Brrr

[dancerjodi]

Its freezing in my office for some reason today - uber AC or something. I'm sitting here with my old lady sweater on.

My Nana and Aunt gave me a "knock out" rose bush http://www.knockoutroses.com/index.html this weekend. Frankly, growing things outside scares me, because I have a hard enough time keeping house plants alive. Apparently this thing can grow to 4-5 feet wide and tall, wow. I have to find a place in the yard that's large enough and gets full sun, then dig a big hole, then "prepare backfill soil by mixing existing soil with peat moss or compost". After planting, water, and much. Somehow I'm also supposed to "feed regularly through the growing season with a fertilizer formulated for roses". This is kind of scary.

It looks like I know what I'll be doing on Saturday afternoon (if its not crappy weather). I wonder how expensive peat moss and fertilizer is. I really don't have the cash to spend a lot of money on yard stuff right now.

Comments

[synaesthesia.livejournal.com]

I'm no huge expert as this is my first year taking care of roses... but this cultivar sounds like it was designed to be hardy and easy to take care of, so don't worry too much! I have used Neptune's Harvest regular fish fertilizer before (organic, local company) -- it's a wide use fertilizer, not specific to roses (I confess to a vast lack of knowledge about the different types of fertilizer and often do not fertilize at all!). Being a liquid, you can put some at the base before rain or watering and it will work down into the soil quickly. It's a bit over $10 for a small bottle IIRC and I've bought it at Mahoney's in the past. I'm not sure it's required that you fertilize throughout the year, either (you could fertilize after planting, and then towards the end of summer and springtime after that).

I'm guessing the instructions ask you to mix peat moss or compost in with the soil when planting so that the roots can more easily grow (more air because the soil gets broken up more when mixing in another material, versus just packing it back in). Compost would add in more organic matter to the soil, or you could just use the existing soil you dug out (just break it up so it's not so chunky before you fill in around the plant).

Mulching helps prevent weeds around the base and to hold in moisture. Cedar chips are very common and one bag will run you a few bucks.

My experience this year in caring for a rosebush that hadn't been pruned the entire time the previous owners lived here (7 years) after the harsh winter, as well as planting a hybrid of my own (also prohibited from asexual reproduction of plant without license!) is that these roses are hardy sons-of-bitches and don't require much attention. :) This is a great time of year to plant because the ground is already warm. I bet your new plant will do just fine. :)

roses

[dancer.livejournal.com]

"also prohibited from asexual reproduction of plant without license!"

The one I have at home is the same. Man, I never thought of gardening as being so hardcore. Will the plant police come knocking at my door if I try to reproduce it? ;)

Its pretty anyway! Here's hoping we don't kill it. Another thing I'd like to do (aside from clean up things to prep for next year) is get some small herbs that will do well in the kitchen with little light inside of small pots . . . I have a nice pot display thing that I need plants for, dammit! I have some seeds, I need to see if any of them work (from past attempts to do herbs indoors).

[mixedborder.livejournal.com]

A big bag of Mahoney's "planting mix" is about $3. I'd use that or compost, not peat moss, because peat is dry, really hard to get wet, and generally annoying to work with.