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 21^st 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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While it’s true that roses aren’t as fussy as most people think, they do need extra TLC in these hot and dry summer conditions.

Water slowly and deeply.

If your roses are wilting or drooping, they need more water. In hot and dry weather a good rule of thumb is to water every two to four days to a depth of about 10 to 12 inches. Avoid watering in very humid weather, and don’t water the foliage from overhead—this can lead to disease. Instead, spray water toward the bottom of foliage.

Mulch.

To help retain moisture and prevent the growth of weeds, apply a layer (approx. 2 to 4 inches) of mulch around the base of your rose bushes. You can use wood chips, shredded bark or even cocoa bean hulls. Mulch also helps prevent fungi spores from the soil from splashing up and onto the foliage during watering.

Fight disease with compost tea.

Roses are particularly susceptible to fungal diseases like black spot and powdery mildew. Many gardeners swear by the bi-weekly benefits of compost tea to help keep rose bushes healthy and disease-free. Compost tea is a concentrated liquid compost extract that you can make yourself or buy at nurseries and garden centers. Add a high-quality volcanic rock dust like Cascade Minerals Remineralizing Soil Booster to the mixture to boost the number of beneficial microorganisms available to plants. Just be sure to use the tea to spray foliage soon after you make or buy it. Compost tea has a very short shelf life, typically 24-48 hours.

Deadhead regularly.

To enjoy blooms all summer long, deadhead faded flowers by cutting stems back to about a quarter-inch above a 5-leaflet cluster. Stems should be strong enough to support a new rose (about the thickness of a pencil). Make sure you use sharp pruning shears to ensure a clean cut.

More Rose Planting Tips

Last but not least, if despite your best efforts your roses succumb to weather and/or disease, consider starting new in the spring. Just be sure to remove any old soil and mulch that may be harboring diseases. And don’t forget to plant roses with all-natural Cascade Minerals Remineralizing Soil Booster (for spring planting tips, click here and here). Our all-natural volcanic soil booster was used by the City of Portland to replant nearly 5,000 roses in Peninsula Park Rose Garden, Portland’s first public rose garden which was founded in 1913 (read more about the replanting of the garden here).

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With the centennial event rapidly approaching (it is scheduled for June 27), it seems like everyone has roses on the brain, including Metro natural gardening expert Carl Grimm who appeared on KATU-TV’s AM Northwest to talk about growing beautiful roses the natural way. We were happy to hear that he mentioned Cascade Minerals by name! Watch the segment for more tips and tricks:

Here are some of Carl’s recommendations for growing roses here in the Pacific Northwest:

• Choose varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases. He mentions a few by name, including: “Pop the Cork,” “Sugarmoon,” “Knockout” and “Flower Carpet.” More suggestions are available at http://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/cultivar-susceptibility-tables/rose-cultivar-resistance.
• Make sure roses get sun and air. Roses need 6+ hours of direct sunlight. They should also be planted with plenty of surrounding space to ensure good air flow.
• Enrich the soil with organic fertilizers combined with a trace mineral source like Cascade Minerals.
• Avoid stepping on the soil as much as possible. Compacted soil causes problems for the roots of rose plants.

If you have more natural gardening questions, visit Metro online at oregonmetro.gov/garden. Give them a call at 503-234-3000 and they’ll connect you to an OSU Extension Service Master Gardener in your county.

The post Grow Great Roses Naturally by Using Organic Soil Amendment appeared first on Cascade Minerals.

Cascade Minerals has donated nearly 2,000 pounds of our volcanic basalt rock dust to help these beauties grow, and we’ll be photographing them as the season progresses. For those of you planting roses at home, 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. If possible, 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 Cascade Minerals rock dust with bone meal and greensand. Place the rose in the hole and carefully fan the roots out over the cone.
3. Fill in the hole, and apply a 2-3 inch layer of mulch to deter weeds and retain moisture. Then, apply approximately 1 cup of Cascade Minerals rock dust to 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.

Check back as we visit the roses in Portland’s Peninsula Park and watch them bloom. In future blog posts, we’ll also offer more rose-care tips, such as pruning and disease prevention.

The post Rock Dust and Roses: Planting Tips for Healthy, Beautiful Blooms appeared first on Cascade Minerals.