The post Remineralize the Soil with Rock Dust and Watch Your Roses Take Off appeared first on Cascade Minerals.
]]>With spring right around the corner, the Portland Rose Society is holding free pruning events to answer questions about growing beautiful, healthy blooms and to demonstrate proper pruning techniques. One of these events is Saturday, February 21st from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Dennis’ 7 Dees SE Portland Garden Center (6025 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97206; more info at 503-777-7777). Bring a pair of hand pruners to be sharpened while you shop and a cup of garden soil from home for a simple pH test to discover what your plants will need perform their best.
Our own Chuck Canham will also be on hand to talk about soil remineralization and the benefits of using Cascade Minerals Remineralizing Soil Booster to grow prize-winning roses. Chuck will also be giving away free samples of our all-natural product, which is made of 100% finely milled volcanic basalt from Central Oregon and which is OMRI Listed for use in organic production.
To get a first-hand look at the benefits of using volcanic rock dust to grow roses, be sure to visit Peninsula Park this spring. Portland’s oldest public rose garden, Peninsula Park is over 100 years old and Cascade Minerals donated nearly 2,000 pounds of volcanic basalt rock dust for the garden’s centennial replanting.
For backyard gardeners and rose lovers alike, here are a few tips to help get your roses settled and ready for the biggest, healthiest blooms ever.
1. Roses don’t like wet feet, so make sure your soil is well-drained. Plant roses in areas that get at least 8 hours of sun per day (morning sun is best for drying moisture from the leaves and helping prevent disease).
2. Choose bare root roses over container roses as they adapt better to the surrounding soil (they’re usually less expensive, too). Dig a hole approximately 18-inches wide by 18-inches deep and make a cone of soil at the bottom. Then, add an organic fertilizer mixture—we recommend mixing a scoop of Cascade Minerals Remineralizing Soil Booster with bone meal and greensand. Place the rose in the hole and carefully fan the roots out over the cone.
Note: We recommend that you use your favorite organic fertilizer in combination with Cascade Minerals. Why? Cascade Minerals Remineralizing Soil Booster delivers important micronutrients (iron, calcium, magnesium and manganese) while enhancing a plant’s ability to absorb the macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) that fertilizers provide.
3. Fill in the hole, and apply a 2-3 inch layer of mulch to deter weeds and retain moisture. Then, spread another cup of Cascade Minerals rock dust around the base of the plant; work into the surrounding soil. The rock dust will nourish the soil and make trace elements and minerals available to the newly planted rose at a balanced rate.
4. Water well to help settle the rose’s roots.
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]]>The post Volcanic Basalt Feeds the Soil and Gives Fuchsias Less to Fuss About appeared first on Cascade Minerals.
]]>Members of the Northwest Fuchsia Society invited Chuck to speak to their group after experiencing first-hand the benefits to fuchsias of soil remineralization. If you’re wondering how to grow and care for these beautiful flowers, but are worried about the “fussy factor,” then read on.
“Fussy” Fuchsias – Fact or Fiction?
Fuchsias can be a bit fussy about moisture and temperature. But with a minimum of care and attention, they are relatively easy to grow in baskets and containers.
When planting, use a high-quality and fast-draining potting soil amended with all-natural rock dust made of volcanic basalt. A product like Cascade Minerals Remineralizing Soil Booster, made of all-natural basalt and approved for organic use, will provide hungry fuchsias with essential minerals and trace elements throughout the summer growing season.
Unless they are the hardy type, most fuchsias are annuals that prefer to be in semi-shady conditions with moderate temperatures (between 55-80°F). Fuchsias need consistent moisture to fully develop their delicate blooms (i.e., they generally do not do very well in hot, dry conditions). In other words, hydrate…but don’t overwater to avoid root rot.
To keep fuchsias blooming all summer, pick off spent blossoms and check plants regularly to make sure insects are not taking over stems and leaves. (Note: the readily available silicon in rock dust helps ensure strong, vigorous stems and healthy plants that are naturally more resistant to pests and disease than plants that have been grown in non-mineralized soil).
As the weather gets cooler, you can bring fuchsias indoors—although, dry air and spider mites often contribute to fuchsia failure. That’s why it’s best to enjoy these beautiful plants in their full outdoor glory during the warm days of summer and early fall.
Hope to see you at the “Forever Fuchsias” celebration on September 6, 2014!
