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

Organic can mean so many different things If I want to be a 'certified organic garden' and sell at our local farmers markets, all those 'poo's' are off limits. Because the animals might have been wormed or gotten a shot or the feed that they ate might have been sprayed. So all the horse manure I bring home and put on happy roses is not considered organic for that program. Like wise, to be stamped organic, there are tests that need doing and fees paid. So the fish fertilizer I purchased one year is not considered organic the next year because they did not pay the fees. And if I buy more and use it, I am not organic either. Same with organic chicken eggs, one pellet of regular feed and your free range chicken eggs are not organic any more. It helps to decide where you draw that organic line. (fyi you can buy organically grown alfalfa hay horse pellets that are steam pressed with out added salts)

Blood Meal is used primarily to supply Nitrogen as is Fish Meal although you do get some Phosphorus with that. The Bone Meal will eventually supply more Phosphorus and some Potash but it takes the soil bacteria quite a long time to convert that into a plant useable form. What roses, or any other plant, need is a good, well balanced source of nutrients, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potash, Calcium, Magnesiumm Iron, Zink, Sulfur, Boron, Copper, Manganese, Molybdenum, and a few others. Providing too much of any one nutrient can cause others to not be taken up by the plant, or not properly utilized, creating problems with growth. For that reason I have found that the compost I make is the best potting soil I can use. While I do need to add more compost as the season progresses I do not need to be concerned about what to feed the plants I grow in those containers because the compost has it all, in the quantities the plants need.

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.