Here here! I would also love to know what your magic to growing beautiful roses is!

Judy, thanks for posting this... I was just wondering about Diane's gorgeous roses and manure, too. lol I have access to fresh horse manure, and I'm wondering when I should get some. I'm making the assumption - don't put manure on roses now even tho I have 2.5 months of rose-growing season left - that it's a spring time activity - but, perhaps it's a good thing to age it for next spring? How much is good to use? And, I grow 85% of my roses in pots at the moment and I assume I wouldn't put the same amount in the pots with young roses as I put around an in-ground, mature rose bush. Also, I recall that some folks here use a manure compost - which again, I'm assuming is a blend of manure and some kind of compost material? (Lots of assumptions here...)

I've also been wondering, Diane, if your Evelyn's are own-root or grafted and if grafted, do you know what root stock it's on?

Judy, you must have been reading my mind... oh, and BTW, your roses are stunning and you want tips??! :-) How about you throw in a few of yours!

I would like to know too. And yes, Judy your roses are also amazing!

You all are to funny! All of you have such beautiful roses and need to spill the beans too. Lol

I'm about as reckless as it gets with my routine. I don't have a routine other than fertilizing usually with triple 10 or whatever I take a fancy to buying. I repeat fertilizer after spring flush and then usually one more time a month or two later. I try to do alfalfa tea each spring. I spray for disease and bugs and try to keep them water as best as I can. I have used Black Cow before and noticed the biggest difference on my hosta more than anything but my brain forgets from year to year how everything has performed unless I have a bad year. Lol. I start out the year with a gusto then get super lazy. That's pretty much it.

I love to hear what everyone does to have such beautiful flower gardens so everyone can give their helpful hints and we can all enjoy learning what we all do. Can't wait to see what you all have to offer.

Thanks, Judy

I'm just wondering if manure would be good for in pots? Anyone?

I feel potting mixes/soils do not have enough of the microbes etc. to break manure down efficiently... Thoughts anyone?

Good question Jim, I was wondering the same thing.

Jim, I know from other threads that Diane uses composted manure. I think this would be okay for use in pots.

Christopher - Aqua eyes, pushes growth on small own root plants more than anyone I have seen. His planted roses appear lush and healthy. I know that his homemade potting mix recipe that he starts his roses with includes manure or bovung dehydrated manure.

Here's a link that includes recipes for manure in home made potting mixes:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1592484/best-mix-for-potting-rose

Add me too the list of inquiring minds. Years in the ground and a longer growing season helps I'm sure. I'm all ears for what everyone does for their roses.

Oh, just to add, Diane's plants look amazing too!! She is definitely doing something right.

Hi everyone, and thanks for the nice words about my roses, but everyone one of you and many more, on the forum grow so many wonderful roses, and there are numerous fertilizing routines used. Mine is nothing special--I just like to start early getting the soil revved up, so if the weather permits, I do spread manure around the roses in January and into February. I winter protect a handful of roses, and they get manure or compost, too. Their protection comes off early, sometime in March, because I start pruning then, and we don't have the truly nasty spring weather some areas have. I use manure that's from a dairy about 100 miles from here, purchased from a local farm store. I think it's the best I've every used. It is fully composted cow manure with some wood fines in it. It's cheap, less than $2 per cubic foot. I spread it around the roses' base out to the drip line, but several inches from the rose crowns. I probably spread a max of 2 inches or less, not that much. A couple of weeks later, I either spread the recommended amount of one of the Tones around the rose base, scratching it in. A couple of weeks after that, maybe more, I put the recommended amount of granular fertilizer, a general fertilizer for flowering plants in a large bag, around the roses. I like to use a bagged compost when planting new roses or around roses that might need extra help. This compost is fantastic and bagged in three towns, one of which is Nampa, Idaho, a few miles away. It has most of the stuff that is in the Tones, plus composted wood fines, chicken manure, mycrorhyziae and who knows what. It's sort of greased lightening, fully organic, but $5.99 per 1.5 cu ft. I get discounts, though, but it's still more expensive than manure. My roses are grafted on Dr Huey, except one which is on multiflora. Whew! I need to start cooking, so I'll leave off here. I know all of you have tips you'd like to share. Oh, horse manure is great--I've used it composted and mixed with compost. It's homemade and from a friend. I don't grow roses in pots, so can't advise about that. Diane

Thank you!

