Henhouse said:Lyn, I hope your roses come back ok.. I'm trying alfafa for the first time this year.. a 50 # sack is much cheaper than fertilizer, and seems to go a long ways.. I have so much garden that I usually don't fertilize much.. but things really need a boost after the years of drought. I'm not sure if the clematis made it through.. They were looking pretty fried by the end of summer.
Sherry ... I am just concerned about a couple of the roses. I'll use calcium-nitrate on them near the end of March, which is a little earlier than I usually prune the roses. It's cheap, too ...
My soil has improved a lot since I started the garden, but it is still not fertile enough for the roses.
The feed store used to let me sweep out the hay stall before they stored a new shipment of hay. I got all of the fine alfalfa dust that came off of the bales of hay and fell through the pallets. After a couple of times, they just cleaned it up for me and called me to come and pick it up. It really helped the soil. The roses loved it.
Now, there are new owners and they won't allow me to even do my own gleaning. Oh, well.
I do have some alfalfa pellets, but the last time I used them, even tho' I put them under the mulch, I had far more critters in the garden. The calcium-nitrate is still organic, but doesn't draw the critters ...
I've been wanting to grow clematis, but I garden in heat zone 8 at a higher elevation with no shade. So, even tho' I have a couple on my wish list, I held off during the drought. If they are frying for you, they may not do well up here.
