Hi Gail, Could you please tell me about adding epsom salts to the rose bed - the how, why and when stuff. Thanks, Jennette

The trick is to go light and mix it with compost or another mild (organic!) fertilizer when you spread it. Depending on your zone, just sprikle a handful around the roots of the plant either just before or when the buds are beginning to set. It helps the rose produce more buds as well as healthier buds. Mixing it the compost (or fertilizer) will ensure it absorbs with less of a blast....more gentle, less stressful for the plant. Thanks for the question!

Hi Gail
I let my bantams roam in the garden but just lately I have noticed that where they go frequently the soil has become water resistant. I have tried a commercial wetting agent which has not worked. Is there a solution besides locking up the chooks?
Annie

Well, this is a new one on me! I wish I had this problem but living in a city neighborhood, bantams do not reside in my backyard! You're a lucky gardener to have such friends!

I would suggest two things. Spread a thick layer of compost in the areas they frequent. You might want to even loosen the soil up first with a pitchfork or turning fork. The compost will work it's way into the soil during rains and will keep the soil more pliable. Another solution would be a mulch of some kind. If you have other animals you probably have a good source of mulch from a compost pile. If not, today's the day to start a compost pile. Pile up hay, grass, veggie scraps, plant material and yes, even animal droppings. As long as your compost pile is at least 3 X 3, any diseases from the materials will burn away in the heat of the compost pile. By the way, Maggie and I are wishing we could find some good poop to apply in our gardens! Let us know if you have extra! Maggie or other readers may have other suggestions...Gail

Compost and mulch are the first things that came to my mind too Gail, for the chickie trails. An instant treatment until she gets it going might be to spray the areas with a non-phosphate dish soap solution.

About the horsy-stuff, that would make a great negotiable commodity at the April plant swap!

I grow the Stuttgart Variegated Canna. It has been suggested by "Plants Delights Nursery" to use Epsom Salts around this canna. Epsom Salts will give it extra magnesium and will help to prevent the foliage from burning... Every year the white part on the leaf burns, even if it is not in the Sun. I am going to try this on my Stuttys, this year. Nothing is as beautiful as the foliage on this canna!!!! Trust me!!

The Stuttgart I got from you last year is doing great David! It's under the Afghan pine and already telling me it needs some salt. With this extra hour of evening light, I'm going out there right now to treat it. Glad you posted this, which reminded me.
Wouldn't it be great if you had too many of it and just had to dig some up for the plant swap ;-) Welllll maybe in a few years..... but I can't imagine having tooooo much of this beauty!

The only plant I can think of that is any more beautiful is a Variegated Banana in the Stokes Nursery Catalog. My Mother has one and it is to DIE for....but it does $$$$ cost you some bucks..Hey, you can not take it with you...Right??