I found out why Epsom Salt is important. Roses need more magnesium than they usually put in fertilizers. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon (2 inches from the base) around each rose bush in the spring. That's all the bushes will need. If you give it more than that each year, it can damage the rose bushes.
I used the Epsom Salt for the 1st time last spring and I'll be doing it again this spring.
I also used Bone Meal for the 1st time last spring and I'll do it again this spring. That adds phosphorous and nitrogen. They make the roots and stems healthier and makes the bush blossom more. But only use it once a year cause too much will burn the roots.
Anyway, this works really good.
1. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of Epsom Salt around the bush, 2 inches from the stem.
2. Sprinkle 2 cups of granulated rose fertilizer the same way around the bush.
3. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of bone meal the same way around the bush.
I'm really glad I remembered this thread cause I forgot to add roses when I started my Wordpad plant guide last year.
Now I can put that info in there too!
3 of my 4 rose bushes survived and they're 10x healthier than last year!!
The bone meal and epsom salt helped tons and they look like real bushes now!!
I'll add some photos sometime this week.
Hey Ron! Cool! I'll def be putting some mulch around the roses this year!
And I still have lots of copper fungicide if I need it. Those bushes are growing fast now and the leaves are even bigger than they've ever been!