How many of you can resist fertilizing as you plant a rose? I have to confess. I usually ignore the warning to wait until after the first bloom;( the idea being that fertilizer might burn the roots, I guess). Maybe I need a garden ubercop to police my incorrect behavior out there.

I'm so glad you posted this warning. This is exactly the kind of thing we need.

When I plant roses, I put a banana peel and half a handful of bone meal at the bottom of the hole. I used to include a whole raw egg, but then the price of eggs rose too high.

I put an egg and extra shells when I plant roses.

I am perpetually on a high protein diet, so I don't have bananas around. I do eat a lot of eggs. (I got a good buy by getting the 5 dozen packs last time I went to the store.) I top dress parts of the garden with coffee grounds. It helps the plants and deters the neighbors' cats at the same time. Sometimes, I blend egg shells and coffee grounds in the food processor (typically if I have it out for something else anyway).

My Norwegian grandmother used to put a fish head in the bottom of any planting hole for good luck. She had gorgeous gardens. I have been trying in vain to find the type of fragrant bright pink peonies she grew. (Don't get me started on plant breeders who breed non fragrant peonies, why else would you put up with the floppy ant magnets?)

A LONG time ago.. well, for me (it was '98) I'd gone fishing with my uncle & cousin in NY and we'd caught 3 nice small mouth bass. I personally don't eat fish, but my uncle wanted them. However, he didn't want to cut/clean/scale them, so I did it (doesn't bother me in the least). I kept the heads, tails, fins, scales, & guts in a 5gal bucket w/water for a week and, after I helped my mom plant 5 tomato plants in a 10' round garden, I dumped the nauseating mess all over the tomato plants. OMG, within a month those were the biggest tomato plants on the planet.. I swear. One plant was actually taller than my mom's Corolla (I had to use a 8' bamboo stake to keep it off the ground). Sure, it was enough to make a buzzard puke w/the smell for the first day or so (nothing quite like rotted fish that'd been boiling in the summer mugginess in a plastic bucket), but we had enough tomatoes to last 2 years (we canned & canned and canned & CANNED.. I think we got over 10 dozen quart bottles that fall).

I can see the banana peel (potassium), but what does bone meal do? I've never used it.. I've seen it along with "blood" meal.. what *is* that stuff?

Bone Meal - as the name suggests are coarsely grounded bones (from animals slaughtered/butchered for consumption) and are a great source of phosphorous and calcium for plants and bulbs.
Historically is was also used as a feeding supplement for animals.
Some modern fertilizers/ supplements are derived from bone meal or contains bone meal. I use them not just on roses but anything bulbous or tuberous (lilies, callas, gladiolas, dahlias).

OK, never thought of plants needing calcium. Phosphorus, yes. Calcium, no. So what does the bloodmeal do, other than gross me out? Smells funky.

Blood meal is for nitrogen. NOT all plants require extra nitrogen (such as Dahlias).

I never fertilize them when I am planting. I just put lots of compost and some wet peat moss in the planting holes.

If only I could only find a good, reliable source of fish heads!

Steve - Go to your local Petsmart/Petco and ask them if they can give you their dead goldfish. They pull the dead goldfish feeders every morning (at least, they should) and put 'em in a bag. You should be able to get the dead for free. Just use those. :D

Cool. What a great idea!

I'd love to use fish! It does wonders. We have access to as many as we could use but I haven't figured out how. Every time I try it an animal comes along and digs everything out! Same results if I use fish emulsion, in the am the plant will be out of its hole:(

I usually put a cup of bone meal or Rosetone in the planting hole and mix well with some deluxe 50% potting soil + 50% native soil. Water well, then add rose and fill in hole. Mud in well. Never had any problems doing this.

Zuzu what does adding an egg do???

An egg would be a good source of nitrogen. And if you add the shell, it would provide a slow-release source of calcium - pretty much the same benefits as fish heads, I believe.

Oh, Steve, thank you for answering CR's question. I'm sorry it escaped my notice three months ago.

I had stopped using eggs for planting because of the cost, but I somehow stopped eating them in large quantities too, so now I have a few dozen expired eggs to use for my roses.

Not really into roses but I have a few. I think fertilizing or over fertilizing new plants is a major source of failures. They need to struggle for some time in order to develop a good root system. With permanent plants such as roses or peonies, I dig the hole deeper than necessary and put in some balanced fertilizer such as MG, cover it with several inches of soil, then insert the plant. The plant must form roots before it can absorb the nutrients and it gives the fertilizer time to "mellow out". Irises are left unfed for about 6 weeks until they develop a healthy beginning leaf growth and then given a good shot of MG foliar feed which also sinks into the soil. Miracle Grow, in it's different compositions, is the best type of fertilizer due to the trace nutrients all plants need. The NPK of dry fertilizers is not so efficient without the trace elements. There are plenty of other brands out there--you just need to check the labels for ingredients. MG just happens to be the one most available.

If you remember early American history, the Pilgrims learned to plant a whole fish with every seed hill. Later, that practice nearly destroyed the striped bass population on the East Coast.

A whole fish for each seed? holy carp, that's a lotta fish for a field of corn!!!

When I planted the roses on my west side of the back yard, I waited a month, and then I used the MiracleGro shaker can. It was supposed to feed for 3 months and I did that because I was afraid of forgetting that side of the yard (so new to me). It worked nicely! I didn't lose any roses on that side of the yard. This year, I've been stingy w/feeding (and watering, and caring for.. ) and you can definitely see that I haven't taken care of them at all. :(

I just drained a 65 gal freshwater aquarium that was in my living room. I didn't dump it down the drain, I snaked my drain hose (a "python", if you will) outside and into one of my flower beds. Can't see all that water going to waste! :) Plus the fish poo.. free fertilizer! Now I don't recommend this with saltwater tanks....