The University of Illinois Extension says to use 12-12-12 or osmocote. http://urbanext.illinois.edu/roses/water.cfm For species roses, a spring application of general-purpose fertilizer is usually adequate for the season. General-purpose fertilizers such as 10-10-10 or 12-12-12 are used at about one-half to one cup per plant. All other roses benefit from a second application about June 15 or at the end of the spring bloom period. For continuous-flowering or repeat-blooming roses, a third application in mid-July is suggested. No fertilizer should be applied after August 15 so as not to encourage soft, succulent growth that could be easily winter-damaged. Roses can be fall fertilized after the plants have gone dormant. Applying fertilizer at this time will not encourage growth but will be available as the plants start to grow in the spring. Also by using a fertilizer high in potassium winter hardiness tends to be increased. Another fertilizer option is to use a timed or controlled release fertilizer (osmocote fertilizer pictured at right). These are dry, encapsulated fertilizers that release their nutrients slowly over the season, completing their work in 4, 6, or 8 months depending on the formulation. Nutrient release is dependent on the soil moisture and temperature. These materials are generally applied in May, using about 1/2 cup per plant. Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Fertilizer

Hi Jill: I used MiracleGro 18-24-16 last summer for my pots. It said to use 1 Tablespoon per gallon, which was way-too-much. My roses bloomed VERY WELL with half-the-dose recommended. I prefer MiracleGro over Schultz because MiracleGro has CHELATED iron, and chelated manganese which are tied-up when my tap water is alkaline. MiracleGro soluble food for roses with chelated trace elements helped to keep the leaves green. If your roses are in pots, salt build-up can happen if used weekly. And if your roses are in the ground, heavy clay like mine .... it would retain the salt also. The Chicago Botanical Garden with 5,000 roses recommend using soluble fertilizer 20-20-20 only 3 times per year for cold zone 5 .... for roses in the ground. Chamblee nursery in Texas recommends soluble fertilizer only once every 2 weeks for gallon-sized roses .. but withhold the fertilizer when the heat is intense.

I hear you about "running out of browns in the summer" and want to offer a suggestion. First, do you have a leaf shredder, or do you use the leaves whole? If you do have a shredder, consider cardboard as a leaf substitute for "browns in the summer." Where I live, businesses put out their collapsed cardboard boxes for recycling pickup once a week. If your shredder can handle it, try it. If you don't have a shredder and need the "browns" for composting, consider using the cardboard as the "pasta" in a compost "lasagna", and throw your "greens" in between the cardboard layers. If you wet it down, the cardboard will bend to the shape of the pile beneath it. Then just dump more greens on top, then a layer of cardboard, etc. I'm trying to make a composting area and kill the persistent weeds there at the same time, so I'm doing the "cardboard lasagna" thing myself. I'm in no rush to "harvest" the compost, mainly trying to first kill the ivy and whatever this prickly reed-like herbaceous weed sending out runners is back there. The soil level is lower there, so my "lasagna" layers are helping to bring it up a bit. I've got tree branches, leaves, coffee filters and cardboard for "browns", while "greens" is anything from the yard, plus Milorganite and coffee grounds. :-) ~Christopher

The name or picture on the label doesn't mean much of anything. What counts is the analysis printed on the label. Fertilizer for roses should have more nitrogen than anything else, but many "rose fertilizers" don't. N is the first number in the analysis. Fertilizer for tomatoes on poor soil should have more potassium than anything else, but most "tomato fertilizers" do not. Potassium is the third number in the analysis. Commercial greenhouse growers use a 3-1-2 or 2-1-2 ratio for roses (which will also do for most plants) and a 3-1-4 or 3-1-5 ratio for tomatoes. This is for growing on non-nutritive soilless media. In good garden soils nitrogen is often the only thing needed. You can use fertilizer labelled as "rose" or "tomato" on any plant. But ideally you would get a soil test and apply the nutrients as actually needed.