicks in. I don't have to time it, especially if I don't feel good. I tried using Rose Vigoro last year on someone's advice and got veg centers on all my minis. Experimenting on my roses and minis especially grow better on MG than anything else I tried last year except Fish Fert:) I do not use the 2 or 3 in ones with pesticide because of the toads I have and will see in another month. Every couple of months I put out new alfalfa pellets.

Anyways, this works for me, my roses are usually nice and healthy and most of the roses way exceeded the max given for them on growing last. I live where Sequoia Nursery is and my roses grow much larger than the averages they given me.

Thought you might want to hear from a lazy and low-energy gardener for a change. I use alfalfa meal, just watered in around the roses, and coffee grounds and banana peels. My mulch is leaves and composted leaves. Other than that, water whenever the roses seem to need it. It's cheap, it's easy and I let the birds and beneficial insects take care of the bugs. That leaves lots of time to admire the roses and squeeze a few aphids.

Ingrid

10-10-10 or 12-12-12 once a month from May until the beginning of August.

I spray the tops of my roses where the new growth starts at the beginning of each month with Messenger.
I also use a locally produced alfalfa based fertilizer called Bradfield that is quite similar to Mill's Magic Mix at the beginning of each month. I just scatter 2 cups around the drip line of each rose and water it in.
Finally, I use a fertilizer injector I got from Rosemania in conjunction with my drip irrigation system. I make a mix of things which generally includes Response, Miracle-Gro, Superthrive, Epsom Salts, Fish Emulsion, Chelated Iron, and an acid based granular fertilizer, etc. to put in the injector and just water it in. My sister uses it on her roses as well and jokingly calls it John's Juice. I do this once per month as well and it really works superbly an it is easy to do using the injector that way. I can tell almost immediately that this mix really jump starts my roses into excellent bush/foliage growth, more basal breaks, and bigger and more plentiful flowers.
The main thing to remember if you want good roses is to provide plenty of water.
John

Diggerdave, Do you use anything else besides the Miracle Gro? Compost, manure, alfalfa, MMM or other organic product?
Last year for the first time I went to a horse farm and got 20 five gallon buckets of manure. I am a little worried about grain seeds. The farmer told me it has been sitting there for years but I have had a lot of birds in it. We will see I may be infested with healthy weeds.

Both-

Manure draws worms...one of the best benefits of using manure. The birds are making use of the buffet!

:o)

Ronda, good to know thanks. Amy

IÂm also experimenting. Since I have roses in 3 separate gardens, I made a big batch of alfalfa tea and fed the established roses at my community garden plots 2 weeks ago (March 1). The newly planted bare roots and transplanted roses got nothing but mulch.
Yesterday (Sunday, March 16) I gave all my established roses at my house a cup each of Dr. EarthÂs organic rose food, alfalfa-based. ItÂs turned cool at night so I donÂt know that anything will happen until the soil warms. Eglantine has a funny color to the leaves (lime green with reddish veins) and I donÂt know that it is anything unusual for this plant but other plants surrounding it are glossy green. The plant is vigorous but I wonder if it is lacking something or has a disease. If it sounds like something to be alarmed about, I would love to know. I am trying to keep track of whatÂs happening with all of them. ItÂs time to get working on my spreadsheet again. The more roses, the more complicated!
I donÂt expect I will feed again until mid-May. I have plenty of mulch and good clay soil.

diggerdave, I've seen your rose garden pictures, and your roses are absolutely gorgeous. My only concern from chemical fertilizers is the harm to the environment from the runoff of those chemicals into the water. My last intention is to offend or preach at you. These are very individual decisions.

Ingrid

Ingrid

I know Ashdown used to use Osmocote. I use Neptune's also. Rosetone, alfalfa cubes, Osmocote, whatever I feel like. I try to do mostly organic.

Carla

both, I topdress the beds with an inch or so of material each spring. I mix good topsoil with lawn clippings and leaves from the year before. I mix them well and run them through a half inch screen. I loosen the top couple inches in the beds with a garden claw and spread the material about an inch thick. It looks nice until the alyssum starts blooming and hides it :) The material is mostly topsoil.
I don't overfeed the roses. They don't get anything to try and force a lot of blooms. If anything... I underfeed them.

