The Beginner's Column

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A Rose Gardener's Christmas List by Anne Theivagt
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My husband keeps asking me what I want for Christmas. I reply, "How about 8 yards of Cedar Grove Compost in February?" "No, really," he says. "What do you want for Christmas?" Folks who don’t garden just don’t understand, do they? I would love a card that promises to help pay the gardener for the spring cleanup, or 50 bags of steer manure, or a pint of Banner Maxx™, or Compass™. Santa did bring me my favorite sprayer 2 years ago, the Black and Decker™ battery-operated 3-gallon sprayer. I love, love, love this sprayer! Two years ago I also made the big dollar leap and bought a pint of Banner Maxx™, OK, I love this stuff, too, for several reasons:
This summer I decided to rotate the Banner Maxx™ with Immunox™, which costs $20.00 a bottle. With one spraying, I had used up almost the whole bottle of Immunox©. I tried two other new products last year - Indicate 5™ and Silwet L-77™. Both of these are spreader stickers. In short, they make the water you mix with wetter and it will stick to the foliage better. I found that I actually used less fungicide when I mixed a spreader sticker in with the regular spray mix. Needless to say, I was pretty excited about that. This summer I also started adding liquid seaweed extracts to my spray mixture. I have always added some kind of water-soluble fertilizer like Miracle Gro™ or Peters™. I used Response™ and one from Mike Peterson (can’t remember the name). Both worked well; the foliage and blooms seemed deeper in color without any burn. I have yet to make alfalfa tea. Although I apply alfalfa meal to each bush, I just have not made the tea yet. But if you wanted to make it, wouldn’t it be wonderful for Santa to bring you a 32-gallon can with lid and all the ingredients? Oh yea! Gosh, you know the Christmas list could go on and on. How about a pH testing kit, a soil testing kit, leather gauntlet gloves, and just regular leather gloves, Felco™ pruners and big loppers, gift certificates to your favorite nursery or Edmunds or Jackson and Perkins. Let’s not forget the automatic watering system. I almost forgot! You probably need a digital camera so you can take pictures of all your roses and e-mail them to everyone you know. You might need a computer to go with the camera, or if you have a computer, maybe you need a new one! And how about a printer so you can print all those wonderful digital photos! See? The list can go on and on. |