"Jane" wrote

Thank you Allegra,

You are most welcome Jane, glad to be of service.
Super Thrive is a national product as far as I know.
Here is a link

http://www.superthrive.com/page1.html

Don't let the carnival atmosphere of their ads
give you the wrong impression. The product is good,
their advertising should be banned by the good taste police
however. I have used this product with excellent results for
many years, particularly transplanting cuttings and band roses
that are so delicate when first taken from their little tall houses.
I have to say that I give ST much credit for whatever it is we
are doing right with the divas.

As far as amending the soil, Jane in my opinion we can
never overdo it. The more we help the drainage the
better the roses will be plus of course with good drainage
you have also a teeming environment of workers under
ground to help restore the balance of the humus so you
cannot go wrong. Does it show that I love worms? The
only reason I hate moles is because they feed on them.
BH and I have striven in the past two years to correct the
deficits found in this clay and rock garden, and one of
the nicest surprises was to find big, fat worms all over
after working the soil, since when we moved in there
we were astounded at the fact that no matter where you
dug, no worms were to be found.

Try to get some ST if you can. Give it a try. I don't usually
recommend products because I find some of them work
in some areas and not in others but I am almost sure this
one will work for you. It is safe and it does show in the
plants the effect of vitamins and hormones. One note of
caution though, get the alfalfa pellets, no sugar, no nothing
added to them. A handful mixed with the soil and the
crystals plus the food will take probably about 1 year
to disintegrate if our experience is universal. About
the end of April or early May I scratch another handful
on top before adding the summer mulch and leave the
rose alone, except for some foliar feeding if necessary.

We use Algoflash and it has proven all we need to get
some nice blossoms. Then again, most of our roses
are only in their second year in the ground, so the most
important addition is still patience. Know where to buy
some? I am running really low of that G and with
the likes of Zephirine and Compassion for instance
this can turn out to be a long summer. What other roses
are on your list beside Peace? Did I miss the rest?

Allegra