A Rose Gardener's Christmas List

by Anne Theivagt

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:

• It cost around $60.00, but I still have most of a bottle left, way cheaper than other fungicides, in the long run.

• I only have to use it every 2 weeks, not every week.

• You only use 1/3 to 1/2 tsp per gallon.

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.