Hello Fellow Gardeners,

Spring and summer is such a busy time in my garden that I have very little time left over to learn more about my favorite plants! Winter is the perfect time for me to catch up on my studying! I read a lot of books, look through great magazines, search websites, and once in a while I even kick back and watch a good video! Here are my top four favorites on rose gardening…

This is my absolute favorite! It is very informative, I bought it when my interest in gardening first bloomed, I learned a lot!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Product Description courtesy of Amazon.com…
“Covers Modern Roses, English And Old Garden Roses All There Is To Know About Roses Rich in information and color- at times you can almost smell the roses! Award winning rosarian, Rayford Reddell shows and tells how he grows his renowned roses and takes you on a guided tour of his exquisitely beautiful gardens. Filmed during the height of the rose growing season, it’s a must for the beginner and an eye opener for the seasoned gardener. See and Learn About: All types of Roses Barefoot Roses Planting Pruning Watering Feeding Mulching Spraying And Much More!”

“Growing Good Roses” is available at Amazon.com

Product Description courtesy of Amazon.com…
“For the beginner to the seasoned pro – Master Gardener Rebecca Kolls will help you learn and understand everything you need to know about gardening. This DVD contains the most popular segments on rose gardening from the TV show “Rebecca’s Garden”. Special Interest. 52 Minutes.”

Available in the Daily Weeder’s online store- just search under garden videos!

Product Description courtesy of Amazon.com…
“Watch, listen and learn as you join Ellen Minet, Head Rosarian of Long Island’s Planting Fields Arboretum, on a most unusual and delightful walk through four seasons of caring for over 700 roses that grace the 409 acres of unique grounds and formal gardens that is the Coe Estate on Long Island’s famed “Gold Coast”.Seeing is learning. Watching Ellen and her assistants prune, shape, feed and fertilize you become an apprentice to learning in a whole new way about the stewardship of roses.
Dispelling the myth that roses are “complicated and fussy” and created for rose lovers everywhere, “Secrets of the Rose Gardener promises to offer much to all in a most effective and enjoyable way.”

Available in the Daily Weeder’s online store- just search under garden videos!

Description, courtesy of the ARS.ORG…

“What is the story behind our relationship with the most coveted plant in the garden? Who dreams up these beloved plants and where did they come from? Love at First Sight: America’s Affair with the Rose looks at our national flower through the eyes of the world’s top breeders and a non-profit organization devoted to roses: the All-American Rose Selections, founded in 1938.

The film reveals the secrets behind the blooms, and the painstaking work that goes into creating a plant that will flourish in today’s low maintenance gardens. Audiences will meet the hybridizers behind the next generation of roses, learn what it takes to win the toughest plant trial on earth, and marvel at the escape of a rose named ‘Peace’ from war torn France.”

Just click on the picture to buy- only $7.00!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

Here is the continuation of Save the Environment and Save Money!

Styrofoam Peanuts and Packaging Material

Like your shredded paper, packaging material can be used to cut down on the cost of potting soil and ease up on the weight of pots! Put Styrofoam peanuts, or other packaging materials into a perferated plastic bag or an old pillow case to keep together and simply pack in the bottom of your pots. You should definitely contain them, otherwise next time you change your soil, they will fly everywhere!

Bubble wrap is another super saver! You can make mini green houses by wrapping your tender plants in this versatile material. It helps keep the frost at bay and extends the growing season!

Popsicle Sticks and Tongue Depressors

Use as a biodegradable label! These wood sticks will eventually go back to nature yet in the meantime they keep you organized!

Egg Shells

My grandmother used to put egg shells in a gallon of water, let them sit for a while, and then she watered her houseplants with them. It helps add calcium and minerals to the plant- it’s like giving them a multi-vitamin!
Egg shells also help keep slugs away from your plants- just think of them as barbwire for slugs!

Styrofoam Mushroom Containers

I save Styrofoam Mushroom containers for starting my seeds in. I puncture holes in the bottom of the containers, and put them inside a regular flat. I plant my seeds in the containers and water them from the bottom by filling up the flat with water, and letting them soak until I see some glistening on top of the soil in between the seedlings, then I empty the flat. I then let them sit and make sure all the excess water is gone, and then back they go under the lights! This helps keep them healthy by not letting them get too damp!
It also allows you to plant several different varieties in the same flat because you are keeping them separate with the smaller mushroom containers.

Banana Peels

These babies aren’t only good for you! They are good for your roses too! Give your roses a a vitamin shot, by planting them around the bush about six inches deep!

Also use on the compost pile- they do an all around great job!

Onion Bags

These bags are great when your bulbs come in a little too early to plant. You can store your bulbs in them all year round, because of the mesh-y material, the air circulates around the bulbs, ands keep them from rotting. I hang mine from my basement beams to keep the mice away.

CD’s

I used to hate all those “free” CD’s that filled up my mail box advertising special offers, but now I love them! I use them in my garden to keep predatory birds and deer away! I make a garden mobile out of them, by hanging them at the end of fishing line. The sun catches them causing them to shine and generally send off rainbow prisms that scare away all those large unwanted pests!

Who knew that you could save the Earth and save money by recycling your unwanted items into garden helpers!?

I hope you enjoyed this article, if you have any gardening tips n’ tricks to save money or great ways to recycle, tell the world! Share it with us in your comments!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

Today I wanted to tell you about how you can recycle household items for your garden! You save the environment and you save money! What could be better! It’s also a good time to start saving your recyclables now so that you’ll have everything you need for Spring!

Coffee Grounds

Coffee grounds are good to spread around blueberries, azaleas, and all other acid loving plants. It’s also a wonderful natural way to keep slugs away from your Hostas! You can use it as a waker-upper in your general garden in the Spring- it’ll give everything a good jolt! After all, you need coffee- why should your plants be different?

Milk Jugs/ Cartons

Clear milk jugs can be used as mini greenhouses in early Spring to help protect your plants from frost and pests. They can also be buried half or three-quarters deep in soil next to your brand new rose to help with watering! Just puncture the bottom and the water will gradually filter to the roots where your rose needs it most! It’s also a good measuring tool for how much water your roses are getting- they need about a gallon a week. One more use is that you can cut the gallon into strips that you can use as labels- make sure one end comes to a point.

I also keep one around to dillute my fertilizer. Usually about two tablespoons per gallon of water is all that is needed-it’s pre measured and ready to use!

If you happen to use the wax/box cartons- you can cut it in half and use it as a container for starting seeds!

Wow! Lots of uses for an old jug!

Newspaper and Old Paper

If you happen to have a cross-cut shredder, then you have a gardener’s best friend! Just shred up all that junk mail, and old papers and use them as an additive to your soil that worms will love! When planting roses, it helps keep moisture in. You can also use shredded paper as a way to use less soil- add it in to take up extra space. Shredded paper and newspaper nourishes the soil because it rots, and is biodegradable. Don’t worry about ink, most places use lead free ink these days.

Use old Newspaper as a weed barrier either around roses and other plants or simply to keep grass from invading your flower bed. When creating a new bed I use un-shredded newspaper, folded in half, and then I edge a bed with it- therefore creating a 12 inch deep barrier between the grass and the new bed.

Who thought an old newspaper could be this useful?!

Stay Tuned for Part Two where I will tell you about bananas, egg shells, and other recyclables you can use in your garden!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne