"gary" wrote in message
. ..
few years back I had mulch around my roses, basic woodchips.

they have all broken down and gone away now, and I notice quite a few of
my neighbors are using this red mulch around flowers. I think it is
"painted" mulch, or so I have seen at wal-mart.

any reason NOT to put this around my roses?

Because it looks unnaturally ugly? Every spring, I lay down some composted
steer manure and whatever shredded bark mulch is on sale that year. It
eventually gets worked into the soil and breaks down, but I'm okay with
that.

If you want artificial mulch that lasts forever and is bad for all kinds of
environmental, aesthetic and health reasons, consider shredded tire rubber
mulch.

-S