The Daily Dig

Recently I was showing a friend some photos of my David Austin roses and she asked me how I cared for my roses, what type fertilizer I use, and what I do to control insects like aphids. It turns out that she has a very large collection of roses in her yard and would like to improve their health and flower out put. (click image to see my roses)

Personally, I have had great results with an organic fertilizer I buy on line from Clean Air Gardening, an environmentally friendly lawn and garden supplier, that seems to do the trick and it's safe to use in the garden. At the time of writing, Clean Air Gardening is having a sale on this fertilizer. The price is regularly $16.95 and is on sale for $13.99 so now would be a good time to pick up a few. http://www.cleanairgardening.com/rosefertilizer.html

Maintaining an organic yard and rose bed is excellent way to protect the health of your family, pets and wildlife from harmful chemicals, and helps create a sustainable environment. Not only is growing roses organically easy, but it is inexpensive as well. A great source of information on growing roses organically can be found at http://www.organicrosegardening.com/

To control aphids and other insects that are harmful to my roses, I grow the companion plant Achillea millefolium var. californica (California yarrow) right next to my roses. Yarrow is considered an especially useful not only repelling some bad insects while attracting good, predatory ones, but also improving soil quality. It attracts predatory wasps, which drink the nectar and then use insect pests as food for their larvae. Similarly, it attracts ladybugs and hoverflies.

The leaves of Yarrow are thought to be good fertilizer, and a beneficial additive for compost. It is also considered directly beneficial to other plants, improving the health of sick plants when grown near them. Yarrow is also used by some birds too, several cavity-nesting birds, including the common starling, use yarrow to line their nests.

The purple portion of the root from the white yarrow plant is a natural numbing agent when crushed. Native Americans would often chew this portion of the plant if they had painful open sores in their mouth.
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