Thanks so much Diane. I appreciate you taking the time to let us know your routine. I like to change things up sometimes so I may try some manure again next year. I have the worst time with weeds and need to focus on that next year too. Anybody have any good tips for eradicating weeds? Grrrrr

Thanks, Judy and Patty. I know this won't help, but I just pull the weeds. I concentrate on spring pulling, and it really helps with later in the season. Diane

That's awesome, Jim.

Love it Jim!!!

Jim! Can you drive it out to Idaho? I have my own brand, a dream come true. Thanks! Diane

No Jim, Oregon!

Truck that baby down here to Georgia!!!

As with all the above poop lovers I'd like you to drive it to Australia but it may have a little trouble crossing the ocean...

Ok I've starting my trek toward Idaho with the manure wagon Nanadoll! Just cruising along listening to music with my nose plugs in...he he

Northern Arizona is sort of on the way... tho not sure I can put the poop in pots.

I think fragrance makes a great brand name for poop too...

@prettypetals - you mentioned about eradicating weeds. I don't know what you put on your beds or if you have edging around your garden beds or grass grows into them. But your rose/bloom pictures look good!

I find what works for me is, in the spring when things are still dormant & I can see in and around all my plants, I weed every inch of my beds. Then the beds that have grass growing around them get a hard spade edge. I like how neat it makes everything look. Because I'm still waiting for my plants to grow & mature, I have been using mulch around everything. This smothers the little weeds & keeps them at bay. The other thing I do throughout the season is when I'm outside I just pull weeds & deadhead as I see them. This is daily, but maybe takes 5-10 minutes a day. Then it never becomes a huge problem where it takes a weekend to weed. The other solution is to plant so many plants that the weeds don't have a chance to grow! I don't use chemicals either. The other thing to note is that my yard is not that big (1/3 to 1/2 acre), so it doesn't take as long to keep it maintained.

Definitely going to take nanadolls strategy into account for next spring!

I do my weed routine just as you do, blondie. I probably don't have as nice as edge as you do, but in spring, any weed that dares show its little self in the flower beds is pulled, along with grass (much harder for grass). Then down goes manure, of course, and sometimes soil pep or compost, but never bark mulch. Quickly the volunteers and perennials grow up. I plant some, too, and the beds are covered with plants, a living mulch that shades the beds and cools things a bit. Diane

That's more or less what I do blonde and Diane but I have some areas that are relentless plus in this humidity and heat and 4 yr old grandson things get out of control fast. I hope now that he's starting pre k I can stay on top of it next year. I don't spray for weeds either bc i'm too chicken. My sister has a nice Koi pond downhill from me and I'd die if I killed any fish and if I killed any of my plants. We have zoysia grass which tries to take over my beds so going to try a few edgings to see how they work with it. It just never ends. Judy

Teach your grandson how to weed, Judy--ha. OK, easier said than done and he's a little young. I have to admit I've never taught my granddaughters, 14 and 18, to weed, so I have no room to talk. Diane

Oh, Jim, I forgot to ask when I should get the guest room ready for your arrival. Not sure where to pump all the manure. Maybe downhill in the gulley. I'm sure the neighbors will love it! Diane

Lol. Oh I plan on it Diane!!!

lol nanadoll...

I appreciate the kudos, but the recipes I posted in that linked
thread are no longer what I use. Also, "Peters top soil" was really
"Scotts top soil" -- I remembered the name wrong. While I did get great
growth from that recipe, all those roses were planted in the ground just
a few months later. Keeping roses in pots longer required a "fluffier"
mix. I came to find that I get more growth from a modified "Mel's Mix"
from Square Foot Gardening. My formula for potting up bands now is:

3 gallons peat moss
1 gallon perlite
1 gallon vermiculite
1 gallon Bovung dehydrated manure
3 cups Espoma Garden Tone (or any other similar organic dry fertilizer)

This
year, I couldn't find Bovung and substituted Black Kow composted
manure. But since that has half the N-P-K as Bovung, I doubled the
quantity of it, and reduced the peat moss component to 2 gallons. The
goal was maintaining a 1/3 inorganic "fluffy yet moisture-retentive"
base, made up by the perlite and vermiculite, respectively.