Ingrid, no offense taken. I just like to mention how our roses are fed when I see people say MG is so nasty. I don't feel there is any contamination to water from MG used properly. That is just my opinion. I was being a smart aleck in my last post. I have a habit of doing that. I know our roses are healthy.

Roses get fed 3 or 4 times a season-- & we have a long season here. The March 1 wake-up feeding included bloodmeal and epsom salts. We'll use Mills Magic the next feeding, then use up the Rose-Tone the one after that. In between times anybody who looks like they need a lift will get a shot of fish emulsion. We'll also brew up at least one round of alfalfa tea. Coffee grounds, eggshells, orange rinds & whatnot go straight into the garden after breakfast. The newly planted own-roots are on a liquid diet their first year--this year we'll use Mills Easy-Feed alternated with various teas. Due to the budget crunch at the arboretum we may resort to whatever soluble we can get cheap-- probably 20-20-20 purchased thru the rose club. The current program works great on all the old roses & shrubs, but the hybrid teas clearly want moremoremore.

Barbarag - I am planting about 50 own-root roses this year. Would you mind sharing what liquid fertilizer and at what strength I should feed my first-year babies? I should mention that I also plan to give them alfalfa tea and Messenger on a monthly basis unless you think it will be too much their first year? I had purchased Rose Tone to feed them but it might be too much for them their first year. Thanks for your advice.
-t

I used Rose Tone 2 weeks ago will top that off with some feather meal and seaweed emulsion in a about 2 weeks and then will feed them again while the flush is going on in mid to late May potted roses get fed every 4 weeks in ground roses every 5 weeks during the summer

Mine is a little similar to labrea's. I use Rose Tone
(or similar) and kelp or fish emulsion. However, I also
mix in synthetics like so:

Wednesday Week 1 Organic granular fertilizer
Saturday Week 2 Weak liquid fertilizer
Wednesday Week 3 Fish emulsion
Saturday Week 4 Weak liquid fertilizer

Yep, that means I am fertilizing almost once per week,
although I pass on the organic "Week 1" about half
the time.

However I feed very, very weakly. I also look at other
factors like the weather. If it's scorching hot and 100
degrees in July then I cut way back. If I miss a week
or two because of vacation then that's fine. However, in
April, May, and September I am fairly religious about it
because those spring and fall flushes are why I grow roses.

For my climbers I usually dump something on them here and
there when working in the yard, but I do try to give them a
good half-strength liquid at least once per month.

I should also mention that one reason I feel so often is
that I grow a lot of plants (including roses) in containers.
My roses that are planted in the garden get about 1/2 as
much attention except in the spring when I am fertilizing
the annuals all of the time and they are also beneficiaries.

Late March - Rose Tone and alfalfa mush made by soaking cubes in buckets of water

June - more Rose Tone or some other organic

Late July - Miracle Grow for Roses to push the fall flush

Ground leaves, pine needles, coffee grounds and mulch are added as a top dressing on a continuing basis.

It is what I always suspected. Roses will take what you give them and do fine. I have a co-worker who brings in the most wonderful bouquets all season long. Insists she doesn't fertilize at all! And there are those who do a varied weekly schedule of different things, those that use only one product, those that prefer to use the most expensive product they can find, those that use the cheapest. Rose are appreciative of what you give them. They are like dogs!
For me, I used to give them 16-16-16 with epsom salts. Decided I didn't need epsom salts. Decided the middle number needed to be smaller. Supplemented them with miracle gro. Did several batches of alfalfa tea each summer. Tried more slow release products. It all seemed to work ok. I haven't found the magic formula yet.
Kathy

Kathy speaks the truth. I have a neighbor who does not live in his house, just comes by now and then. Nothing gets done to his roses that his wife (now dead) planted years ago. Some are in deep shade, some are in sun.
I prune them lightly just because I like to walk by and not see them look awful and he is a nice fellow anyway. They get nothing but sprinkler water and mulch that the gardeners put down occasionally. They bloom just like any others and we all admire them. One I believe is Tiffany. The big yellow one in deep shade blooms like crazy! Go figure.

Just like Kathy and Peachie said, they are going to bloom regardless of what non expensive or expensive food they get. I like that analogy of the dogs Kathy.

Carla