After I spread the pellets around the rose, I turn the hose on to a stiff strong spray and water in the pellets thoroughly. They will start to disintegrate as a result--speed up the process and keeps the hard pellets from just laying there and attracting who knows what kind of critters (including ants?). Then I put mulch on top of the pellets--helps protect them and discourage the critters--and obviously is good for the future retention of moisture when the weather heats up. Just make sure there is no salt in the alfalfa--that iwould be a recipe for garden disaster! Kate

There are many recipes on this forum for making "alfalfa tea"--you can easily locate them by using the "search" function. That process is longer and more complicated--but its adherents swear by it. A simpler method is to soak some pellets in a bucket of water for a couple hours--to get it "mushy"--and pour that on the roses. The easiest method is to spread the pellets underneath the bush (out to the perimeter), turn your hose on to a stiff strong spray, and generously water it in--it will start to partially break down. I then apply mulch. Which is best? Makes no difference except in how quickly it goes to work. The "tea" is the fastest-working, but most labor intensive (and can smell really bad). Being a somewhat lazy gardener, I spread the pellets directly to the soil and spray. As to when to use it, depends. I'd guess most users apply it in the spring-time. Some apply it a second time after the spring flush is done. Perhaps some apply it later, especially in long growing seasons like you enjoy. You can also feed your roses with a product like Rose Tone (or Holly Tone or Plant Tone)-- it has a little afalfa meal in it. I use about one cup of pellets per plant, unless it is a larger bush. I don't use it on new, small plants--not sure why, but it seems a bit much for them, to me. I don't know how much others use. Hope that helps. The stuff is terrific, but it does get to be a hassle with time--which is why I usually settle for hard pellets applied in the springtime, plus Rose Tone. Kate

Jeri made me laugh, that was funny! Humor is badly need in this forum. Dry air is made of 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, and the rest of argon and carbon dioxide. That explains why poor drainage wet clay soil can turn roses yellow ... the roots can't breathe. My Eglantyne rose was yellowish, until I fixed the drainage. MiracleGro potting soil comes with enough nitrogen for 3 months. I had one geranium in MiracleGro and was annoyed that the leaves are so dark green with few flowers (I don't fertilize that pot). There's one pot that I ran out of MiracleGro and put 1/2 garden dirt in ... I actually like that geranium better: it was shorter, more blooms, and lighter green leaves ....easier on the eyes. A friend asked me about phosphorus, so I'll post the info. here: The NPK value of oak leaves is 0.8 /0.35/ 0.15 Maple leaves is similar to that, so it's twice higher in nitrogen than phosphorus. Once decomposed, the value of phosphorus rises. Most decomposed organic matter is high in phophorus, such as sewage sludge at NPK of 2/ 1.9 / 0.3. Animal tankage (manure without the fat and gelatin) with NPK of 8 / 20 / 0. Other high sources of phosporus are rock phosphate and bone meal with NPK of 4 / 21 / 0.2. Drawback of rock phosphate and bone meal: they can only be utilized at pH at or below 7, according to University of Colorado Extension. Since I'm lazy in pruning I would rather sacrifice top growth for more root and flowering, or less nitrogen and more phosphorus. Leaves and stem store plenty of nitrogen, and unless the plant is completely yellow, there's no need for nitrogen. Even then, fixing the drainage and fluff up the soil with organic matter helped my roses to green up without the need for chemical nitrogen (also highest in salt). Adding air to the soil by making it fluffy is the cheapest way to give nitrogen to roots, considering that dry air is made of 78.09% nitrogen. Composting scraps from kitchen is another cheap source of nutrients, considering Cantaloupe rinds has NPK value of 0 / 9.77 /12.0 ... high in phosphorus and potassium. Potato skin has NPK value of 0 / 5.18 / 27.5 ... also high P and K. Nothing beats banana peels in potassium, with NPK value of 0 / 3.25 / 41.76. Potassium is need to counteract the salt in manure, and to fight diseases. This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Wed, Feb 20, 13 at 11:48

Gezz, nothing like getting to something right away (alittle sarcasm here). I FINIALLY put out my Alfalfa meal today. My bag did get me around the front yard and the backyard and the drioveway side yard. All the front yard daylilies still need to be done. I should have done this yesterday as it rained heavily last night but the way its been going, I doubt that I will have to wait long for the rain to wash the meal in. I liked working with the meal better than the pelletts as it was really easy to spread a layer of it thru the entire daylily beds. You can easily see what you have already done. I made it the first thing on todays gardening chores to make sure it did get done. I hope I can find another bag. Plus I never did my roses either.