This
is all mixed in a wheelbarrow. Before adding to a container, I line the
bottom with a used coffee filter or two from my Starbucks coffee grounds
hauls. This slows the drainage for a while, until the filters break
down. And that allows for the containers to stay a bit extra moist in
the beginning as the bands grow more roots.

I pot the bands in 1-
or 2-gal nursery liners, about an inch or two deeper than they were in
their original containers. I finish with a 1/2" or so of used coffee
grounds, still leaving an inch of space from the rim to allow room for
watering and rainfall. The coffee grounds were the most recent addition.
If anything, I think they help to keep the earthworms happy -- they
always seem to find their way into my pots sitting on the ground.

And
I happily recommend hitting up your local Starbucks for coffee grounds.
While I've been on hiatus from my pickups since I started a different
job and have been working a lot, I had a regular system going for quite a
while. I bought two heavy duty indoor garbage cans, left one there, and
returned the next day to swap them out. I'd dump the cans into a leaky
wheelbarrow, which allowed any liquid to drain out. Coffee filters were
in there as well, so I started by pulling them out as I found them,
reserving them for composting or whatever else I could do with them. The
grounds I'd scoop into a bucket, then carry to where I wanted a fresh
layer.

Even if you go once or twice a week, you'll still get a
lot for your garden. Start out spreading it thinly and see what happens
as you gradually increase the depth. Or just fling it by the trowel-full
into your beds. It's free nutrient-rich organic matter that would
otherwise end up in a landfill -- and it already looks rather like soil,
so it blends in.

:-)

~Christopher


P.S. I found some links mentioning my "magic mix".

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/3426379/keep-weak-roses-potted-longer?n=21

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4005123/salet-is-in-bud

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3533090/bands-doing-great-irish-cream-has-a-bud

Hi Everyone, I have serious issues with my California palms that were planted back in April of this year. The winds beat them up pretty bad in May and June but they were recovering well and then in the last two weeks they have turned brown. I do not know what happened here - unless, when they were planted, they were not given enough space and when the roots expanded to the surrounding soil - it caused them to die. I would really appreciate some advice from anyone. Can these survive and what can I do here. Thank you, John

I have heard that people use Epsom Salts for palm trees, so I looked it up and found this: http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/pests/plant_pests/trees/hgic2007.html

I hope it is of some help.

Linda

I use one of these when I pull weeds so I get roots and all...

Finally arrived in SWIdaho Nanadoll...

Did you know you can not drive a Manure Truck through Mayberry? Yep spent 4 days in jail... he he

I usually use my hands Jim for weeds but prob need to get out the trusty shovel too!!

Lol. Sorry about your jail time. I bet they threw you in jail just to confiscate all that fabulous manure. Lol

Oh, dear. I'm sorry about the jail time, Jim. I would have visited you, but I don't know where Mayberry is. What happened to the truck and its valuable contents? Probably confisticated by our governor, heheh. I just don't know why they would be so picky about a manure truck when much smellier things have been driven through SW Idaho towns. Sugar beet waste, anyone? The cows love it, though, and then produce that lovely manure. Thanks for your efforts, anyway, Jim. Diane

The manure truck was confisticated by the mayor of Mayberry...:-/ (lol)

Anyhow I usually put down compost in the Fall but I'm going to start putting it down in the Spring instead... I'm hoping to cover up those nasty BS spores... If I can find a good source of manure I may spread some of that also...

Good idea, Jim. Why didn't you keep the truck for yourself? Now that crooked mayor has the black gold. I made an oops about cow feed--it's stinky ensilage (chopped up corn stalks that are fermented) that's fed to the cows. It smells as bad as sugarbeet pulp, but the cattle love it. Party time...lots of drunk cows (just joking, but you never know). I thought you once said that there were lots of dairies near you. Sometimes you can get good deals on poop from them. That was one of my earlier sources. You need to know if any herbicides might be in the stuff, though. Diane

When my sister was alive she had horses so I had a good source of manure... Now I have no idea what people are putting in there feed etc...