Answer: There are about as many special recipes for rose fertilizer and techniques for feeding roses as there are rose growers. All you need to know is that for a rose to produce a good show of blossoms, it needs to be fed. That food may come in the form of compost or well-aged manure, or come in a bag or bottle of ready-to-use fertilizer. We prefer a mix of both. We apply a shovel-full of compost per rose in early spring and late fall.

The ideal fertilizer would supply and maintain all the necessary nutrients for optimum growth throughout the entire growing season, under the unique conditions of your rose garden. Ideally this fertilizer would match your personal gardening philosophy whether it be organic or synthetic and would fit your lifestyle whether it be rose gardening fanatic or I got better things to do with my time rose fancier. There is no specific fertilizer that would meet this criteria.

Answer: Almost all of the Rugosa roses are very fragrant -- and they're easy to grow. In addition to the Rugosa's the following roses are also fragrant: Cuthbert Grant and Rosa mundi. For more information about using the roses we offer, visit our online catalog. Answer: We have our favorites, of course, which biases this answer, but here's our suggested list for Zone 4: This list can be expanded, depending on your preference and favorites.

Answer: We get this question alot! I guess it's important to those of you giving roses as gifts -- you don't want it to send the wrong message! As far as we can determine, this is what the following rose colors signify: For more information on rose color, especially the names used to describe the color, visit the American Rose Society Web site.

We have switched to a new product this year - Nu-Gro Golf Nitroform®. This liquid chemical treatment is used at professional golf courses nationwide. For more information on Nu-Gro Golf Nitroform®, click here.

Answer: 8-10 lb. mono line if fine but sometimes for the light-biting walleyes, the new super braids in 10lb. are far more sensitive.

Answer: If they're healthy and well-watered, you don't have to do anything if the rose is hardy in your Zone. If you're growing tender roses, you may have to give them complete protection to get them through the winter. All roses will benefit from a shovel-full or two of well-rotted manure or compost placed over the crown of the plant. Apply this material after the first hard frost, so it doesn't prompt the plant to put on new growth.

Answer: Determining which colors go well with others can become a science if you let it. We've all seen the familiar "color wheel" that shows complementary and contrasting colors. Reviewing the fundamentals behind complementary and contrasting colors can help you choose which colors to select. But other factors also affect our sense of color. This includes: color brightness, color area (how big/small), color saturation, proximity of colors to one another, light and how we feel about colors.

Answer - Rock phosphate should be applied one month before sowing or 50% Rock phosphate + 50% single super phosphate.

Yes, but they will perform best in slightly acid (6.0 to 6.8), rich in organic matter, loam soil, with excellent drainage. If your soil is sandy or clay it can be improved with the addition of organic matter. Soil pH can be raised with the addition of lime beginning with an application 6 lbs. per 100 sq. ft. or lowered beginning with 2 lbs. of sulfur per 100 sq. ft. If your soil is extremely poor, consider building 18" raised beds or removing and replacing existing soil to a depth 18 inches.

Urea requires microorganisms to break it down and convert it to nitrogen. Orchids are in soilless mixes so there are not enough microorganisms to do the job. Ammoniac and nitrate nitrogen are immediately available to the plant. Depending on what part of the country you're in, how much sunlight you receive and what your temps are, you may be able to get by with a urea based fertilizer. However, people we know who have switched to urea-free have all said they get much better results.

There is alot of homegrown and official advice on what you can do to keep deer from eating your plants. There's also lots of things you can buy that claim to repel deer. But, deer will anything if they're hungry enough. You can spend alot of money on repellants. People have mixed results with repellants, which seem to be affected by deer populations and food supply (deer will eat anything if they're hungry enough), to operator error -- oops, forgot to reapply after it rained.

Answer: This is a tough question -- most roses are real sun lovers and need at least 5 hours of sun each day to perform well. Roses that get less sun than they need have fewer blossoms and leggy growth as they try to reach for the sun. And sometimes shady spots also are more moist, which can lead to leaf spot and mildew problems. Generally, the thing to do is find a rose that blooms prolifically in full sun and has good disease resistance.

I find a rigid dinghy powered by oars is the most practical. Inflatable dinghies with powerful motors are fast and the dinghy takes up less space when stowed, but they are a prime target for thieves and are easy to vandalize. I saw one dinghy flat on the beach in the islands sliced end to end by a boy who thought it a great joke. I'd say it's a poor choice to have a dinghy that can be destroyed in 5 seconds by nothing more than a kid with a bad attitude and a pocket knife.

Answer: We have found that avoiding high intensity ultraviolet light during the first 6 to 12 months, cuts down on the incidences of corneal haze. This hazing is a mild sun burning of the superficial cornea. We recommend polarized UV sunglasses such as Maui Jim that are available at the Sunglass Hut. Patients that have Surface Ablation should wear these sunglasses for at least one year especially in the mountains or at the ocean for protection from the sun's UV rays.

Application amount varies with each sod. A 16-4-8 should be used as a summer fertilizer and 5-10-15 with spring and fall fertilization. Centipede does not like much fertilizer, so even just one application a year is sufficient. St. Augustine requires more care; two applications a year are needed. El Toro is a lower maintenance zoysia than all other zoysia's, so you may fertilize it once or twice a year. Emerald needs two applications.

Yes, I love sulfur as a fertilizer. When I transplant my seedlings outdoors I bury a pack of matches...fanned out...a few inches below the roots in the root zone. As the plant grows the roots extend down to the matches and feed off of the sulfur. Between this and my Epsom slat spray, I've grown bell peppers as big as cantaloupes and Hot Peppers with up to 300 little Chiles on one plant.

Walking is great exercise to start out with following your surgery. After 6 weeks you may do any exercise you would like —aerobics, bicycling, running, strength conditioning, etc. Exercise is an important part of your post-surgery regimen, as it will facilitate weight loss and contribute to your overall health and well-being.