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]]>The post Earth Day: Why We Need to Appreciate the Soil appeared first on Cascade Minerals.
]]>More important, if we don’t start taking better care of our soil—there won’t be any soil left to take care of us. Years and years of supporting plant life combined with the over application of synthetic fertilizers has left most of the world’s soils seriously depleted of the essential minerals and trace elements that plants need to thrive.
Remineralization with rock dust is one way of turning “dirt” back into “soil” by adding back essential nutrients that have been leached away and which are found naturally in sources such as volcanic basalt. Used as a soil amendment, rock dust is an all-natural way to feed essential microbes like worms, mites, nematodes and other small insects. When these organisms die and decay, they release minerals that plants can use. The result is healthy soil that leads to strong and healthy plants.
We demand a lot of our soil. Isn’t it time we treat it right? Happy Earth Day!
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Cascade Minerals Remineralizing Soil Booster is an all-natural soil amendment made from massive basalt stones from Central Oregon’s legendary Cascade Mountains. Rocks are crushed to produce a finely milled, 100% natural product that is approved for organic production and releases the essential minerals and trace elements that plants and humans need to flourish.
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]]>The post Basalt’s Qualities Make it a Superior Volcanic Soil Amendment appeared first on Cascade Minerals.
]]>Lan Su Chinese Garden
Here in Portland, Oregon, a good way to get a flavor of China’s most important holiday is to spend a day at the Lan Su Chinese Garden.
Lan Su Chinese Garden is one of Portland’s most beautiful attractions. Modeled after the gardens from the Ming Dynasty, it is considered the most authentic Chinese garden outside of China. It was built by 65 Chinese artisans from Portland’s sister city Suzhou and opened to the public in 2000.
One of the first things you notice upon entering the garden is a stunning collection of rocks. More than 500 tons of rock was shipped from China for installation in the garden. The most dramatic are the free-standing rocks called Tai Hu rocks.
The Tai Hu rocks were mined from a fresh-water lake near Suzhou called Lake Tai. Sometimes called “scholars’ rocks,” they are prized for meeting four aesthetic criteria:
A rock is just a rock, right? Wrong!
Made of limestone, the Tai Hu rocks in Lan Su Chinese Garden have been turned into pieces of art by hundreds of years of natural weathering and erosion. Limestone is made up of more than 50% calcium carbonate (calcite). The rest is clay, quartz, other rock fragments and seashells.
As beautiful as they are to look at, weathered limestone rocks such as these generally lack the essential micronutrients and trace elements that plants need to flourish. That’s where volcanic basalt comes in.
Volcanic basalt is dense and dark, usually black or gray. It is rich in calcium, iron and magnesium and low in quartz. Compared to other rocks which are higher in quartz, basalt weather relatively quickly which means it breaks down readily in soil and is available to plant roots when they need it. Applying finely ground volcanic basalt is like adding a fresh deposit of natural soil minerals to your lawn and garden.
Research shows that soil amendments made of volcanic basalt, like Cascade Minerals, can improve root systems, increase yields and promote general plant health in a wide variety of crops and conditions—including those here in the west, where soil salt build-up and mineral deficiency is an issue.
Our New Year’s wish for you? “Feast your eyes on limestone but feed your soil with basalt!”
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]]>The post Cascade Minerals Helps Portland Celebrate 100 Years of Roses at Peninsula Park appeared first on Cascade Minerals.
]]>Yet yesterday’s festivities were extra special at the Peninsula Park Rose Garden, Portland’s first public rose garden which was founded in 1913 and was celebrating its 100th anniversary. You might recall from a previous blog post that Cascade Minerals donated nearly 2,000 of remineralizing soil amendment for the replanting of the garden’s roses which took place in March thanks to the hard work of hundreds of volunteers.
The payoff has been thousands of stunning rose bushes—all of which were in full and colorful bloom for last night’s Ceremonial Rose Planting event (even Portland’s fickle summer weather decided to cooperate!).
Cascade Minerals representative Chuck Canham was on hand for the event, which included an honorable mention by Portland Mayor Charlie Hales as well as the ceremonial rose planting which was presided over by The Royal Rosarians. Adam Baker, the Rosarians’ Royal Garden, used Cascade Minerals in the planting.
Here’s to another 100 years of beautiful roses!
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