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April 1, 2011

Garden chores: time to feed the roses

When the forsythia blooms, it is time to prune the roses.

And it is time to feed them, too.

Paul Zimmerman, a veteran grower of roses and a contributor to Fine Gardening magazine, advises us to spray roses with a foliar feeding solution as soon as those little burgundy leaves appear on the canes. Which is right about now.

He believes it boosts the plant's immune system in advance of black-spot season.

Feed the roses again in two weeks and then begin to stretch out the feedings, he writes.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:00 AM | Permalink
Categories: Weekend Chores

About Susan Reimer

Susan Reimer has spent 16 years writing about raising kids - among other topics - in her column for The Baltimore Sun. And every time son Joseph or daughter Jessie passed another milestone - driver's license, college, wedding or a move to a new military duty station - she has planted another garden. Now she will be writing about those gardens - and yours - here on Garden Variety.

Susan isn't an expert gardener, but she wasn't an expert mother, either. Both - the kids and the gardens - seem to be doing well in spite of her.

She lives in Annapolis with her husband, Gary Mihoces, who loves to cut his grass but has noticed that there seems to be less of it every time the kids pass another milestone.

Follow @susanreimer on Twitter